7 tips for perfectly cooked, not gross, mushrooms

I was asked, how do you get a perfectly cooked mushroom? Or, what is the best way to cook a mushroom? Or honestly, I was asked: how do you cook a mushroom so it’s not gross. Fair question. I looked around and found seven tips to get you eating perfectly cooked, not gross, mushrooms in no time.

Sauté your cleaned mushrooms in avocado oil, in a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium high heat, remembering not to fry too many at one time, and season the mushrooms simply with salt and pepper at the end. This will get you perfectly cooked, not gross, mushrooms that can be used in many different dishes.

 1 What Type of Mushrooms to use?

White button or brown crimini mushrooms are my go-to for everyday cooking. These common mushrooms are readily available in your supermarket almost year round and their quality is good where I am located and fairly consistent. Be looking for a small, blemish free, creamy white mushroom, with a short white stem (or light brown if you go with the crimini). Preferably, the underside is unopened, or very close to the stem. If you can see the gills on this size of mushroom odds are it is overly ripe. Still edible, but it will have a more woody taste.

There are many different varieties of mushrooms to choose from: white button mushroom, brown crimini, portobello, shiitake, oyster, chanterelle, penny bun, enokitake, morel… the list goes on and on. But not all are available, or in good shape, year round. Whatever type or size you use, this method works to achieve that perfectly cooked, not gross, mushroom every time. You start with preparing your mushrooms properly.

2 Cleaning & Preparing Your Mushrooms

Mushrooms should be cleaned right before cooking. To clean a white button or brown crimini mushroom, pop out the stem and wipe with a damp paper towel or hand towel. Wipe off any dirt or discolored pieces. Do not rinse under water or soak to clean because mushrooms are very porous and any water you put in will come back out during cooking affecting the texture. Like a sponge, mushrooms soak up any liquid around them, so be sure any liquid you add will benefit the end result.

To clean some of the larger types of mushrooms is a little different, like the large portobello caps people like to use as replacements for buns. Pop off the stem, brush off the gills on the bottom, then wipe it down with a damp cloth or towel. Gills are the dark brown or black ridges on the underside of mushrooms. They are most notable on the portobello. If these gills are wide open or very dark, the mushroom is most likely over ripe. Technically, you can eat the gills but they may make your food a funky color so most people prefer to remove them. Some have the opinion that the gills hold a lot of flavor and keep them, understanding the color of the food or sauce might be a brown murky color. I have eaten them both ways and have no complaints about flavor or color. This is totally your preference. When removing the gills, I have used a toothbrush with a little water on it to clean off the underside. Many people buy a special mushroom cleaning brush, which you could do if you are a gadget person. Normally, a mushroom cleaning brush has soft bristles and a solid top for you to grip. Or for you adventurous few, use your fingers to get in there and scrape out those gills.

When your mushrooms have been cleaned you are ready to cut them up.

3 Making the Cut

You can cut mushrooms any shape you want, just try to cut them all the same size. To cut a mushroom remove the stem first. Unless the mushroom is very fresh, the stem will be woody. A fresh mushroom stem will be creamy white (or brown if you are holding a crimini), blemish free, and not dried out. As a general rule, I remove the stems.  Clean off these stems and place in a freezer bag with other vegetable scraps. When the scrap bag is full, make a broth or stock, here is a recipe explaining the process, Vegetable Broth.

To cut, place the mushroom top flat on the cutting board and slice the mushroom into ½” or ¼”   pieces. If you want to dice them, stack up a few slices you just made and cut two or three more times to form cubes. You can cut the mushrooms to any size you like really, my goal is always to cut them all the same size. I want these the same size so they cook in the same amount of time. When you have very different size pieces the smaller ones will burn and the larger pieces will not be done. So the goal is same size mushroom piece, no matter what shape you are using in your recipe. To make these perfect cooked, not gross, mushrooms I went with ½” slices.

4 Cooking Method

I prefer sautéing as I can get so much flavor into the mushroom. Sauté means to quickly fry in hot fat. I have heard of others boiling and grilling mushrooms, too, which there is a time to use these methods. Let’s take a quick look at boiling and grilling.

Boiling would be used if you are working with dried mushrooms. Soak them for 5-8 minutes in warm water, discard that water, then add the mushrooms to boiling water to rehydrate the rest of the way. Note keep this water as it will be very flavorful, you could use this to make rice or for a soup.

Grilling is similar to sautéing. The mushrooms would be coated with fat and seasonings and then grilled. Either on a skewer or inside aluminum foil. The cooking time varies widely. The heating source on a grill is a little harder to control so getting that perfect mushroom every time is tricky.

While both boiling and grilling are options, to get the perfectly cooked, not gross, mushroom every time, I prefer sautéing.

When sautéing, the first thing to think about is the pan size. Using a 10” pan will give you enough room for one tin of mushrooms to be cooked perfectly (in two batches). You can use a heavy bottomed non-stick skillet with high sides or a cast iron skillet works well, too. Both should distribute heat evenly and will help you get that not gross mushroom.

5 Using fat wisely

Mushrooms sautéed in fat, avocado oil specifically, gives them a texture and flavor I enjoy. Sautéing involves frying in fat over high heat. There are many types of fat you can choose from depending on the flavor profiles you are working with. When I make something like Hummus Pasta, I am looking for a basic flavored mushroom to start me off and avocado oil works well. When I am making a creamy dish that starts with a mushroom roux, I like to use butter, for example in Creamy Pesto Zoodle.

Generally, I am sautéing at around 320 to 330 degrees. I am not suggesting you get out a thermometer and test to see how hot your pan is running. You will know your pan is hot enough to add fat when you put a few drops of water in the pan and it jumps around and sizzles. Add the avocado oil, usually about 1T for ½ a tin of mushrooms, to start. If more is needed you can add more but if you have too much your mushrooms will be oily.  You will know it is time to add the mushrooms when the oil is bubbling, not smoking, or it is shimmering or has little lines forming in the oil. Swirl this around the pan to evenly coat the bottom then add your mushrooms.

Avocado oil does not have a very strong flavor, it is a clean taste and some have said it has a buttery finish. If you want to use real butter instead you could use a half butter and half olive oil combination. Adding just butter would mean you have to sauté at a lower temperature. This does work but the texture of the mushroom is a little different. This is because butter burns at around 300 degrees. When you combine the butter with olive oil, which burns at 460 degrees, you can still get that hit of flavor from the butter without charring everything.

Burn points of a few types of fat in case you don’t like or can’t get avocado oil:

Avocado oil 500

Olive oil 460

Grapeseed oil 420

Vegetable oil 400

Canola oil 400

Lard (pork fat) 374

Coconut 350

Bacon drippings 325

Extra virgin olive oil 325

Sesame oil 320

Butter 300

To start you off making perfectly cooked, not gross, mushrooms I would go with the avocado oil.

6 Don’t be crowding me

Mushrooms need room to sauté properly so space them out in your pan. They can be touching on the sides but each mushroom should make contact with the bottom of the pan. When you place too many mushrooms in the pan at one time you start to steam some of them, causing them to be rubbery.

When the avocado oil is ready, add one single layer of mushrooms to the pan. Please remember every mushroom should make contact with the bottom of the skillet. Sautéing the mushrooms undisturbed, without a lid, for 5-8 minutes then flipping over each mushroom and sautéing for 3-4 minutes more. Watch your heat level and adjust down if needed. The pan should be hot enough you hear the sizzle when adding the mushrooms but should not be smoking. Remove the cooked mushrooms to a paper towel while the next batch is cooking. Next step, be sure to season them.

7 Simply Seasoned

Mushrooms soak up whatever flavor you put them with. I add a little salt and pepper when I flip the mushrooms over to sauté them on the second side. I do not add salt earlier than this as the salt will cause the mushroom to sweat. When the mushroom sweats it starts to steam causing that chewy, rubbery texture so many people don’t like. Yuck! Save your herb additions to the end of cooking time.

You could flavor your fat if you wanted to bring in more flavor. For example, add a sprig of thyme to the oil when it is hot. Swirl the oil and thyme around for about 30 seconds. You now have thyme oil, which pairs very well with mushrooms. Simple Mushroom Side is a great introduction to understanding how mushrooms soak up flavor.

When the mushrooms are sautéing on the second side, this is the time I add any additional seasonings. I suggest salt and pepper to get you started so you can know what flavor your mushrooms have and how they are interacting with your dish.  As you make mushrooms more and more I encourage you to try adding other flavor profiles at the end. For example, coconut aminos (or soy sauce) and lemon juice, or butter and vinegar, or white wine and parsley, sherry and cilantro… pick something that will compliment your meal.

Following these seven tips, you will be enjoying mushrooms in no time. Then, when you have your perfectly cooked, not gross, mushrooms, you can expand your repertoire. Mushrooms are very versatile and add depth to your dishes. You can use them in sauces, with spices and herbs, as a side dish, in a side dish, with fish, steak, chicken, pasta, salads, eggs… the list goes on and on.

Here’s a couple of recipes to get you started: