How to Keep Edible Mushrooms Fresh? These Practical Methods You Must Master

Fresh edible mushrooms sell well in the market, but how to keep edible mushrooms fresh is a problem. Today I will share with you how to keep edible mushrooms fresh.

I. Three Methods for Keeping Oyster Mushrooms Fresh

1. Take fresh oyster mushrooms that are not moldy and not overgrown, rinse them with clean water, and remove impurities. During rinsing, turn and handle them gently to avoid breaking them. Then put them into boiling water, scoop them out with a slotted spoon in a clockwise direction, put them into a sieve, drain the water, and directly pack them into polyethylene food bags, sealing the bag opening well (note that the inside and outside of the bag opening should not be stained with water droplets). Put the mushroom bags into plastic food boxes or wooden boxes (cardboard boxes), and store them in a cold storage room (temperature -18°C). They can be taken out at any time to be sold or further processed.

2. After harvesting oyster mushrooms, immediately wash off the mud and sand, match them by size, and pack them into 0.5 mm thick polyethylene plastic bags for sealed packaging. Store them at 0°C, and they can be kept fresh for 15 days to 20 days, with no change in nutritional content and no loss in weight.

3. After harvesting oyster mushrooms, clean and package them, irradiate them with 100,000 rads of cobalt-60 rays, and then store them at 0°C. The freshness preservation time can be extended to 31 days.

II. Method for Keeping Straw Mushrooms Fresh

Punch micro-holes in paper-plastic composite bags, put straw mushrooms that have not opened their caps (the mushroom bodies are plump and solid, conical in appearance, with a grayish-brown top) into them, and store them at 15°C--20°C to keep them fresh for 2 hours.

III. Two Methods for Keeping Shiitake Mushrooms Fresh

1. First line the box with moisture-proof paper, paste pig blood kraft paper on the outside of the box seams, and put a certain amount of quicklime and other desiccants into the box (wrapped in cloth bags). This method prevents pest eggs from obtaining suitable temperature and humidity, making it difficult for them to breed. They can be stored for 1 year, with no change in the color, aroma, or taste of the shiitake mushrooms.

2. Store fresh, clean shiitake mushrooms in cardboard boxes (the boxes must be lined with double-layer moisture-proof paper and 1 layer of plastic film). The moisture content of the shiitake mushrooms put into the boxes must not exceed 3%. A cardboard box with a volume of 0.2 cubic meters is suitable for holding 10 kg of dried shiitake mushrooms. Store them in an air-conditioned room at 13°C--17°C, and they can be stored for 1 month to 6 months; store them in a low-temperature cold storage room at 13°C--14°C, and they can be stored for more than half a year; if the relative humidity of the air-conditioned room and cold storage room is below 55%, and an exhaust fan and dehumidifier are installed, the shiitake mushrooms can be stored for 2 years, with no change in color, aroma, or taste.

IV. Two Methods for Keeping Button Mushrooms Fresh

1. Brine preservation. After selecting freshly harvested button mushrooms according to quality standards, soak them in a 0.1%--0.2% sodium metabisulfite solution for 8 minutes to 10 minutes, then rinse them with clean water for 30 minutes. After draining, package them in special cans or jars, and they can be kept fresh for 72 hours at a temperature below 23°C. Alternatively, immediately place blanched button mushrooms into a 19-degree Baumé salt solution for salting (pour 25 kg of blanched button mushrooms into 25 kg of saturated salt solution), then add refined salt to cover the surface. After several days, add an appropriate amount of refined salt again to maintain 18 degrees Baumé. After stabilizing for 4 days to 6 days, seal them for preservation.

2. Quick-freezing preservation. Within 30 minutes to 40 minutes, rapidly lower washed and blanched button mushrooms from normal temperature to -20°C, allowing long-term freshness preservation.