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You need to clean champignons regardless of where the mushrooms came from on the table - from the forest or from the store. Cleaning and washing remove possible dirt and microorganisms from them and make them even safer for health.
Do I need to wash champignons before cooking?
Champignons are considered the most harmless, they almost never cause poisoning and are suitable for consumption even raw. However, they still need to be cleaned.
Mushrooms growing in the forest inevitably collect dust, dirt and harmful substances from the soil and precipitation.Even in clean areas, the ecology leaves much to be desired, and mushroom fruits manage to accumulate a lot of toxins.
Peeled mushroom caps are much safer
As for store-bought fruits, they are much cleaner than forest fruits, but they also cannot be sterile. After removal from a special substrate, microorganisms may still remain on their stems and caps; bacteria can also appear during the product’s passage from the farm to the store counter.
It is recommended to clean and rinse any champignons without fail. This takes a little time, but it allows you to remain confident that the product will not cause harm to your health.
Is it possible to soak champignons?
Most mushrooms need to be soaked for a long time before cooking. But with champignons the situation is more complicated - their pulp already contains a lot of water, and besides, they absorb moisture very well. The taste of soaked champignons becomes significantly worse.
It is necessary to soak the champignons to fully clean them, but not for long. It is recommended to quickly rinse store-bought mushrooms under cold running water to wash off the dirt, then pat dry with a paper towel and leave in a dry place for 15 minutes. In this case, the taste and density will be preserved as much as possible, and the champignons will not lose their pleasant elasticity.
Forest champignons, by definition, contain more harmful substances. Therefore, after collection, they need to be immersed in cold salted water for 15 minutes. During this time, the dirt will come off, and insects, if present, will leave the pulp.
Soaking should be short - a maximum of a quarter of an hour.
How to wash champignons
Before processing, champignons need to not only be soaked, but also washed. They do it like this:
- First, the mushrooms are kept in water with added salt for no longer than 15 minutes;
- after that, put it in a colander and allow the water to drain thoroughly;
- then each mushroom body is carefully wiped with a clean damp cloth, removing any remaining contaminants, and the cut on the stem is renewed; large fruits can also be cleaned of the film on the cap;
- The champignons are washed again and only then subjected to further processing.
As a result of such washing, the mushroom does not have time to absorb too much moisture and soften. But microorganisms and dirt from the surface of the fruiting body can be reliably eliminated.
Rinsing under the tap removes most contaminants.
Do I need to clean champignons before cooking?
The cap of the champignon is covered with a thin skin, and on its lower side there are frequent plates. Therefore, the question arises whether it is necessary to peel both of them in order to leave only fresh pulp, or whether the mushroom should be fried and boiled in its original form.
Do I need to peel champignons?
It is believed that the thin cuticle on the cap can be cleaned, but this is not necessary. If desired, the skin can be picked up with a knife and pulled up to remove, but this is most often done for large adult fruits.
Do I need to peel champignons under the cap?
Whether or not to clean the plates on the underside of the cap depends largely on the age of the mushroom. In old fruiting bodies, the plates often become light or dark brown, and in such cases the champignons are cleaned of the plates.
But it is not necessary to clean the white plates of young fruiting bodies, including because they give a rich aroma and characteristic taste to dishes using champignons.
If the plates below are dark, then it is better to remove them
Do I need to clean small champignons?
Young mushrooms are usually very small in size - about 2 cm in diameter of the cap. They are covered with very thin and delicate skin on top, the plates under the cap are white and fresh.
There is no need to peel young mushrooms - it is too difficult, time-consuming and does not make much sense. Processing boils down to quickly washing the small champignons and trimming the short legs that are barely visible under the cap.
Do I need to peel mushrooms before frying or cooking?
Fresh champignons must be cleaned first of all to remove microorganisms and contaminants from them. If the mushroom immediately after washing and cleaning must go into a saucepan or frying pan, the question arises whether it is necessary to spend time cleaning it, or whether harmful bacteria will already be destroyed by heat treatment.
It is still recommended to peel mushrooms before cooking and frying. Using a sharp knife, you need to trim the stem and remove all dark and spoiled places from the surface of the mushroom, if any. You can also clean large mushroom bodies with a soft, clean brush, pick up the film on the surface of the cap and remove it by pulling it up.
It is recommended to remove the so-called “collar” from mature champignons.
The peel accumulates toxins, so it is recommended to cut it off
How to clean fresh champignons
Champignons do not last long, and usually people try to cook them almost immediately after picking or purchasing. In this case, fresh mushrooms need to be cleaned; the procedure for forest and store-bought fruiting bodies is slightly different.
After collection
To make it easier to process forest champignons, it is recommended to clean them right in the forest, even before coming home. The mushroom, removed from the soil, is brushed off with a soft food brush to remove soil, adhering needles and other debris. Then the fruiting body is wiped with a clean cloth and placed in a basket.
Purchased
Champignons in the store are sold after initial cleaning and look much neater than their forest counterparts. Such mushrooms must be washed according to the standard algorithm, the stems should be slightly trimmed and spoiled areas should be removed. If the mushrooms are adults, they are also peeled; you can clean the plates under the cap if they have already darkened.
Experienced chefs offer a quick and convenient way to clean mushrooms. According to the method, the fruiting bodies need to be soaked not in cold, but in hot water for a quarter of an hour, after which the skin will be easy to remove even with your hands.
If you scald the caps with boiling water, the skin will come off easier.
How to clean champignons for frying
Although it is possible to wash the champignons before adding them to the pan, this is usually not done. The excess water that the mushroom pulp absorbs will interfere with the frying process.
Properly clean fresh champignons for frying using a food brush.After that, simply wipe them with a damp cloth and send them for frying.
How to clean champignons before cooking and baking
Mushroom caps need to be cleaned before placing in the oven for baking. A photo of step-by-step cleaning of champignons before cooking suggests the following algorithm:
- the fruiting bodies are washed under the tap, and then the stem is trimmed to update the cut;
- All plates are removed from the lower surface of the cap;
- The cleaned caps are immersed in water for a few minutes, after adding 2 large tablespoons of wheat flour to it, this will make it easier to remove the skin from the fruiting bodies.
Slightly darkened areas and other defects on the caps do not need to be cut off before baking. They do not affect the quality of the mushroom, unless we are talking about openly rotten areas. And externally, after treatment, such flaws will still become invisible.
The legs need to be trimmed slightly to remove the dried part of the pulp.
How to clean champignons before salting and marinating
Champignons are not often used for canning; these mushrooms are usually consumed fried, boiled or fresh. But if you decide to pickle or pickle the fruiting bodies for the winter, then cleaning them before that will be very easy.
To begin with, the mushrooms should be brushed off with a soft brush from all debris if they were brought from the forest. It is recommended to peel the skin and plates on the underside before salting. Then the fruiting bodies are washed under the tap and soaked for 10 minutes in a container of salted water with the addition of citric acid. In this case, you don’t have to worry that the caps will get wet, since they will have to go into the marinade one way or another.
After soaking, the mushrooms are rinsed again under the tap and rolled up for the winter according to the chosen recipe.
How to clean fresh champignons before drying
You need to clean mushroom bodies before drying in a different way than usual. First of all, they should absolutely not be soaked, otherwise they will become dark and accumulate a lot of moisture. In this case, drying will take a long time, and in the end the raw materials may simply become moldy.
It is strictly forbidden to soak or wash the product before drying.
Before laying out or hanging the caps to dry, they are simply thoroughly treated with a soft brush to remove dirt. You can also wipe the caps with a damp cloth, but nothing more.
How to properly clean champignons for freezing
Champignons can be stored in the freezer for a very long time, but they still need to be cleaned before placing them in the refrigerator. First, all darkened areas and other defects are cut off from the caps, then they are quickly washed and dried on a towel. After this, the mushrooms should be cut into small slices and sprinkled with lemon juice, and then put in the freezer.
How long do washed champignons last in the refrigerator?
The shelf life of mushroom fruits is not too long. Even unpeeled, they can last in the refrigerator for about 3 days, maximum 5 days.
Washing and peeling further reduces these times, since the mushrooms lose some of their integrity. It is recommended to keep them in the refrigerator for only a day on the bottom shelf in a dry, closed container.
Cleaned caps don't last long, so it's best to cook them right away.
Conclusion
It is highly advisable to clean champignons before eating; this helps make them safer. Proper cleaning and washing reduces the risk of poisoning as much as possible, since all dirt and microorganisms are removed from the surface of the mushrooms.
