If you are fond of mushrooms and desire to cook these at home, you need to learn how to clean mushrooms. These are edible wild growths which usually grow in damp and dark places. No doubt, they are full of dust, dirt, harmful germs and even bacteria. They need a specific process of cleaning which can be lengthy also, depending on the place from where you have picked them up.

Cleaning mushrooms is important especially because they are extremely porous due to which they have a high tendency to soak the water or grime of the place where they grow. If you do not clean these well, you will be eating all these harmful and poisonous elements which will cause you serious health issues.

If you have hunted mushrooms and brought them home, these need a special method of cleaning. Wild mushrooms can be very dangerous as they can even have insects in them. Keep all mushrooms separately when they are not clean – you can keep them in a sealed box or in an airtight box. If you have brought commercially packed ones, you should not unpack them till you are ready to clean and cook them. In fact, several mushroom packages have printed information on how to clean them. You can follow all such instructions when you are cleaning them – it shall assure you that you have done everything to keep away all harmful particles and germs from the mushrooms.

When you plan to clean mushrooms, you should first and foremost buy a soft mushroom brush which is easily available in the supermarkets. If you have a bunch of mushrooms, start cleaning them one by one so that you do not miss cleaning any one mushroom. Hold one mushroom and gently brush away anything you find clinging on it. In most cases, you will find small particles of weeds, dust and mud clinging on to the mushroom. If you brush slowly, you can be assured that all external particles are removed. You can also use a soft and damp towel to clean all these mushrooms.

Should mushrooms be washed in water -

Commercially available mushrooms usually grow in a sterile medium; hence you need to brush softly to clean the mushrooms instead of washing them in running water. There are many experts who do not recommend the use of cleaning mushrooms in water since these are so absorbent that they will soak water and lose their original flavor. However, there are still others who believe that soaking water in them will wash away the germs. To conclude this debate on whether to wash mushrooms in water or not we can suggest, you can follow, any of the methods which you find suitable and convenient.

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