Champignons (they are also small peppers) are the most popular mushrooms for cooking various dishes, which is largely due to their availability at any time of the year (they are always on store shelves). However, whether it is worth using only small specimens for food or if overgrown mushrooms will be quite suitable, it is worthwhile to take a closer look.
Sizes of overgrown champignon
All mushrooms sold in stores are approximately standard sizes, and their hat rarely exceeds 5 cm in diameter. In the natural environment of growth, these fungi can significantly exceed these indicators, often reaching 8-10 cm in diameter (sometimes more). It is the latter that are considered “overgrown” and they are used extremely rarely for food, mainly for frying or cooking minced meat or rolls.
Did you know? Champignons - an excellent dietary product that can be used in various diets. There are only 30 kcal per 100 g of boiled mushrooms, and even fewer calories in a canned product: approximately 20 kcal per 100 g.
Is it possible to eat overripe champignons
Overgrown mushrooms are often eaten, but do not forget about the tendency of mushrooms to accumulate dangerous substances, that is, the older the mushroom, the more accumulated toxins and wastes in it. If possible, you should choose small specimens, with a whole "skirt" between the leg and the hat, especially since the overgrown ones often look like poisonous relatives, like a pale grebe.
Do not disrupt old specimens growing near roads on the territory of enterprises and industrial zones, where they can be saturated with a large amount of radionuclides, acids and chemicals that can harm the human body.
Simply put, eating large and overgrown mushrooms is possible, but undesirable. If you decide to eat them, then be sure to do the appropriate preparation with soaking in salt water (for several hours) and boiling for 20-30 minutes.
Optimal sizes
The optimal size of edible champignon will be the diameter of its domed hat within 3-5 cm, therefore, at home cultivation, do not let it outgrow and over mature.
- Large and unsuitable for food specimens, in addition to large sizes, will have other signs of their poor quality:
- dark color, without their characteristic shine;
- flat, often even hat;
- torn film in the area between the leg of the mushroom and its hat;
- black cut on the leg;
- sticky and slippery surface of the hat.
In addition, it is worth paying attention to the aroma emanating from champignons: in any case, it should be tender mushroom, without a hint of rot.
Important! The presence of dark areas on different parts of the champignon is a reason to throw away the entire mushroom, regardless of its size.
Storage
The optimal shelf life of freshly picked light brown or white champignons will be 1-2 days after collection, however, this is not always enough for the consumption or processing of the product, which is why one has to look for alternative methods of longer storage. The easiest option is to place dry and unwashed mushrooms on the lower shelves of the refrigerator, the main thing is not to tie a bag tightly.
If you use paper instead of plastic packaging, with further placement of the harvest in the vegetable compartment, then at a temperature of + 1 ... + 3 ° C the mushrooms will remain fresh for 6-7 days. Drying, canning and pickling are considered to be longer ways of harvesting mushrooms, because if all the actions are performed correctly, they will be stored for a year.
Frozen mushrooms lie about the same time (6–10 months), the main thing is to first place them in dense vacuum bags and do not defrost them in vain. In room conditions, mushrooms bought in the store will lose their useful properties in a day, therefore, in the absence of the above storage conditions, it is worth preparing them immediately after purchase.
Did you know? Most champignons are grown today in the USA, but England and France, whose citizens cultivate them at home since the 18th century, occupy only the second and third places among modern world producers.
Knowing how champignon should be suitable for consumption and what overgrown is undesirable to eat, each housewife herself will be able to decide whether or not to pick or, moreover, cook such mushrooms. Despite the fact that not all overripe specimens will be toxic, their taste will most likely not be as pleasant as that of young relatives, therefore this fact often becomes a reason for refusing to consume “matured” representatives of the great mushroom kingdom.
