I'm sure you've heard this before, especially when you watch cooking shows on TV. Inna Garten, the "Barefood Contessa", and even Julia Child, both have stated that one shouldn't wash mushrooms. To clean it, one should just use a soft, dry brush to get ride of the dirt. Washing it, they claim, will only cause the mushrooms to absorb the water and will cause your dish to be soggy (if that's something you don't want).
The thing is, this type of claim can be easily tested and verified. And that is what has been done by many. I remember seeing an episode of "Good Eats" on the Food Network (when Food Network was actually worth watching) where Elton Brown actually made a test on how much water was absorbed by whole mushrooms when they were left to soak in water, and when they were rinsed under running water.
Verdict: Not that much, or at least, not enough to ruin a dish.
Similar conclusion was drawn from this website, where they tackled this culinary myth. Would a 0.5 ounce of additional moisture in your mushroom out of a total of 8 ounces of mushrooms make or break the dish that you make at home? Not with me it doesn't. That's less than 6% of the entire weight. Is your cooking THAT precise in the first place?
The issue here isn't washing or brushing mushrooms. The issue here is if the effort is justified for the result that we want. Here, brushing each mushroom is time consuming and tedious. Giving these mushrooms a quick rinse under running water is so much quicker and more convenient. The tiny amount of water being absorbed here is insignificant for the average home cook. The additional effort is not worth the small difference at the end.
For the record, I rinse my mushrooms under running water, and then I slice them for use in my dishes.
Zz.
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