Spring is Morel Mushroom season and one of the biggest questions most people have is how to clean and store morel mushrooms. Let me teach you the best way to clean morel mushrooms and how to store them so that they stay fresh the longest.
You might be wondering what qualifies ME to be an expert in cleaning morel mushrooms (and other wild harvest mushrooms) and storing morel mushrooms. My husband first introduced me to foraging for Morels in 2001, since we’ve gone every early spring and I’ve been the person who cleans and makes sure they are stored the best way(s) possible ensuring longevity.
On a good year, it’s common for us to harvest over 1,000 morels in a spring! Needless to say, I’ve had lots of time to determine what works and what does not. I’ve also gone through a bunch of hiking boots during that long time too
Keep them fresh in a brown bag or a bowl with a damp paper towel over them in the fridge—if you don’t use them in five days, they’re history.
The Best way to Clean Morel Mushrooms
To soak or not to soak, that is the question when it comes to cleaning all mushrooms, including morels. Such controversial topic amongst morel hunters and I’m going to eliminate any confusion for you today! I’m excited to teach you the best way to clean morel mushrooms.
Morel Mushrooms, like all wild foraged edible mushrooms, grow outdoors in nature, duh, right?! And in this natural environment includes dirt, bugs and weather, even in the best of circumstances. These 3 factors are the largest factor that determine the best way to clean morel mushrooms.
There is no absolute best way for cleaning delicate mushrooms in all situations and for all mushrooms. Anyone telling you otherwise is simply a silly-goose. (a nice way of saying to ignore such statements from such know-it-alls)
Generally speaking, in an ideal world you don’t want to expose any mushroom to water when cleaning but it’s simply not realistic in 99% of the morels we’ve picked.
There are times when we’ve picked extremely clean raw morel mushrooms and other times the morel mushrooms are extremely dirty. This is outside of your control and both situations require different cleaning techniques for these sponge mushrooms with an earthy flavor and meaty texture.
The cleaner the mushrooms are when you pick them, the less cleaning they require prior to consuming. Thus the dirtier the mushrooms are when you pick them, the more cleaning they require… and the dirty mushrooms definitely benefit from soaking in water, sometimes you might even want to add some salt.
Unless you like a side of dirt and bugs with your mushrooms, the by all means just toss the dirty mushrooms into the skillet – you do you boo. For me, it’s a hard pass on bugs & dirt whenever possible.
Note: not all of you whom are coming to this post have wild foraged your morels from mushroom hunting but this all applies just the same to morels from your farmers market or grocery store.
4 Steps to Cleaning Morel Mushrooms
- Leave as much dirt in the woods as possible, that means taking the time to harvest with intention. Not just picking up leaves, twigs and dirt along with your mushrooms. Carefully trim the stem as to avoid adding dirt into your freshly harvested morel mushrooms. Use a soft brush to wipe away visible dirt, if desired. My mushroom foraging knife has a brush built into its handle for convenience.
- Cut each mushroom in half lengthwise. I know. I sincerely love the tiny perfect smaller morels (like pictured above) but trust me when I tell you that it’s highly likely that there are bugs hiding inside your morels. Have I skipped this step and use whole small mushrooms? Yes but when I do, I always do a salt water soak to get those bugs out (I only do this for the best of the best when I NEED a perfect morel for plating a dish aesthetically) See the photo below, you can see the tiny bugs in the cone-shaped cap as well as the hollow stem.
- Rinse and/or Soak your Morel mushrooms, depending on how dirty or clean they are when picked. For very clean morels rinsing with running water and wiping out any bugs or dirt that do not automatically release on their own may be sufficient. However in most cases it’s best to give them a quick swirl in cool or cold water to get out as much dirt as possible. IF your morels are extra buggy adding a tablespoon of salt to the water will help to remove the bugs by making the water less than ideal for them, they will fall out and sink to the bottom of your salty water. If using salt water, rinse with clean cool water then drain.
- Using a salad spinner to dry your morel mushrooms throughly. Much like delicate greens and lettuce, a salad spinner helps to remove dirt and debris without damaging the delicate mushroom flesh. If you don’t have a salad spinner, you can pat dry your clean, fresh morels with paper towels.
How to Harvest, Clean, and Store Morels
FAQ
How do you store fresh picked morels?
What to do with morels after picking?
How long do morels last after picking?
Can you freeze fresh picked morels?
How to store morel mushrooms?
If the mushrooms are clearly not very dirty at all with no visible dirt or bugs, you can always just brush them off, give them a quick rinse, and skip the soaking. Dehydrating is definitely the easiest way to store morel mushrooms. Many methods can work, as long as you get the morels “cracker dry.”
How do you take care of morel mushrooms?
Leave as much dirt in the woods as possible, that means taking the time to harvest with intention. Not just picking up leaves, twigs and dirt along with your mushrooms. Carefully trim the stem as to avoid adding dirt into your freshly harvested morel mushrooms. Use a soft brush to wipe away visible dirt, if desired.
Can you freeze morel mushrooms?
Clean the Morel mushrooms and the cut them in half length ways. You will then put them on a cookie sheet individually so they are not touching each other. Put them in the freezer for a few hours until they are completely frozen. Remove them from the tray and place them all in a zip lock bag together and store them in the freezer for up to a year.
How long do morel mushrooms last?
See how to store Morel mushrooms in the refrigerator, freezer or jar. Have them stay fresh for up to 12 months. Morel mushrooms are one of the most popular mushrooms to hunt because they are so unpredictable and hard to find. But most importantly is they taste amazing!