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I've peeled my button mushrooms since cooking with a friend once, who did it, but I've never understood why, if at all, it's advisable. Searching shows a fairly wide range of opinions but I see no reason attached to either side. Is it purely aesthetic? |
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The only motivation I'm aware of for peeling button mushrooms other than wanting a very clean, white appearance is to remove dirt, dust, grit, compost, etc. from the surface without the trouble of brushing or washing. It's arguably quicker to peel mushrooms than to brush them (though not in my experience) and many people don't like washing them because they absorb a little bit of the water, which is counter-productive when e.g. sauteing. However, peeling them means you are wasting some of your ingredients, and even a very dirty button mushroom is trivial to clean by washing or brushing. I rarely find it necessary to clean supermarket mushrooms at all as they tend to be very clean on the shelf. If they're dusty, a gentle pat with a clean, damp sponge does the trick. I would advise against peeling unless you're going for a specific visual presentation that requires it. See also: How to clean mushrooms? |
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I don't peel mine, or didn't until I found a "working woman" cookbook which used the stems & peels to make mushroom stock for soup the day after making grilled mushrooms. Aside from doing that, I've never done it. You need to be doing a lot of mushrooms to make this cost effective and I don't think mushrooms freeze well, so that's out. It's my understanding that peeling mushrooms is like washing meat, advice previously given as a default and no longer viewd that way. Washing meat is considered dangerous now. I think that the mushroom thing is optional at this point, mostly I do NOT, unless I plan to make soup the next day! |
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I always peel my mushrooms if purchased from the bulk department. Just watch the other store patrons sneeze,cough, hack over the produce and you will become a peeler too. |
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Argument against one of the comments above: mushrooms can freeze well depending on the use afterwards. I wouldn't slice and freeze them to sauté later, they'd be mushy. However, I always cook with peeled caps, and save both stems and peels in the freezer to make broth later. They'll stay in the freezer for a long time and if they're just getting boiled and reduced down you don't need to worry about their texture. I peel them specifically to build up my "stockpile" though. All the parts, cap, skin and stem, are good for cooking up. I just hate the idea of wasting caps in broth, so I set aside the not-as-desirable parts for that. I can cook a dish with just caps, but not with just stems and/or skins. |
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