How To Cook Mushrooms (Like a Chef) (2024)

FAQs

How do chefs prepare mushrooms? ›

Heat the Pan: Place the skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté and Evaporate: Add the mushrooms and let them brown briefly. They will release moisture; allow it to evaporate completely. Achieve Golden Perfection: Continue to cook and stir the mushrooms until they turn golden brown, adjusting the heat as needed.

Turn up the heat: Turn the heat up to medium-high and allow time for your oil/butter to get hot before adding the mushrooms. Keeping the heat up will help moisture evaporate quickly giving you a beautifully caramelized mushroom. If mushrooms are giving off lots of moisture keep the heat going until it's gone.

Butter is great because it adds lots of flavor and produces a nice golden brown exterior, while adding oil allows the mushrooms to cook a little more quickly at slightly higher heat.

This will ensure that any little critters living in the mushroom find their way out. Add salt to the water you plan to wash the mushrooms with, making sure the salt dissolves in the water. Add the mushrooms to the water, and allow them to soak for 20 minutes.

Sautéing them in oil first is a crucial mistake when cooking with mushrooms, as the oil will disappear, so you'll add more but then be left with soggy, oil-logged mushrooms. Cooking the mushrooms in water -- although counterintuitive and unconventional -- solves the problem of soggy mushrooms.

When cooking the mushrooms, make sure they are spread into one layer in the pan and not crowded so they brown instead of steam. You can make this easy mushroom recipe with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Or, for more flavor, add the butter, thyme, and lemon.

The researchers concluded that the best way to cook mushrooms while still preserving their nutritional properties is to grill or microwave them, as the fried and boiled mushrooms showed significantly less antioxidant activity.

Use a high temperature. Mushrooms cook best in a quick, high-temperature roast. Cook your mushrooms uncovered in a pan at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, or until they are slightly browned.

Sautéing on High or Low Heat

"Medium-high heat is the way to go with mushrooms. You want their liquids to slowly evaporate while they caramelize," says Norton. High heat can burn mushrooms, while low heat will make them cook in their own liquid, she says. You also want to be mindful of the pan.

Should you season mushrooms before cooking? ›

The bottom line: Although salting the mushrooms at the beginning of cooking does not always cause them to release much liquid, it does make them cook more slowly and gives them a less desirable texture.

Many of us are more likely to sauté mushrooms on the stove than roast them in the oven. But as delicious as sautéed mushrooms are, I'd argue that roasted mushrooms are even better. They're crisp around the edges, meaty in the middle, and packed with savory, umami flavor.

Preheat grill on high. Place half the mushrooms, stem-side up, on a baking tray. Cook under preheated grill, about 6cm from the heat source, for 5-6 minutes or until juices start collecting in the caps. Turn and cook for 2-3 minutes or until tender.

Don't bother peeling your mushrooms

Most chefs say yes. Not only is peeling a mushroom laborious and time-consuming, but there's a lot of good flavour in the skin of one. Give them a wash and a chop and stick them straight in your dish. To peel or not to peel, that is the question.