Avoid putting the morels in plastic bags or airtight storage containers. They need airflow or they’ll become soggy. There’s no need to clean them before you store them. In fact, washing them before refrigerating them can cause them to go bad much faster.
If you slice the mushrooms in half but notice that they don’t have hollow stems, do not eat them. You may be handling false morels which are poisonous. Always take an experienced guide or do proper research when finding morel mushrooms.
Try to shake the mushrooms gently to keep the stems intact.
Washing mushrooms can make them rubbery. While this is the recommended cleaning method for all mushrooms, fresh morel mushrooms are a special kind of fungi in more ways than one. They have deep nooks and crannies that get dirty and sometimes “lived in“, so it’s usually good to give them a good, temporary soak.
Feel free to halve these amounts if you’re not cleaning very many morels.
Soaking can draw out more of the dirt or bugs, so a longer soak might clean really dirty mushrooms much better. However, it could dilute the flavor of the morels.
Continue washing the mushrooms until you remove all of the visible dirt and the water in the sink is much clearer.
If you’re using a colander, let the mushrooms drain for 1 minute before you dry them.
You may need more than 1 towel to dry a large batch of morel mushrooms.
Sautéeing morels Making morel mushroom sauce Frying morel mushrooms Making morel mushroom Soup
Sautéeing morels Making morel mushroom sauce Frying morel mushrooms Making morel mushroom Soup
