Mushrooms

[Locke]

I'm not really a mushroom person but when I've made pies with fresh mushrooms I've sliced them and then layed them out between paper towels same as I'd do for overly wet fresh mozzarella. The paper towels ended up wet and there was no mess on the pie

As for whether or not they'll absorb a lot of water while washing it's nothing you need to take AB's word on since his method is easy to duplicate at home. All he did was weigh out 4oz of mushrooms and leave them soaking in cold water for various amounts of time then weigh them again. On the 30min soak only .15oz of water was absorbed.

[Bill/SFNM]

As for whether or not they'll absorb a lot of water while washing it's nothing you need to take AB's word on since his method is easy to duplicate at home. All he did was weigh out 4oz of mushrooms and leave them soaking in cold water for various amounts of time then weigh them again. On the 30min soak only .15oz of water was absorbed.

Maybe easy to duplicate and maybe you can conclude that little water is absorbed, but you can't conclude that no flavor from the mushroom is lost in the washing. Some mushrooms like the wild chanterelles I just picked this morning have much flavor on the surface that is easily washed or wiped off. FWIW.

Bill/SFNM

[vitus]

My $0.02 regarding moisture:

Use only small amounts of (thinly cut) mushrooms as suggested earlier
or...
Precook them on a grill pan!
I do this. They get nice brown/charred stripes and taste wonderful. And because the pan has ridges, all the water (which is a lot!) simply runs down between the ridges and evaporate.
On a regular pan, I feel that the mushrooms boil rather than to just "dry up a bit" which I want.
Below is an image of the grill pan I use.

[colossus]

Interesting!  I have not seen Alton Brown's pronouncements concerning mushrooms (I'm new to watching the food network... promised myself I wouldn't get hooked cause I'm enough of a foodie already) but I find it highly interesting that they would absorb oil like a sponge but not water.  Maybe that's because the oil is usually added when the shrooms are sliced more often than not?  Maybe that "skin" on the mushroom cap acts as a water barrier.

I'm a materials geek- it might be that the coating of the 'shrooms is hydrophobic- meaning it makes water bead up. Just like car wax beads up on the hood of your freshly waxed Ferrari

[November]

On average, mushrooms contain more than 90% water already, so there's not a lot of room for more water.  However, that high number, along with the fact that mushrooms are often dehydrated for long term storage, certainly indicates the ability of mushrooms to pass water through their chitin cell walls (just not as easily as plant cellulose walls).  For those of you who are washing your mushrooms because of the kind of substrate you think mushrooms are grown in, it's important to note that the compost used in commercial mushroom farming is pasteurized.  So, if you buy mushrooms that are "pre-washed" or don't possess visible signs of dirtiness, there really isn't a great reason for washing them.  It's not like you have to contend with sand or other minerals like you would with plants grown in true soil.  Also as Bill pointed out, washing mushrooms can often degrade the flavor too.

- red.november

[les_garten]

Hello,
   As always on these forums, another interesting thread.  I must be doing something wrong here.  I handle all the "wet" vegetables by nuking on High for 30-40 seconds in the microwave.  I dump out the water and pat them dry with paper towels.   Does anyone else do it this way?  I nuke them just enough to pull some water out. 

Les

[Pizza_Not_War]

Mushroom nuking: I do it in a similar manner. Spread the slices on a plate, zap for 30 sec to 2 minutes depending on quantity and thickness and then tilt plate on counter top and let the water run downhill.

Only problem is that I really don't like mushrooms on pizza all that much - LOL

I find as my crust gets better, than less is more and mushrooms are less than more.


PNW

[les_garten]

Mushroom nuking: I do it in a similar manner. Spread the slices on a plate, zap for 30 sec to 2 minutes depending on quantity and thickness and then tilt plate on counter top and let the water run downhill.

Only problem is that I really don't like mushrooms on pizza all that much - LOL

I find as my crust gets better, than less is more and mushrooms are less than more.


PNW

If I made a Pizza without Mushrooms, the wife would Mutiny!

Les