Growing your own mushrooms gives you something no grocery store can. You can pick them at their peak and cook them within the hour. The catch is that gourmet mushrooms do not all cook the same way. A maitake wants a hot oven. A king oyster wants a hard sear. Enoki needs to be cooked all the way through.
This guide covers the best way to cook seven popular varieties, then how to store, freeze, and dry what you cannot eat right away.
Four rules for every mushroom
Cook the water out first. Mushrooms are full of water, and water in the pan keeps them from browning. Cook’s Illustrated found a simple fix. Put the mushrooms in a skillet with a few tablespoons of water over high heat. The steam collapses the air pockets inside them, they release their liquid fast, and once the pan is dry they need only a little oil to brown. That also means they absorb far less fat.
Give them room. GroCycle’s advice for oysters applies to every variety. Leave space in the pan so moisture can escape. A crowded pan steams instead of browns. Cook in batches if you need to.
Clean gently. Home-grown mushrooms from a clean grow bag rarely need much washing. America’s Test Kitchen recommends brushing mushrooms with exposed gills, like shiitake, because they soak up water. Mushrooms without exposed gills absorb little, so a quick rinse is fine just before cooking.
Cook them. GroCycle advises against eating oyster mushrooms raw, and notes that raw pink oysters taste bitter. Enoki has a specific food safety warning, covered below.
Oyster mushrooms
Blue, pearl, golden, and pink oysters all cook the same way. America’s Test Kitchen describes oysters as clean and savory with a delicate texture, and recommends sautéing them.
Trim off the tough base where the cluster joined the bag. Then tear the caps along the gills into strips about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. America’s Test Kitchen says torn pieces look better than cut ones.
For crispy oysters, use the water-first method, add oil once the pan is dry, and keep cooking over medium-high heat until the edges turn brown and crunchy. Finish with butter, garlic, and salt.
Pink oysters lose their color when cooked and run chewier than other oysters. GroCycle suggests frying them until brown and crunchy as a vegetarian stand-in for bacon. They also work in soups and stir-fries, where a firmer texture helps.
King oyster
The thick white stem is the prize. America’s Test Kitchen describes king oysters as very savory and “resiliently chewy,” and GroCycle notes that they hold their texture well when cooked.
For king oyster “scallops,” GroCycle slices 1 pound of stems into 1-inch rounds. Sear them in a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes per side without crowding the pan. Then add 4 tablespoons of butter, 3 crushed garlic cloves, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and spoon the butter over them.
You can also halve king oysters lengthwise, score the cut side in a shallow crosshatch, and sear them cut side down until golden, as GroCycle does. They grill well brushed with soy sauce.
Shiitake
America’s Test Kitchen describes shiitake as nutty and buttery with a pleasant chew. Remove the stems and save them for stock. Quarter large caps and halve small ones.
Do not soak shiitake. The exposed gills absorb water, so brush off any debris with a dry pastry brush or paper towel. Sauté them using the water-first method, then finish with soy sauce, butter, or sesame oil.
Pioppino
Pioppino grows in tight clusters of small brown caps on long, slender stems. Out-Grow describes the flavor as earthy and nutty with a firm, al dente bite that stays intact through cooking.
Trim the tough bottoms of the stems and separate the cluster. Sauté pioppino in butter or olive oil, toss them into pasta, or stir them into risotto for the last 3 to 5 minutes of cooking. For skewers, Out-Grow marinates them for 15 to 30 minutes and grills them for about 4 to 5 minutes per side.
Maitake
Maitake, or hen of the woods, has thin, frilly fronds. America’s Test Kitchen describes the flavor as nutty and slightly smoky. Those thin edges crisp up well in a hot oven.
Ask the Food Geek’s method is simple:
- Heat the oven to 425°F, with convection if you have it.
- Tear the maitake into pieces about the size of broccoli florets.
- Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a small grated garlic clove, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Spread the pieces on a parchment-lined sheet pan without crowding them.
- Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are brown and crisp.
They keep crisping as they cool. Serve them as a side dish or pile them on toast.
Enoki
Enoki is very mild and faintly nutty, with a crisp texture, according to America’s Test Kitchen. It is also the one mushroom on this list with a specific federal food safety warning. Enoki has been linked to Listeria outbreaks, and the CDC advises cooking enoki thoroughly and not eating it raw. The CDC also says people who are pregnant, 65 or older, or have weakened immune systems should not eat raw enoki at all. Apply the same care to enoki you grow at home.
To prepare it, trim off the base and pull the cluster apart into small bundles. GroCycle suggests removing any slimy or discolored strands, rinsing in cold water, and patting dry.
Cook enoki until it is soft and steaming hot all the way through. Stir-fry it with garlic and soy sauce, or simmer it in soup or hot pot. The CDC warns against laying raw enoki on top of hot soup just before serving, because it will not get hot enough to be safe.
Chestnut mushrooms
Chestnut mushrooms, Pholiota adiposa, have rust-orange caps and pale stems. GroCycle describes the flavor as nutty and umami with a slightly peppery finish. The caps turn silky when cooked while the stems stay crisp, and you can eat the whole mushroom, stem included.
Sauté them with onion, garlic, or shallots. Because they hold their shape during long cooking, chestnut mushrooms work well in stews, cream sauces, and soups.
How to store fresh mushrooms
Chill mushrooms as soon as you pick them. Cornell Small Farms recommends cooling a harvest to 34 to 37°F, and notes that mushrooms picked at the right stage last about seven days.
Storage advice varies a little between sources, but they agree on the main point. Mushrooms need some air, and sealed plastic traps moisture and turns them slimy. America’s Test Kitchen stores loose mushrooms in a partly open zipper-lock bag and says to avoid damp paper towels. Penn State Extension uses a paper bag. Store them unwashed, and clean them just before cooking.
Shelf life differs by variety:
- King oyster. About 10 days, according to GroCycle.
- Most oysters. About 2 to 7 days.
- Pink oyster. Sometimes only a couple of days.
- Chestnut. Up to about four days.
- Enoki. Up to about a week.
Cornell adds that shiitake keeps better than oyster mushrooms or lion’s mane.
Freezing and drying your harvest
When a flush gives you more than you can eat, freeze or dry the rest.
To freeze, Penn State Extension recommends steam blanching first. Slice or quarter any mushroom wider than an inch. Steam slices for 5 minutes or quarters for 9 minutes, cool them quickly, drain, and pack them with 1/2 inch of headspace. Enoki is the exception. GroCycle notes that raw enoki turns mushy in the freezer.
To dry, slice mushrooms thin and use a dehydrator. Penn State Extension gives 8 to 10 hours. Without a dehydrator, GroCycle dries oyster slices about 1/4 inch thick in a 150°F oven for about an hour per side, then checks them every 30 minutes until they are crisp. Store dried mushrooms in an airtight jar and rehydrate them in warm water or broth.
About canning. Penn State Extension’s canning directions call for small, bright-colored domestic mushrooms with short stems and unopened caps, processed in a pressure canner, and it says wild mushrooms are not safe to can. Those directions describe button-type mushrooms, not oyster clusters or maitake fronds. For gourmet varieties, freeze or dry them instead.
Grow what you want to cook
The best mushroom for your kitchen is the one you can pick fresh. If you are new to growing, blue oyster liquid culture gives you a fast, forgiving first crop. If you love a hard sear, try king oyster liquid culture. You can browse every culinary variety in our shop.
