Should I salt satueed mushrooms during or after?

[MikeLM]

OK- this is the quintessential dumb question..

Should I salt the sliced muchrooms while I'm sauteeing them or wait until they're done? It ocurred to me that the salt would draw out moisture even more than the frying does.

Thanks

Mike

[ddugan]

I was always taught to salt mushrooms before sauteeing but to make sure you are using high enough heat to actually saute and not steam the mushrooms.

[Mapiva]

Salt will definitely draw out the moisture in the mushrooms. But it's not necessarily a bad thing, as it happens inevidebly. The most important thing about sauteeing mushrooms is to not crowd the pan, otherwise they'll just poach in their own juices.

When I sautee mushrooms I call it toasting. I don't use non stick because I find that the juices never really evaporate. So in a regular skillet, let it get hot, add a tsp of oil, and a handful of mushrooms. The water will evaporate quickly, salt during, and then take off the heat. This is done in little batches until you've cooked them all, and then I put them all back into the pan, and add the butter, sauce, herbs, whatever you've got planned for their flavoring.

[tessa]

Originally Posted by Mapiva

Salt will definitely draw out the moisture in the mushrooms. But it's not necessarily a bad thing, as it happens inevidebly. The most important thing about sauteeing mushrooms is to not crowd the pan, otherwise they'll just poach in their own juices.

When I sautee mushrooms I call it toasting. I don't use non stick because I find that the juices never really evaporate. So in a regular skillet, let it get hot, add a tsp of oil, and a handful of mushrooms. The water will evaporate quickly, salt during, and then take off the heat. This is done in little batches until you've cooked them all, and then I put them all back into the pan, and add the butter, sauce, herbs, whatever you've got planned for their flavoring.

and keep the pan moving as in every now and then give it a good toss and dont forget to add a little black pepper to it , some fresh thyme added to it and saute that with the mushys mmmmm it really enhances the flavour

[MikeLM]

Thanks, all.

I'm going to try each of those suggestions on the next batch.

Mike

[boar_d_laze]

There are a lot of different concepts in your deceptively simple appearing question.

Mushrooms are poorly understood by most cooks, and there's a lot of misinformation. First, you absolutely can wash mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms are mostly water anyway, if they weren't, they'd be dried mushrooms. Dried mushrooms aren't anything like fresh. QED. That having been said, mushrooms shouldn't be soaked -- only briefly rinsed, and wiped off completely. You want them dry before you saute.

Second, most cooks forget what they're trying to do by sauteing. The goal is not to throw the food in the air. The goal is to brown it and cook it through as quickly as possible in a very little fat. In the case of mushrooms, that means cooking in a very little fat, and not overcrowding the pan. Just like searing, the mushrooms must have an opportunity to brown, and release before flipping them. Once they're browned -- with as little movement as possible -- you can start showing off your hot pan technique.

1st Rule for Saute or Sear: Brown before moving. Moving food too soon is one of the most common sins -- especially with men.

After they're browned the mushrooms can withstand a fair bit of abuse, so now's the time to start building the rest of the dish with whatever -- except the salt or very salty additions like soy sauce. Even at this stage, salt can make them tough and rubbery; to the extent that you can, delay adding anything very salty.

Finally, to answer your question, after the mushrooms are cooked but still in the pan, undersalt them. Taste and adjust. Plate.

BDL

[MikeLM]

Thanks for the detailed info, BDL.

I'm going to print this out and post inside the cabinet over the cooktop. Next batch goes your way.

By the way, I'm going to make your spinich-artichoke dip tomorrow. Really sounds good.

Mike