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  #1 (permalink)   Report Post  
Jude
 
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Default how do you clean your mushrooms?

Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.

How do you clean them well enough without water?

ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
homemade honey mustard dressing.

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Gabby
 
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"Jude" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.


I just brush them off with a paper towel.

Gabby


  #3 (permalink)   Report Post  
Herman Munster
 
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Alton Brown "Good Eats" had a show not too long ago about this very subject.
After doing some testing, first weighing then soaking different test groups
for different amounts of time. He determined that the mushrooms "soaked up"
very little water. 4 ounces of mushrooms only gained like .1 of an ounce.
In fact they soaked up as much with a quick rinse as they did with a 20
minute soak.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show..._36653,00.html
I have never had a problem rinsing and wiping with a paper towel.
Enjoy!
HM


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Peter Aitken
 
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"Jude" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
> How do you clean them well enough without water?


You can get a special mushroom brush. It has soft bristles and works quite
well. I have found that using water does not harm unless you plan to saute
the mushrooms. If they are going in a stew or soup it makes no difference.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.


  #5 (permalink)   Report Post  
elaine
 
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"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Jude" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> > but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> > I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> > clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> > it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
> >
> > How do you clean them well enough without water?



If they're dirty, I wash em - I'm a bit squeemish when it comes to eating
fungus.

Elaine




  #6 (permalink)   Report Post  
Nancy Young
 
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"Jude" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
> How do you clean them well enough without water?


I don't. I think it's much ado about nothing, I just rinse them off.
Sorry, I am not eating manure.

As a matter of fact, Alton did a myth buster show, where he actually
soaked mushrooms for up to a half hour and the amount of water
weight gain was negligible.

nancy


  #7 (permalink)   Report Post  
Phred
 
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In article . com>, "Jude" > wrote:
>Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
>but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.


Dunno about pesticides, but they grow 'em in crap.

>I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
>clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
>it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
>How do you clean them well enough without water?


According to the mushroom bags provided by the local supermarkets:
"To prepare for cooking and eating, wipe or brush mushrooms gently --
no need to wash or peel them."

However, I've seen them growing, so I wash them. And if the skins are
noticeably discoloured, I peel them too. (But I admit that this sort
of two bob each way would not be acceptable behaviour to the cultists
from either side of the mushroom peeling divide.)

>ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
>but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
>steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
>toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
>homemade honey mustard dressing.



Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

  #8 (permalink)   Report Post  
Dave Smith
 
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Jude wrote:

> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.=


> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and=


> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.


Pesticides? That would be the least of your worries with mushrooms. They=

don't grow them in fields where the bugs and rodents can eat them. They a=
re
grown in trays of rotted manure in dark buildings.

I just run them under water and rub them with my fingers. I haven't caugh=
t
anything from them (yet). A friend of my brothers insists that they have=

to be peeled. He has a thing about the excrement they are grown in.

> ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
> but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
> steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
> homemade honey mustard dressing.


They are nice lightly saut=E9ed in butter with a little bit of salt and
pepper and just a few drops of lemon juice.



  #9 (permalink)   Report Post  
Julia Altshuler
 
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Phred wrote:

> Dunno about pesticides, but they grow 'em in crap.



Do they really? I thought mushrooms were grown in decaying vegetable
matter, sort of like the way seeds sometimes grow in the compost heap (a
compost heap of only garden clippings and no animal products whatsoever).


--Lia

  #10 (permalink)   Report Post  
Pierre
 
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Phred wrote:
<snipp>

>
> >ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef

stroganoff
> >but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles,

with
> >steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> >toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad

with
> >homemade honey mustard dressing.

>
>
> Cheers, Phred.
>
> --
> LID


Rinse off the tops and any apron. Not the gills, unless you want the
grit washed into the gills. Snip the tough part of the stalk if the
texture is a bit tough.

Pierre



  #11 (permalink)   Report Post  
Gabby
 
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"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> As a matter of fact, Alton did a myth buster show, where he actually
> soaked mushrooms for up to a half hour and the amount of water
> weight gain was negligible.


May not make much difference if you're cooking them, but washed mushrooms
served raw, as you often find in a vegetable and dip arrangement, are gross.

Gabby


  #12 (permalink)   Report Post  
Sheldon
 
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Jude wrote:
> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb

water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of

pesticides.
> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel

and
> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
> How do you clean them well enough without water?


Cultivated mushroom growing medium is not "dirt/dirty", it's sterile
humus, it's 100% organic and contains no pesticides (washing doesn't
remove pesticides anyway, they're systemic). The growing medium can't
harm you, it's removal is strictly aesthetic. I remove excess growing
medium by first cutting away the very bottom of the stem, and then
brushing/wiping away clinging particles with a dry cloth dish towel (I
find so-called mushroom brushes useless). But it also depends on how
the mushrooms will be used since wiping a quantity of mushrooms can be
tedious, so if they will go into soups/stews or otherwise cooked in
liquid anyway then I will rinse them with water... if they are going to
be sauted or eaten raw as crudites then I wipe. There is never any
reason to 'peel' mushrooms but one may want to pare away any bruised
portions. Folks tend not to realize that one of the most important
elements regarding cooking is that heat sterilizes. And there is no
way to avoid ingesting a considerable quantity of 'dirt' in ones
lifetime, not on this planet. Since mushroom growing medium is humous
and humous is the organic matter of soil and mushrooms (as are all
growing things) are composed entirely of organic matter, then ingesting
the organic growing medium is no different from ingesting the mushroom
itself... or any other growing thing. Ingesting some mushroom growing
medium is no worse than eating your morning flakies, in fact your
flakies probably aren't TOTALly organic and are also fortified with
various nefarious nutrients... not to mention the grains it's made from
was never wiped let alone washed. Btw, folks who agonize over
ingesting insect parts, rodent droppings, and 'dirt' are in fact
certifiably psychotic... anyone fretting about mushroom growing medium
is deeply disturbed... anyone who peels mushrooms is no less deranged
than a serial killer, in fact scientific investigation has proven that
the one thing all serial killers have in common is that their mothers
peeled mushrooms.

Sheldon

  #13 (permalink)   Report Post  
MJ
 
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Living in a town where we have a mushroom farm and knowing that they are
deffinately grown in SHIT...i make sure that they are washed..I put them in
a bowl and sprinkle flour on them and then run water onto them and swish
them around..the flour helps remove any stuck on stuff..
"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
Jude wrote:

> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.


Pesticides? That would be the least of your worries with mushrooms. They
don't grow them in fields where the bugs and rodents can eat them. They are
grown in trays of rotted manure in dark buildings.

I just run them under water and rub them with my fingers. I haven't caught
anything from them (yet). A friend of my brothers insists that they have
to be peeled. He has a thing about the excrement they are grown in.

> ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
> but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
> steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
> homemade honey mustard dressing.


They are nice lightly sautéed in butter with a little bit of salt and
pepper and just a few drops of lemon juice.





  #14 (permalink)   Report Post  
cathy
 
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On 17 Feb 2005 04:13:59 -0800, "Jude" > wrote:

>Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
>but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
>I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
>clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
>it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
>How do you clean them well enough without water?
>
>ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
>but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
>steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
>toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
>homemade honey mustard dressing.


I don't care what "they" say, I dont' want dirt or grit in my food, so
I wash my mushrooms. I usually do it right before preparation, so they
don't sit in water, and I allow just enough time for them to dry
before they get sliced or chopped or whatever and tossed into the pan.
I have never yet had "soggy" mushrooms, or had a problem with excess
water from mushrooms ruining a dish.

Cathy
  #15 (permalink)   Report Post  
zuuum
 
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Peel a mushroom?? LOL.. they may as well flute them.... by the case.

As stated earlier, if absolutely necessary, wipe with a dry cloth unless
they are destined to be in liquid.




  #16 (permalink)   Report Post  
Dimitri
 
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"Jude" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
> How do you clean them well enough without water?
>
> ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
> but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
> steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
> homemade honey mustard dressing.



Just before using them I rince them - I think the soggy mushrooms is a food
myth.

Dimitri

Good Eats
Episode EA1H22

AIR TIMES:
February 05, 2005 8:00 AM ET/PT
February 24, 2005 10:00 PM ET/PT
February 25, 2005 2:00 AM ET/PT




Myth Smashers
Sure, cooking is full of rules, sayings, and axioms but do they all hold
water? Join host Alton Brown as he sears meat, washes mushrooms, oils the
pasta water and tries to blow-up water.


  #17 (permalink)   Report Post  
Katra
 
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In article . com>,
"Jude" > wrote:

> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
> How do you clean them well enough without water?
>
> ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
> but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
> steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
> homemade honey mustard dressing.
>


I rinse mine well in a colander WITH WATER! I don't worry about the
excess water.

Just drain them well, and cook down the juice. Mushrooms naturally
release quite a bit of liquid when you cook them fresh.

If you are worried about the excess liquid, used canned ones and drain
them well.

Not the same tho'. :-P

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles
tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
to use mental floss twice a day. -- Swami Beyondanada

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra
  #18 (permalink)   Report Post  
Katra
 
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In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> Jude wrote:
>
> > Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> > but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> > I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> > clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> > it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.

>
> Pesticides? That would be the least of your worries with mushrooms. They
> don't grow them in fields where the bugs and rodents can eat them. They are
> grown in trays of rotted manure in dark buildings.


But, that "rotted manure" (aka "compost) is sterilized prior to growing
them. ;-) If you don't sterilize mushroom media, you don't get good
yields!

I've been studying mushroom cultivation lately as I'd like to grow some
of the more expensive ones here myself.

This site has an excellent price on pre-innocuated grow bags:

http://www.fungiperfecti.com/kits/index.html

In my web research on growing mushrooms, I ran across numerous
references for growing "magic" mushrooms as well. Talk about a lot of
work! <lol> Some of them start off with sterile culture plates! You grow
them in jars of rice flour and have to make sure that you maintain
sterility and cleanliness thru the entire process for maximum yields.

It appears that that also goes for a lot of edible mushroom growing as
well.

Fascinating subject!

So, even if you choose NOT to wash, rinse, or otherwise clean your
mushrooms, you are probably not going to have any problems with
"contamination.

And, oh, they don't use pesticides when growing mushrooms.....
It's detrimental to the mycelial (root) growth.

>
> I just run them under water and rub them with my fingers. I haven't caught
> anything from them (yet). A friend of my brothers insists that they have
> to be peeled. He has a thing about the excrement they are grown in.


It is sterilized (autoclaved) "excrement"...

>
> > ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
> > but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
> > steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> > toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
> > homemade honey mustard dressing.

>
> They are nice lightly sautéed in butter with a little bit of salt and
> pepper and just a few drops of lemon juice.


Oh yes... with a cream gravy over toast!

>
>
>


--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles
tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
to use mental floss twice a day. -- Swami Beyondanada

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra
  #19 (permalink)   Report Post  
Katra
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article . com>,
"Sheldon" > wrote:

> Jude wrote:
> > Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb

> water,
> > but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of

> pesticides.
> > I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> > clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel

> and
> > it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
> >
> > How do you clean them well enough without water?

>
> Cultivated mushroom growing medium is not "dirt/dirty", it's sterile
> humus, it's 100% organic and contains no pesticides (washing doesn't
> remove pesticides anyway, they're systemic). The growing medium can't
> harm you, it's removal is strictly aesthetic. I remove excess growing
> medium by first cutting away the very bottom of the stem, and then
> brushing/wiping away clinging particles with a dry cloth dish towel (I
> find so-called mushroom brushes useless). But it also depends on how
> the mushrooms will be used since wiping a quantity of mushrooms can be
> tedious, so if they will go into soups/stews or otherwise cooked in
> liquid anyway then I will rinse them with water... if they are going to
> be sauted or eaten raw as crudites then I wipe. There is never any
> reason to 'peel' mushrooms but one may want to pare away any bruised
> portions. Folks tend not to realize that one of the most important
> elements regarding cooking is that heat sterilizes. And there is no
> way to avoid ingesting a considerable quantity of 'dirt' in ones
> lifetime, not on this planet. Since mushroom growing medium is humous
> and humous is the organic matter of soil and mushrooms (as are all
> growing things) are composed entirely of organic matter, then ingesting
> the organic growing medium is no different from ingesting the mushroom
> itself... or any other growing thing. Ingesting some mushroom growing
> medium is no worse than eating your morning flakies, in fact your
> flakies probably aren't TOTALly organic and are also fortified with
> various nefarious nutrients... not to mention the grains it's made from
> was never wiped let alone washed. Btw, folks who agonize over
> ingesting insect parts, rodent droppings, and 'dirt' are in fact
> certifiably psychotic... anyone fretting about mushroom growing medium
> is deeply disturbed... anyone who peels mushrooms is no less deranged
> than a serial killer, in fact scientific investigation has proven that
> the one thing all serial killers have in common is that their mothers
> peeled mushrooms.
>
> Sheldon
>


<snicker>
Nice rant... ;-)

Check out that site I posted Shel'.
It looks like a lot of fun, and other mushrooms can be very interesting!
I personally adore Oyster mushrooms!

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles
tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
to use mental floss twice a day. -- Swami Beyondanada

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra
  #20 (permalink)   Report Post  
Katra
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In article >,
cathy > wrote:

> On 17 Feb 2005 04:13:59 -0800, "Jude" > wrote:
>
> >Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> >but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> >I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> >clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> >it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
> >
> >How do you clean them well enough without water?
> >
> >ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
> >but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
> >steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> >toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
> >homemade honey mustard dressing.

>
> I don't care what "they" say, I dont' want dirt or grit in my food, so
> I wash my mushrooms. I usually do it right before preparation, so they
> don't sit in water, and I allow just enough time for them to dry
> before they get sliced or chopped or whatever and tossed into the pan.
> I have never yet had "soggy" mushrooms, or had a problem with excess
> water from mushrooms ruining a dish.
>
> Cathy


You will never find "grit" in mushrooms.
The compost they are grown in is normally dirt free...

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles
tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
to use mental floss twice a day. -- Swami Beyondanada

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra


  #21 (permalink)   Report Post  
Dave Smith
 
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cathy wrote:

> I don't care what "they" say, I dont' want dirt or grit in my food, so
> I wash my mushrooms.


It's not grit. It's shit. One of the local mushroom growers has a contract
with the race track for all the straw and manure from the stables and trucks
it to their farm operation. I don't know what they do to sterilize it. I
personally prefer to remove those little bits of manure but I don't think I
am overly sensitive to the stuff. Some people are. I know people who refuse
to eat mushroom because of what they are grown in.



  #22 (permalink)   Report Post  
Dave Smith
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Katra wrote:

> > Pesticides? That would be the least of your worries with mushrooms. =

They
> > don't grow them in fields where the bugs and rodents can eat them. Th=

ey are
> > grown in trays of rotted manure in dark buildings.

>
> But, that "rotted manure" (aka "compost) is sterilized prior to growing=


> them. ;-) If you don't sterilize mushroom media, you don't get good
> yields!


You and I know that, but some people just can't get over that, sterilized=
or not, it
is shit.

> > I just run them under water and rub them with my fingers. I haven't c=

aught
> > anything from them (yet). A friend of my brothers insists that they =

have
> > to be peeled. He has a thing about the excrement they are grown in.

>
> It is sterilized (autoclaved) "excrement"...


My brother's friend went nuts when he saw my brother cooking up mushrooms=
=2E The friend
insisted that they had to be peeled to be safe. Of course my brother refu=
sed to peel
them and the friend would not eat them.


> > They are nice lightly saut=E9ed in butter with a little bit of salt a=

nd
> > pepper and just a few drops of lemon juice.

>
> Oh yes... with a cream gravy over toast!


I had forgotten about that. It used to be a favourite of my father's.
I like them saut=E9ed as a side dish with steak. I don't remember where I=
heard about
the lemon juice but I find it to be a really nice touch, but it is just a=
few drops.


  #23 (permalink)   Report Post  
Nancy Young
 
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"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
Katra wrote:
> But, that "rotted manure" (aka "compost) is sterilized prior to growing
> them. ;-) If you don't sterilize mushroom media, you don't get good
> yields!


You and I know that, but some people just can't get over that, sterilized or
not, it
is shit.

****Raising hand! Yeah, if people want to brush them off, by all means ...
me
I give them a quick rinse. Truthfully, I rarely eat raw mushrooms, I prefer
them
cooked in a dish of some kind. In the summer, fuggedaboutit, sauteed with
sliced onions and served on burgers or with steak, yikes! Maybe add some
brandy or wine in there ... I can't get enough of that stuff.

Not so big on raw mushrooms, and that has nothing to do with washing them
or not.

nancy


  #24 (permalink)   Report Post  
Katra
 
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In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> cathy wrote:
>
> > I don't care what "they" say, I dont' want dirt or grit in my food, so
> > I wash my mushrooms.

>
> It's not grit. It's shit. One of the local mushroom growers has a contract
> with the race track for all the straw and manure from the stables and trucks
> it to their farm operation. I don't know what they do to sterilize it.


Giant autoclaves... ;-)
Seriously.

Stammets shows pictures of them in his mushroom cultivation book.
It's pretty amazing!

I want to look into growing giant stropharia out back. That might take
care of that one large composed area that won't grow anything else right
now. I think the soil is too high in Nitrogen, and the mushrooms would
clean that up.

> I
> personally prefer to remove those little bits of manure but I don't think I
> am overly sensitive to the stuff. Some people are. I know people who refuse
> to eat mushroom because of what they are grown in.


Then they better not eat any other veggies either. ;-)
Most veggies are grown in variations of composted manure!
Some of my best veggies here are grown in the soil I shovel out
of the chicken yard and emu pens......


>
>
>



I just rinse my mushrooms well in a collander.
Works fine and does not hurt them.

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles
tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
to use mental floss twice a day. -- Swami Beyondanada

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra
  #25 (permalink)   Report Post  
Katra
 
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In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> Katra wrote:
>
> > > Pesticides? That would be the least of your worries with mushrooms. They
> > > don't grow them in fields where the bugs and rodents can eat them. They
> > > are
> > > grown in trays of rotted manure in dark buildings.

> >
> > But, that "rotted manure" (aka "compost) is sterilized prior to growing
> > them. ;-) If you don't sterilize mushroom media, you don't get good
> > yields!

>
> You and I know that, but some people just can't get over that, sterilized or
> not, it
> is shit.


True... but as I said in my last post, most veggies, especially organic
veggies, are also grown in composted animal shit! Usually from
vegetarian mammals. We discuss this kind of stuff on the gardening lists
all the time.

Most people reserve predator (cat and dog) manure for flower beds
supposedly because of disease transmission, but predator manure is
usually _much_ higher in nitrogen than horse, cow or chicken manure so
it's best to compost it for about a year before using it.

>
> > > I just run them under water and rub them with my fingers. I haven't
> > > caught
> > > anything from them (yet). A friend of my brothers insists that they have
> > > to be peeled. He has a thing about the excrement they are grown in.

> >
> > It is sterilized (autoclaved) "excrement"...

>
> My brother's friend went nuts when he saw my brother cooking up mushrooms.
> The friend
> insisted that they had to be peeled to be safe. Of course my brother refused
> to peel
> them and the friend would not eat them.


<snicker> His loss!
I'd never even consider peeling a mushroom!

Heck, I like them raw dipped in ranch dressing.

>
>
> > > They are nice lightly sautéed in butter with a little bit of salt and
> > > pepper and just a few drops of lemon juice.

> >
> > Oh yes... with a cream gravy over toast!

>
> I had forgotten about that. It used to be a favourite of my father's.
> I like them sautéed as a side dish with steak. I don't remember where I heard
> about
> the lemon juice but I find it to be a really nice touch, but it is just a few
> drops.


Mmm yes! Sautee mushrooms with onions in butter and olive oil and put
them on TOP of the steak! lol.


>
>


--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles
tend to get caught between the ears causing truth decay- so be sure
to use mental floss twice a day. -- Swami Beyondanada

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra


  #26 (permalink)   Report Post  
Dave Smith
 
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Katra wrote:

> Most people reserve predator (cat and dog) manure for flower beds
> supposedly because of disease transmission, but predator manure is
> usually _much_ higher in nitrogen than horse, cow or chicken manure so
> it's best to compost it for about a year before using it.


I have read that dog and cat crap should not be used in vegetable gardens due to
parasites, and the instructions that came with my composter said not top put them in
the composter. Pity. I have two large dogs. I could fertilize a small farm :-)


> Heck, I like them raw dipped in ranch dressing.


That's good. I like them even more with blue cheese dressing. I especially like raw
mushrooms in a salad with chick peas, tomatoes and blue cheese dressing.




  #27 (permalink)   Report Post  
Tom Scott
 
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"Jude" > wrote in message
ups.com...
Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.

How do you clean them well enough without water?

<snip>

We toss some salt in a bowl w/ warm water and slosh the mushrooms around
with your hand. This gets most of the dirt off. If they're real dirty,
also lightly rubbing w/ your fingers helps. Then rinse a couple of times w/
clean water.




  #28 (permalink)   Report Post  
Melba's Jammin'
 
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In article . com>,
"Jude" > wrote:

>
> How do you clean them well enough without water?


I just blow on them. And flick any big pieces of soil off.
--
-Barb
<www.jamlady.eboard.com>; Sam pics added 2-7-05
"I got the motive, which is money; and the body, which is dead!" - Rod
Steiger as Sheriff Gillespie, "In the Heat of the Night," 1967.
  #29 (permalink)   Report Post  
Priscilla Ballou
 
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In article . com>,
"Tom Scott" > wrote:

> We toss some salt in a bowl w/ warm water and slosh the mushrooms around
> with your hand. This gets most of the dirt off. If they're real dirty,
> also lightly rubbing w/ your fingers helps. Then rinse a couple of times w/
> clean water.


Why the salt? I'm familiar with soaking organic broccoli in salt water
before washing and preparing, but this doesn't sound the same.

Priscilla
--
"And what's this crap about Sodomites? It's always Sodomites this and
Sodomites that. What about us Gomorrahians? We were there too; we
deserve some mention. Sodom always gets the credit, and Gomorrah always
does the work." - JohnN in alt.religion.christian.episcopal
  #30 (permalink)   Report Post  
Priscilla Ballou
 
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In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> I like them sautéed as a side dish with steak. I don't remember where I heard
> about
> the lemon juice but I find it to be a really nice touch, but it is just a few
> drops.


Years ago I used to do a baked mushroom thingie with olive oil and
lemon, but I don't remember the specifics now.

Priscilla
--
"And what's this crap about Sodomites? It's always Sodomites this and
Sodomites that. What about us Gomorrahians? We were there too; we
deserve some mention. Sodom always gets the credit, and Gomorrah always
does the work." - JohnN in alt.religion.christian.episcopal


  #31 (permalink)   Report Post  
Priscilla Ballou
 
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In article >,
Katra > wrote:

> In article >,
> Dave Smith > wrote:


> > You and I know that, but some people just can't get over that, sterilized
> > or not, it is shit.

>
> True... but as I said in my last post, most veggies, especially organic
> veggies, are also grown in composted animal shit! Usually from
> vegetarian mammals. We discuss this kind of stuff on the gardening lists
> all the time.


When I bought my house 6 years ago and started my organic vegie
gardening "career" I had a source for "zoo doo." A local
soil/compost/etc. company had a contract with the local zoo for all the
herbivore manure, which they then composted. So I was gardening with
gazelle and giraffe manure! No elephants', I'm afraid.

> Most people reserve predator (cat and dog) manure for flower beds
> supposedly because of disease transmission, but predator manure is
> usually _much_ higher in nitrogen than horse, cow or chicken manure so
> it's best to compost it for about a year before using it.


The colony of feral cats which I and my neighbors help support doesn't
pay any heed to whether the bed they're using as a litter box is growing
vegies or flowers, I'm afraid. To a cat, I think any raised bed *is* a
litter box.

If there were an easy way to attract them to a non-cultivated bit of my
yard, I might do it, though. I wonder if dumping some of my indoor
cats' used litter in a spot would attract the other cats to use that
area or repell them. Hmmmm.

Priscilla
--
"And what's this crap about Sodomites? It's always Sodomites this and
Sodomites that. What about us Gomorrahians? We were there too; we
deserve some mention. Sodom always gets the credit, and Gomorrah always
does the work." - JohnN in alt.religion.christian.episcopal
  #32 (permalink)   Report Post  
Priscilla Ballou
 
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In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> > Heck, I like them raw dipped in ranch dressing.

>
> That's good. I like them even more with blue cheese dressing. I especially
> like raw
> mushrooms in a salad with chick peas, tomatoes and blue cheese dressing.


I adore cooked mushrooms, but for some reason I don't care for raw ones.
Odd, I know.

Priscilla
--
"And what's this crap about Sodomites? It's always Sodomites this and
Sodomites that. What about us Gomorrahians? We were there too; we
deserve some mention. Sodom always gets the credit, and Gomorrah always
does the work." - JohnN in alt.religion.christian.episcopal
  #33 (permalink)   Report Post  
Sheldon
 
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biig wrote:
> I worked in a mushroom plant, picking and grading....they are grown
> in straw and manure.....I would wash mine if I were using them.


You may have worked at a mushroom farm, but like mushrooms you are also
in the dark and full of horseshit. Mushroom medium is COMPOSTED, to
the point where it is no longer straw and horseshit.

Go he http://www.mushroomcouncil.org/production/sixsteps.htm

  #34 (permalink)   Report Post  
Victor Sack
 
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Jude > wrote:

> How do you clean them well enough without water?


Water, at least a bit of it, is usually necessary, not because of some
pesticides, but because of dirt or sand. Besides, what mushrooms are
you talking about? Ceps, for example, are usually not hard to clean at
all; morels, on the other hand, can be full of sand and often require
long and careful rinsing under running water.

Victor
  #35 (permalink)   Report Post  
Dave Smith
 
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Priscilla Ballou wrote:

>
> > That's good. I like them even more with blue cheese dressing. I especially
> > like raw
> > mushrooms in a salad with chick peas, tomatoes and blue cheese dressing.

>
> I adore cooked mushrooms, but for some reason I don't care for raw ones.
> Odd, I know.
>


It's not that odd. They have a unique texture and interesting taste. I like them
raw in small doses only.




  #36 (permalink)   Report Post  
Jude
 
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Whew! Didn't expect QUITE such a huge response....this is one active
newsgroup!

I know some muchrooms are grown in manure, but Iw as under the
impression that commercial white button mushrooms were grown in a
different composted material, so I'm not too worried about that. Mostly
I don't like the huge clods of dirt that fall into my dinner.

Thanks for all the advice....I've now got about 18 different ways to
try cleaning my mushrooms next time I cook!

  #37 (permalink)   Report Post  
Arri London
 
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Jude wrote:
>
> Thye say not to wash them necasue they get all soggy and absorb water,
> but they are always so dirty and i know the dirt is full of pesticides.
> I've been told to brush the dirt off but it;s hard to really get them
> clean that wasy. Last night I tried rubbing them with a paper towel and
> it got the big chunks of dirt but rubbed in some of it as well.
>
> How do you clean them well enough without water?


We slosh them around in a bowl of water and remove them. They don't soak
up water unless they are fully open and are left in the water for a long
time.

Not convinced mushroom growing medium is full of pesticides though. It
is sterilised prior to use, which would break down most pesticides.

>
> ps, they were for a yummy veggie stroganoff.......like beef stroganoff
> but with chunks of veggieburger as the beef, served over noodles, with
> steamed artichokes and garlic butter, and a spinach/ dried cherry /
> toasted almond / mandarin orange / avocado / waterchestnut salad with
> homemade honey mustard dressing.

  #38 (permalink)   Report Post  
Dave Smith
 
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Arri London wrote:

>
> Not convinced mushroom growing medium is full of pesticides though. It
> is sterilised prior to use, which would break down most pesticides.


Actually, it is a biochemical process that deals with the pesticides in the
previous level of the food chain. A lot of the basic components of the
"growing medium" is hay, grass, grains, feed and whatever else the horse
ate. Most of the rest of it is the straw bedding from the stalls. The first
step of the "growing medium" retrieval is called "mucking out" in stable
talk..... cleaning stalls. It is trucked away to the mushroom farms where it
is composted and, as some have indicated, sterilized in autoclaves.


  #39 (permalink)   Report Post  
Sheldon
 
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Arri London wrote:
>
> Not convinced mushroom growing medium is full of pesticides though.



Why would you even entertain the idea that there would be greater
levels of pesticides present than would normally occur in average hay
and horse shit. Do you really think mushroom growers go out of their
way to gather hay and horse shit that is richer in pesticides than the
average???

  #40 (permalink)   Report Post  
Tom Scott
 
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"Priscilla Ballou" > wrote in message
...
In article . com>,
"Tom Scott" > wrote:

> We toss some salt in a bowl w/ warm water and slosh the mushrooms around
> with your hand. This gets most of the dirt off. If they're real dirty,
> also lightly rubbing w/ your fingers helps. Then rinse a couple of times

w/
> clean water.


Why the salt? I'm familiar with soaking organic broccoli in salt water
before washing and preparing, but this doesn't sound the same.

Priscilla


Mainly its the gritty consistency being like an abrasive. Guess you could
use sand too :-)

We soak our broccoli in salt water to get the tiny green worms off.
Sometimes you miss a few.... LOL


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