The Best Way To Store Mushrooms For Peak Freshness

Mushrooms can be a finicky ingredient. If you don't properly store mushrooms, they will get slimy and become too gross for eating very quickly, before you can reasonably have the chance to use them in your cooking. Whether you clean them with or without water, it can be tricky to guess just how you should safeguard these edible fungi until you are ready to cook them. What's the best way to handle your mushrooms to keep them fresh and firm?

Patrick Ochs, Corporate Executive Chef for INK Entertainment, spoke with Foodie exclusively on the topic. He confirmed what we already knew, which is that you should store fresh mushrooms in your fridge. What was surprising, however, was the importance of the mushrooms' container. Ochs recommends removing your mushrooms from their store packaging and storing them "in a paper bag or a ventilated container in the refrigerator, which helps prevent excess moisture and keeps them from becoming slimy." A fresh fruit and vegetable keeper, like this one by Prepworks, allows you to adjust the degree of ventilation based on what you need to store, including mushrooms. 

Although your mushrooms probably came from the grocery store wrapped in plastic, Ochs stresses that putting mushrooms in the fridge that way is a no-go. "Avoid storing [mushrooms] in plastic bags," he stresses, "as they trap moisture and cause mushrooms to deteriorate faster." Moisture is the great enemy of mushrooms, which is one of the common mistakes everyone makes when cooking them. You have to be savvy about keeping water away from your 'shrooms.

It can be tempting to buy things on sale and store excess product in the freezer until you need it, but resist the urge when it comes to raw mushrooms. "For long-term storage, you can freeze mushrooms after blanching," Ochs tells us, but he hedges it with a caveat: the texture will change. These frozen mushrooms are only good for using in cooked dishes. Combined with the need to par-cook them, you may find that freezing mushrooms is more trouble than it is worth.

Keep in mind that, even with the most ideal storage conditions, mushrooms are not a hardy food. Whole mushrooms will only last between four and seven days in the fridge, with sliced mushrooms going bad in just a couple of days, maximum.