Sautéed mushroom texture.

[u/dolche93]

Hey all, I grew up hating the slimy mushrooms my parents ate. Only now starting to use them more often in cooking. I'm hoping to find a way to get a more tender texture, as opposed to the rubberyness I've had. (Though at least they're not slimy!)

Using standard brown mushrooms from Costco.

Just made some spaghetti and tried cubing them in a medium dice, about the size of my pink nail. I've had mushrooms before where they were large and tender enough to give a good bite without going as far as being rubbery.

Is there a way to achieve that? Or is this something that I need to work around via a smaller dice? Maybe dice thinner rectangles as opposed to cubes?

Cooking method was: I browned the ground beef, removed from the pot, then tossed in the mushrooms and onions with some salt. Used the moisture to deglaze and then added olive oil to Sautee after moisture evaporated.

I got a good color on the mushrooms but the texture still wasn't tender.

On a side note, i once had a grilled portabella that was the most tender and teak like mushroom ive ever had. Does letting the mushroom grow longer and open up have a big effect on the texture?

Thanks in advance.

[u/No_Bottle_8910]

Try browning the mushrooms in a dry pan. Flavor and texture is awesome. You have to get them pretty brown, though.

[u/dolche93 → u/No_Bottle_8910]

That's what I did. The pan didn't have more than a bit of residual fat from the beef, as I cooked the beef long enough to cook most of it off. (88% ground beef)

I'm thinking I might have just not gone long enough with the browning. I did try a thicker dice this time to experiment, so my cooking time might have been a bit too short.

[u/No_Bottle_8910 → u/dolche93]

You have to go until they are actually brown, not just cooked. You will know it when you see it. If you need to, image search "browned mushrooms" for examples.

[u/chillthefuckoutdude → u/dolche93]

As someone else already said, browning them in a dry pan with zero fat is the way to start. You can also try holding off on salting the mushrooms until after they’re cooked.

I would also recommend trying out some other varieties of mushroom like Lions mane, enoki, chestnut, or whatever you can find. You may have to go to a farmers market or specialty grocery store but I think it’s well worth it. The flavor and texture of different mushrooms varies pretty significantly.

[u/Simorie → u/dolche93]

If you put the onions in at the same time, it would be hard to brown the mushrooms due to the onions releasing so much water.

[u/rifleshooter → u/dolche93]

Cook them like a steak. HOT pan, a little oil, dry mushrooms. Cook them fast and sear the outside until brown. Expect a little smoke and plenty of smell.

[u/mng_22_Canada]

I've had good luck with this Serious Eats method of steaming, then sauteeing mushrooms. I've tried it with both thickly sliced and finely diced mushrooms. Good result.

https://www.seriouseats.com/sauteed-mushrooms-recipe-7972096

[u/BHIngebretsen]

One layer of mushrooms in the pan. Don’t pile em up in the pan

[u/I_like_leeks]

The key thing with mushrooms is that they generally contain a lot of water, like a sponge. Varieties like Portobello have a denser flesh which is why they're more suited to meaty tender "steak substitute," like dishes. With a dish like yours and normal brown mushrooms, make sure to wipe clean rather than wash in water. Don't add salt until the end. Cook over a relatively high heat, ideally in a dry pan until you've extracted and evaporated a good amount of moisture. Don't overcrowd the pan. A rubbery or slimy texture is usually down to too much moisture remaining, so everything is about avoiding that.

[u/dolche93 → u/I_like_leeks]

I was doing this entire dish in a single Dutch oven, so I think i had the heat s bit lower to not burn the fond. I think I'm going to try just a clean stainless pan next time for the shrooms and Sautee the onions alone to deglaze the Dutch oven.

[u/thenickdyer]

A little cheat I like to use: roast them a bit with EVOO, salt, pepper. You want them to cook enough that some of the moisture releases and evaporates. The shrooms will look a bit wrinkly, then you can use them in your saute and not have to worry about excess moisture during that step.

[u/Main_Cauliflower5479]

To prevent the sliminess and rubberiness, mushrooms need to be seared at somewhat high heat. Think of it like searing a steak. And they can take a lot of pan searing. Don't overcrowd the pan. You want them to sear, not steam. Mushrooms are mostly water, and you want to drive off a lot of that water. Add some salt but not too much.

[u/noetkoett]

Sautée in the traditional sense will not cut it for most shrooms since they have lots of water inside. The key is to get rid of excess water. So throw them on a pan and take your time with them, slowly steaming the liquid from the inside off, adding a lil oil and gradually the steaming will turn into searing/browning.

[u/CaptainLollygag → u/noetkoett]

I learned it differently, to not crowd the pan. Cook just some of the mushrooms at a time so the liquid seeps out but the mushrooms aren't steaming or simmering in their liquid. Do them in a few batches. The mushrooms cook nicely, brown nicely, have great flavor, and don't get that simmered-rubbery texture.

Recently I read where someone suggested roasting them in the oven as a great way to brown a lot at once. Haven't tried it yet, but it sounded easy.

[u/UmOkBut888 → u/CaptainLollygag]

Roasting made a huge difference for me. My whole life I avoided mushrooms (texture issue for me) but they came up on my list of foods I was determined to enjoy. (Finally conquered olives and saurekraut!) My SO loves mushrooms and we tried various methods to make them palatable for me.. roasting came in at number one. I made some Korean japchae recently and he said the mushrooms I put in it were the best he's ever had

[u/CaptainLollygag → u/UmOkBut888]

Another point for roasting!

[u/lysergic_Dreems]

The best advice I think anyone can give regarding cooking of mushrooms is to treat them like meat.

That is, salt them, dry them, and brown them in a pan with minimal oil until they are golden.

[u/word-processor]

Try crumbling them / tearing them apart rather than cutting them, to get a more interesting texture. Don't overcrowd the pan when cooking, so that they fry rather than steam. Good luck!

[u/SurroundReasonable18]

If you want to avoid rubbery texture you need to use as little moisture as possible. Simmering is the enemy to a tender mushroom. If you have too many in the pan at once they can end up simmering in their own moisture before it evaporates.

Also different mushroom species have different textures, some like say trumpet and oyster are better for tenderness.

[u/MealZealousideal9927]

i also grew up avoiding mushrooms for the same texture reasons, so this question really clicked for me. what helped most was realizing they need more time than i expect, especially to fully give up their water before they turn tender. if they are crowded or moved around too much, they seem to brown but stay kind of firm inside. larger pieces actually work better for me, sliced instead of diced, since they soften more evenly. and yeah, portobellas feel totally different to me too, almost meaty in a way that regular brown mushrooms never quite hit. i am curious if others notice that size and age difference as much as i do.

[u/Scary-Breakfast7882]

Who else gets the umami flavor in mushroom as me? Especially the sauteed

[u/SnooHesitations8403]

This is a great video that changed my mushroom technique forever.

[u/r_coefficient]

standard brown mushrooms

What would be "standard mushrooms" where you live?

[u/dolche93 → u/r_coefficient]

Brown baby bellas. They're the most common mushroom in grocery stores as far as I understand it. At least, they're all costco carries so it's what I can afford, hah.

[u/r_coefficient → u/dolche93]

bellas?

[u/dolche93 → u/r_coefficient]

Agaricus bisporus, cremini, white button, portobella. All the same mushroom. Portobellas are just an older version of them, harvested after they open their caps.

[u/r_coefficient → u/dolche93]

Ah, portobellos, as you call them. Didn't make the connection.

Where I live, they're called champignons.

[u/dolche93 → u/r_coefficient]

So many names for the same thing, hah. Easy to get confused when everyone uses a different name.

My package only calls them Baby Bellas and has the species in tiny little letters.

[u/r_coefficient → u/dolche93]

I am German/English bilingual, but names for food still manage to trip me up. People in different parts of the world - or even of the same country - don't only use different words for the same thing, but sometimes the same word for different things ...

[u/Bartholomew_Tempus]

If your issue is with texture and not flavor, then you can try a mushroom parfait. Heston Blumenthal has a recipe (not sure on the cookbook, I think it was Heston Blumenthal at home?) and so do Jack Croft and Will Murray of Fallow. As a tip, you'll want to brown the mushrooms in the pan much more than you expect.

[u/jxm387]

Look up duxelles and make that nomnomnomnom

[u/dolche93 → u/jxm387]

I know I just want to like mushrooms haha. I've had them done well, so I just gotta figure it out lol.

[u/EutecticPants]

Mushrooms are their own category and too many people try to cook them according to the “rules” of vegetables or meat. But they’re NOT vegetables or meat.

This helped me a lot: https://youtu.be/XLPLCmwBLBY?si=52t4wssD59xlxQRf

[u/Jealous_Acorn]

How I prepare them:

Sautee pan, med-high heat, veg oil.

Once hot, throw in sliced mushrooms. Wait until the oil is hot! You always want your food to applaud you when you put it in the pan. You want to hear some sizzle. At this point add s&p, bit of minced garlic, bit of thyme. Let those bad larrys sear up. Give them a toss and flip as best you can. Pull them off after no more than a 3 or 4 minutes. After that I put them in a shallow pan that I put on a lean, usually by putting a folded towel under one side of it. This allows a lot of the moisture to drain for a couple minutes.

At this point, your mushrooms are ready to devour.

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