Shiitake mushrooms are a delicious and versatile ingredient that many people love to cook with. But, like all perishable foods, shiitake mushrooms have a limited shelf life and can spoil if they’re not handled properly.
In this blog post, we’ll walk you through some simple tips and tricks for spotting the signs of spoiled shiitake mushrooms, as well as give you some advice on how to store and handle them properly.
Below, you will find information about shiitake mushrooms and how to tell if they have gone bad. Enjoy!
Worried About Your Mushrooms?
Culinary experts say that mushrooms have many great uses for health and beauty because they are a source of vitamin D, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6.
Health benefits of shiitake mushrooms include improved heart health and bone health. You can use them as an alternative to meat in recipes.
These foods help reduce the risk of breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men, as well as reduce radiation, enhance resistance, and stomach pain, regulate blood pressure, reduce diabetes, skin reactions like skin swelling, etc.
However, if processed improperly, it will inadvertently turn beneficial dishes into unhealthy foods.
With less-toxic mushrooms or those containing small amounts of toxic, you possibly get continuous diarrhea or vomiting, etc.
In the accumulation of mycotoxins in the body for a long time, you can get some dangerous diseases, such as cardiovascular collapse, liver and kidney failure, liver inflammation/toxicity, deep coma, and eventually death.
Thus, people need to be cautious when using them and avoid the following mistakes:
- Wash thoroughly before processing
- Cooking in an aluminum pot
- Put too much oil
- Not fully cooked
- Eat with drinks/alcohol
- Use cold water to soak dried ones
How To Know If Shiitake Mushrooms Are Bad
Many lovers of mushroom dishes often ask questions such as: how to tell if shiitake mushrooms are bad? You should stay away from them if you see the following four signs:
Check For Dryness And Wrinkles
When you buy shiitake outside, you need to check the cap and fruiting body for an expiration check. Make sure what you’re about to cook isn’t wrinkled or dry.
Many people have the habit of buying many products at once and keeping them in the refrigerator to eat them gradually.
This is quite convenient, but when you put them out, don’t forget to look for these signs again to see if they are still edible.
The texture is dry, and the appearance of wrinkles are the first signs of bad shiitake mushrooms.
Good products may dry out due to loss of moisture, but its slimy surface should not be too wrinkled.
If you find they are only slightly dry, not slimy, normal color, and have no smell, use them quickly before it is too late.
Check For Brown And Bruises Spots
The second thing you need to check is to see if they show signs of being crushed (falling, pressing against each other, etc).
To ensure food safety for family and friends, say goodbye to those with dark, golden brown, light brown or dark spots, bruises, or even black ones.
Dark color in shiitake mushrooms is a sign of no longer being safe to use food.
If your shiitake is only partially dark and the rest is not, to avoid waste, you can cut off that part and use the rest as usual.
If the percentage of bruises and dark spots is too much, there is no reason to save them all.
Anyway, health is more important.
Mushroom Cap’s Coating Of Slime
The third sign is more easy to spot. If you touch the mushroom caps and see signs of slime, not as smooth as when you first bought them, it means they are damaged.
You might even see some mold spots on it. If you try to cook them, your dish will taste bad and extremely harmful to your health.
This food no longer retains its original natural flavor and sweetness. At this point, the nutrients are also converted into readings, so you have nothing to regret throwing away.
To have safe meals, it is best to discard them when you see signs of spoilage (more or less). You’re better off only using fresh mushrooms.
Smell Test
Have you ever bought this ingredient but couldn’t cook them right away and had to put them in the fridge?
This may give you peace of mind, but you’ll notice they smell sour or foul, even fishy when you take them out after a few days.
Fresh shiitake mushrooms have a nice aroma and a hint of the earthy flavor (or sawdust), but it won’t be such an unpleasant smell. You will get used to the standard mushroom smell after a few uses.
When you see that foods have produced a strange smell, you need to throw them away and clean the refrigerator quickly.
Otherwise, mold and bacteria left in the refrigerator can grow and spread to other dishes. This time, consider using other shiitake mushroom substitutes for your recipes.
Keep Track Of The Shelf Life Of Mushrooms
- Products In The Bag: You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days, but you must deduct the storage time in the warehouse from 1-2 days.
- Prepared Sliced Ones: Pre-sliced fresh mushrooms spoil faster than whole ones, so it’s only safe for 3–5 days. Furthermore, learn how to cut mushrooms correctly to maintain them longer.
- Leftover Ones: Most foods, once cooked, can only stay safe for 4 days. After this, using moldy shiitake mushrooms again will get you in trouble.
How Long Does Shiitake Mushroom Last?
How long can shiitake mushroom last in fridge? It can last for only about 12 hours or 12 months, depending on how you store it.
At room temperature, all foods tend to spoil faster than when frozen.
Unlike some other vegetables, freezing this food is not entirely recommended because it greatly affects their meaty texture and nutritional value. Here is a detailed comparison table:
| Storage place | Shelf life |
| The room temperature | 12 – 24 hours |
| In the fridge (cooked one) | 3 – 5 days |
| In the fridge (sliced one) | 4 – 7 days |
| In the fridge (a whole one) | 7 – 14 days |
| Dried | 9 months |
| Freezer | 9 – 12 months |
How To Store Shiitake Mushrooms
Store Below 39 Degrees In The Refrigerator
The ideal temperature for storing fresh shiitake mushrooms is between 36 °F – 38 °F. Put them on the shelves, and avoid the bottom drawer because it is not cold enough.
Older refrigerators often cool poorly, so you should prepare a thermometer to adjust the desired temperature easily.
Use A Plastic Container
If you want to buy a lot of raw shiitake mushrooms to last a few days, pack them in boxes and only take out just enough for each meal.
Cover the can with cling film once you have the portion you need to cook. This helps them breathe easier and helps reduce moisture better than keeping the lid closed.
Built-In Pocket
If you buy products pre-packaged in plastic bags, you can always put them in the fridge.
For extra security, you can also transfer them to another zippered bag and leave a slight opening for air circulation.
Boxes that are too tight will accumulate a lot of moisture inside, making your shiitake mushy or spoiling faster.
Do Not Keep Mushrooms And Raw Meat Near Each Other
This ingredient is inherently quite sensitive and easy to absorb odors, so try to keep them away from foods with strong odors, such as raw meat, eggs, and seafood.
Please keep them separate from these smelly foods.
Freeze
Putting the food into the freezer is also one of the ways to preserve it that you can use. Low temperatures below 32 degrees F will make them last longer.
Still, the downside of this method is that some nutrients are lost, and you have to take time to defrost.
Is It Ok To Eat Bad Shiitake Mushrooms?
The bad mushrooms contain many toxins such as
- Proteins produce organic acids: ammonia, phenol, indol, etc.
- Metabolic fats produce glycerin, free fatty acids, ketones, etc.
- Powdered substances (Glucide) create Acetic, organic acids, etc.
Signs of food poisoning from eating rotten mushrooms like stomach upset can appear as early as 1 to 3 hours after eating.
