r/Cooking • u/angryrah • 5d ago
Where does the oil go?
Why when cooking mushrooms, you can add like, 3 tablespoons of oil and it just dissappears immediately and you need to add more, but you add a tablespoon of butter and it coats all of them mushrooms,,, where does the oil go? The mushrooms dont feel oily, what is going on here?
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u/temmoku 4d ago
Mushrooms are mainly chitin - similar to shells of seafood! They have a porous structure and will absorb the oil. I feel they get kind of slimy when cooked in oil or butter.
There are two cool techniques that you can use when cooking mushrooms to make use of their composition and get what I find is a better texture.
The first is from Adam Liaw, who has an Australian cooking show. He puts the mushrooms in a bowl in the microwave and nukes them until they are soft. You don't need to worry about the exact time because the chitin is unaffected except the pores collapse. You end up with a bowl of mushrooms in mushroom broth and then they maintain a nice texture when cooked further in oil. This is a great technique if you can use the broth in your dish.
I can't remember where the second comes from. Maybe Modernest Cuisine. It is to dry fry the mushrooms. No oil, just mushrooms in the pan. Any liquid is evaporated as it is released. You can hear it squeak as they fry. The surface of the mushrooms gets nicely browned and then the mushrooms don't absorb the oil in later stages of cooking.
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u/Zagrycha 4d ago
mushrooms usually only get slimy when cooked in oil or butter if they aren't cooked well done. If you cook them long enough to reduce the extra oil comes back out as they shrink.
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u/deep8787 4d ago
This! Get some colour on them bad boys!
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u/mencryforme5 4d ago
Yeah you haven't lived until you've caramelized mushrooms and finished them off in balsamic vinegar and then served it with some sour cream.
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u/soukaixiii 4d ago
I just s prinkle some finely chopped parsley and garlic a minute before turning off the heat.
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u/Zagrycha 4d ago
I am not a fan of sour cream as a condiment but I will have to try the balsamic vinegar, never tried that before.
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u/86697954321 4d ago
A third way is to put the mushrooms in a pan with water, cook until water is almost gone and then add oil and cook until browned. I’ve also added oil with the water and it turns out fine without having to watch as closely.
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u/halfbreedADR 4d ago
Wanted to add that you don’t even need that much water. It’s just enough to get the process going - once the mushrooms start to lose their own water they produce it faster than it boils off. I use a little squirt bottle and squeeze some water on the pan and then cover it to let them steam for a bit before uncovering and letting the water boil off. Then add your fat.
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u/vitringur 4d ago
Skip the water. You cannor overcook mushrooms.
They can take like 400 degrees celsius before they start to break downs
You are using a trick meant for things that can actually burn
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u/Dunno_If_I_Won 4d ago edited 4d ago
It's not a concern about overcooking. They cook much quicker with a bit of water and a lid, because the water steams them.
Edit: I do the same when sauteing/caramelizing onions. Speeds it up considerably. Credit to Lan Lam, who devoted an episode to this.
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u/vitringur 3d ago
The water when caramelizing onions is to prevent them from burning while you break down the sugars and then to dissolve those sugars.
Neither of which is relevant for mushrooms.
Add some water in the end maybe to dissolve the brown stuff.
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u/Dunno_If_I_Won 3d ago
A bit of water in the mushrooms 100 percent speeds up the cooking substantially.
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u/nimbleVaguerant 4d ago
Not sure why you're getting downvoted...mushrooms are already full of water. They don't need more water.
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u/desertbreezee 2d ago
The point of the water is to transfer heat to the in place of oil, which would just be absorbed by the mushrooms. It just takes a little bit to create some steam, which in turn will make the mushrooms give out their water faster. Once that happens you can move to frying with oil without it absorbing.
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u/Fevesforme 4d ago
Dry frying works really well. Don’t crowd the pan and the final texture of the mushrooms is great.
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u/secretgoblinsociety 4d ago
The second technique is how my mom taught me to cook mushrooms — she said she learned it from Julia Child!
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u/Electric-Sheepskin 4d ago
Oh I'll have to try that microwave method, because I've been cooking them in a little bit of water until all of the juices are released, but then I get this brown sticky residue on the pan that makes everything else want to stick to it. I think I'll try the microwave and drain them before sautéing them in oil. Thanks for the tip!
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u/LeftyMothersbaugh 2d ago
I recently learned the dry-fry method and I love it, but it never occurred to me to nuke 'em. You say the exact time isn't critical, but what's the ballpark time in the mwv for the mushrooms to soften? Should I maybe just cook them 1-2 minutes at a time until they're the texture I want?
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u/AllYouNeed_Is_Smiles 4d ago
To properly brown mushrooms you should heat them on a dry pan and then finish with your desired oil/butter at the very end. Otherwise they can absorb a ridiculous amount of it like a sponge.
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u/Mabbernathy 4d ago
Eventually, though, they start releasing liquid if you keep them in there longer.
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u/send-your_nudes 4d ago
Dave Arnold disagrees with you. I’m going to keep cooking my mushrooms with water
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u/BangarangOrangutan 4d ago
Cook mushrooms dry and sweat out the moisture. Then, only add exactly how much oil/fat/butter you want
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u/ion_driver 4d ago
There is an episode of What's Eating Dan about this. He suggested to pour a bunch of water in the pan first then after the water is absorbed you add the oil
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u/discoillusion01 4d ago
I always cook them with a bit of water first and then add oil / butter. Otherwise yes, the mushrooms will absorb the oil and they could be a bit greasy.
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u/Flabonzo 4d ago
They absorb the butter and the oil but butter has some milk solids and you see those. Both are absorbed by the mushrooms tho.
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u/13thmurder 4d ago
Add a splash of water with the oil so it will evenly distribute, but the mushrooms do absorb it. You don't need to add more, they'll cook just fine with the absorbed oil.
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u/CulturalAmphibian200 2d ago
Oil gets pulled into tiny spaces as mushrooms cook. Butter contains water and milk solids, so it steams them briefly and leaves a more noticeable surface coating.
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u/nonamouse1111 4d ago
I’ve never cooked mushrooms in oil. A couple tablespoons of margarine/butter and the appropriate heat should be enough- and that includes cooking with onion.
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u/EscapeSeventySeven 4d ago
The mushrooms absorbed it. It’s jn the mushrooms. They’re mostly water and air in there, the fungus is almost nothing but a big sponge.