Mushroom caps - Do you peel them?

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SyntonicGarden
SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Here's one for you. I was preparing mushrooms and popped the stem out and started to peel off the outer layer, using the edge that was nearest where the stem had been.

I was stopped and asked what the [heck] I was doing. When I was taught to cook mushrooms, I was taught to remove the outer layer and have been doing it since.

So my question is this - Are you supposed to peel the outer layer from mushrooms? Is there a health benefit to leaving them on?
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Replies

  • Strokingdiction
    Strokingdiction Posts: 1,164 Member
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    I've never peeled a mushroom unless I was just messing around but even then I was eating the 'peel'. I also eat the stem. I only regularly use button, shiitake, button, crimini and portabello mushrooms. Maybe some of the other types are meant to be peeled. I don't use portabella stems when I make steaks out of them but I still wind up cutting it up, sauteing it and eating it.

    It seems like a waste to get rid of those bits.
  • Diza114
    Diza114 Posts: 6 Member
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    Great question I have been peeling mushrooms for years depending how long I've had them, really fresh mushrooms should only need to be wiped clean.
  • So_Much_Fab
    So_Much_Fab Posts: 1,146 Member
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    In my 47 years of existence I've never heard of peeling mushrooms!?
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    Mushrooms have peels?!

    Seriously, it has never in my life occurred to me to peel a mushroom of any kind purchased from the grocery store. I just wipe them clean and cook them.

    But I don't like mushrooms myself so I typically only cook them for others. No one's ever said anything though....
  • misty5976
    misty5976 Posts: 45 Member
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    Hmmm. I've honestly never heard of peeling mushrooms.

    So, no - I dont peel them. :)
  • michelefrench
    michelefrench Posts: 814 Member
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    didn't even know it was possible to peel a mushroom???
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
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    Wipe em down with a damp cloth, trim off fibrous parts of stem and cook.

    I have never heard of peeling them, that's a ton of work!
  • ribbismom
    ribbismom Posts: 13 Member
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    I never used to peel them until I took a cooking class and the teacher told us to peel first, then rinse. Said you can't get enough of the dirt off by rinsing alone and full-on washing can damage the tender flesh. Right or wrong? I have no idea.
  • Evotchka
    Evotchka Posts: 144 Member
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    I'm a fellow peeler! My mom taught me that when I was young. Don't know if it's a cultural thing? I'm from Germany.
  • wolfsbayne
    wolfsbayne Posts: 3,116 Member
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    I've never peeled a mushroom. I've seen cooking shows where they tell you to wipe them and not wash them, but I wash them every time with water and my fingers. It doesn't seem to hinder the texture or flavor any.
  • ThePinkPanda
    ThePinkPanda Posts: 208 Member
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    i peel my mushrooms as well. i don't feel like i could get them clean enough just by rinsing them.
  • mlanders22
    mlanders22 Posts: 140 Member
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    This is honestly one of the most confusing things I've read today. You can peel a mushroom? Mind boggled.
  • j_bark
    j_bark Posts: 1,269 Member
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    Mushrooms are ambrosia. Wash, slice, cook. What is this peeling thing you speak of?
  • debbiesats
    debbiesats Posts: 65 Member
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    My grandma used to peel mushrooms so that's what I learned to do but now I just wipe, only peel these days if they're getting a little old and slimy. If I was picking them in the wild from a field of cowpats rather than getting them cultivated indoors I think I might be peeling them like grandma did :smile:
    And I always eat the stalks, full of flavour, why waste half the mushroom?
  • redwoodkestrel
    redwoodkestrel Posts: 339 Member
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    Mushroom peeling is a thing?! Didn't know it was even possible to peel a mushroom!

    I am an avid mushroom eater, both store-bought as well as wild mushrooms I forage for. Have never peeled one in my life. :happy:
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I love mushrooms, eat them all the time, and never heard of peeling them. However, I've also never taken a cooking class, but this is something I can't imagine adopting.
  • saltedcaramel86
    saltedcaramel86 Posts: 238 Member
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    Nope! My dad used to but I never have....just sounds like extra work which = longer for food to enter my mouth! :noway:

    I looooooooooove mushrooms!
  • kayduro
    kayduro Posts: 249 Member
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    Another one here for 'never heard of peeling a mushroom'. I believe they are only meant to be gently wiped or brushed with a very soft bristled brush called a mushroom brush. I only know there is such a thing as a mushroom brush because I won one once as a door prize at a kitchen party,
  • SyntonicGarden
    SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
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    This is honestly one of the most confusing things I've read today. You can peel a mushroom? Mind boggled.

    Heh. When I first shown how to do it, that was my response.

    But... If you pop the stem, there's a thin piece of peel on the inside / underside of the mushroom. That's what you use to peel the mushroom. It comes off in little wedges.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I have a mushroom brush - I have never heard of peeling them! Seems like entirely more effort than I want to spend on my mushrooms.

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