Jump to content

When Mushrooms Go South


DonRocks

Recommended Posts

I bought four pint-sized boxes of white mushrooms (in cardboard, wrapped in plastic) at Whole Foods about a week ago. I noticed towards the end of the third box that the mushrooms had gotten mushy (no pun), and were developing an ammonia-like odor, like a cheese, and I just now went to open the fourth box, and knew before I even opened it that they had turned - there was moisture on the bottom of the box (was this from the mushrooms turning, or did the moisture cause them to turn?) - one whiff, and I knew to throw the box away before even removing the plastic. The boxes were sitting out on my kitchen counter - never refrigerated.

Does anyone know what happened, and have some storage tips for organic white mushrooms? Whole Foods sells them in bulk, where you can fill your own plastic bag - maybe this is the best way to go, although the one time I did this, I thought the quality of the bulk mushrooms was slightly lesser than the boxed version (the bulk mushrooms were bigger, but also a bit "tougher," for lack of a better term, and with less taste). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, farmer john said:

All of the actual mushroom growers I have ever seen sell in paper bags not plastic. Pure speculation on my part but they probably need a bit of air. Fresh mushrooms in general are going to deteriorate fairly quickly though.

I just extracted the container from the trashcan, and sure enough, the entire thing was wrapped in plastic - airtight. Plus, they were organic, so these things probably just don't last that long. It was interesting to see them shed so much moisture.

Aside from the foul odor they were developing, the texture was getting softer, and they were developing black blotches on them, so there were chemical changes occurring without doubt.

When mushrooms grow in the wild, what keeps them alive? Do they feed off wood bark?

If I remember correctly, truffles are the only mushrooms that grow underground.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mushrooms in the wild feed off of organic (small o) material at hand- often wood- different substrates for different types of mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms for example like poplar logs a whole lot. (Oysters are the only ones I am confident enough to forage. The poplar is a giveaway and they have no local doppelgangers.)

The fact that your mushrooms were Organic (big o) probably has nothing to do with their deterioration unless non-Organic mushrooms are treated in some fashion after harvest to preserve them which I don't think is the case.

Produce (plants not fungi) grown on natural fertilizers in general will have a longer shelf life than stuff grown on a pure nitrogen drip because it does not grow as quickly and develops thicker cell walls in doing so. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It has been my experience that fresh mushrooms simply don't last very long, no matter how they are stored. I buy them in bulk rather than by the box so I only get as many as I need. When I buy the box, I end up throwing too many away, unless I am making a dish that calls for a lot of mushrooms. I don't know if it is true or not, but it seems like when i buy brown cremini mushrooms rather than the white variety, they last longer.

When I buy white mushrooms to eat raw on salads, I often buy the large stuffer size. One mushroom is all I need for one salad, so there isn't any waste. Also, if you buy in bulk, you can look at the stems to see how fresh they are. You can't do that when you buy a box.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or you can do what our grandparent's generation (and among some of our older comrades', mothers) did, and go with B in B in the cute little jars and cans. If I recall correctly, fresh mushrooms only started appearing in Americans supermarkets, at least around here, in the mid-sixties, and champignons were all you could get.

3800800679_398e021e00_b.jpg

Do you suppose the mug o' shrooms with a slice of lemon was a "Mushroom Cocktail", an hors-d'oeuvre sensation among ladies giving smart dinner parties?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to this article, mushrooms, like fruits and vegetables, continue to “breathe” after harvest.  The writer explains that mushrooms have a high rate of respiration.  The rate of respiration decreases with the temperature.  As Farmer John mentioned, I expect that since the mushrooms were wrapped in plastic rather than stored in a paper bag, the moisture from respiration could not escape and the mushrooms rotted.  The boxes were on your counter, so they rotted faster than they would have had you refrigerated them. 

Because of this interesting article by Kenji Lopez-Alt, I speculate that a contributing factor to their decay was the presence of bacteria and other debris on the mushrooms. 

I used to belong to a very good organization called the Mycological Association of Washington and would sometimes return from forays with a large quantity of wild mushrooms.  I was advised to process them quickly (pan fry, dry, or freeze) because they deteriorate quickly.  I expect the same advice holds if one buys a large amount of cultivated mushrooms. 

Mushrooms are the “fruits” of the mycelium (a white web underground) so it is the mycelium that nourishes and produces the mushroom.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A very enthusiastic produce employee at a Whole Foods years ago told me to buy loose mushrooms and store them either in paper or, if they stay in the plastic bag, to lay them out flattish with holes poked/torn at several places in the bag.

Buying four boxes of mushrooms at one time, especially pint-sized boxes, is not something I would do unless I were planning a big meal soon using a lot of mushrooms.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"When Mushrooms Go Bad" on chowhound.com

I bought two packs of these at Whole Foods yesterday (I'm pretty sure these are the ones that quickly went bad before), and just opened them today - they had an ever-so-slightly woody smell that's a bit more potent than most white mushrooms I'm used to, which are usually very clean and almost odorless.They look fine, are firm, and aren't slimy at all, so I'm cooking half of them because they passed the smell test, but my gut tells me I don't think they'll last much longer than a few days.

I know white mushrooms have *some* odor, but not much of one, right? This seems like it was somewhere slightly off-center of normal.

Did you know Kennett Square, PA produces more mushrooms per capital than any town in the USA?

Mushrooms.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If those ^ are only a day after you bought them, they were already going. That's the reason for the smell.  Look for white mushrooms that are white white with not much more than speckles of dirt on them.  If the packaged ones look too old, buy the whitest loose unblemished ones and then lay them flat in the bag in the refrigerator with a  few holes punched in the plastic.

If you have mushrooms like the ones above, you can somewhat rescue them by peeling. Start under the cap and find a good spot to start pulling the outermost layer. You don't have to get every last bit off, but that will help.

Given that you seem to want to buy mushrooms in bulk, you might want to split buying fresh and dried. Dried have to be soaked to reconstitute but have very strong flavor and keep for a long time in the pantry. Most are pretty clean these days, so you can strain the liquid from soaking to use as broth.  I wouldn't really recommend using dried mushrooms without cooking, but maybe there are people who would disagree with me on that.  

Are you using these in salads or are you cooking them sometimes?  If you want mushrooms for salads, you're going to have to buy them more often. I've never tried one of those mushroom farm things in a box, but if you do, report back:).

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Pat said:

If those ^ are only a day after you bought them, they were already going. That's the reason for the smell.  Look for white mushrooms that are white white with not much more than speckles of dirt on them.  If the packaged ones look too old, buy the whitest loose unblemished ones and then lay them flat in the bag in the refrigerator with a  few holes punched in the plastic.

I left the pack out last night as pictured, and the smell had blown off today (I had the second half for lunch today, cooked, and they were fine). I think they may have picked up some cardboard smell, similar to how wine picks up what's known as "bottle stink" - some aeration, and the wine often blows the off-aromas away.

I almost never see white-white white mushrooms - even Whole Foods bulk white mushrooms have some blotches on them - so maybe I should be looking elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Pat said:

If those ^ are only a day after you bought them, they were already going. That's the reason for the smell.  Look for white mushrooms that are white white with not much more than speckles of dirt on them.  If the packaged ones look too old, buy the whitest loose unblemished ones and then lay them flat in the bag in the refrigerator with a  few holes punched in the plastic.

You're right - I had bought two packages, and just opened the second only to find mold that looked like cotton candy (I could tell something was wrong before I opened it, because a thin film was forming on the inside of the plastic). 

Lesson learned, never again - mushrooms don't last, and need to breathe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW, I used some shiitake mushrooms yesterday that had been in the refrigerator for 10 days, laying fairly flat in a plastic bag with holes in it. Out of about 8 oz. of mushrooms there were only 3 that had any degree of mushiness/darkening.  I broke off those bits and used the intact parts. Otherwise, they were fine. These were loose mushrooms bought from the Old Town Whole Foods.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...