You’ve been there. You bought those beautiful, snowy-white button mushrooms or maybe a pricey pint of chanterelles with big plans for a risotto. You put them in the fridge. Forty-eight hours later, you open the drawer and find a brown, swampy mess that smells faintly of compost. It’s frustrating. It’s also a waste of money. Honestly, most people treat mushrooms like carrots or broccoli, but they aren't plants. They are fungi. They breathe. They sweat. If you want to know how do you store fresh mushrooms without turning them into a science project, you have to stop suffocating them.
Mushrooms are about 80% to 90% water. That's a lot. When you seal them in a plastic bag or leave them in that tight grocery store wrap, that moisture has nowhere to go. It sits on the surface. Bacteria love that. Within hours, the degradation starts. I’ve spent years in professional kitchens where we go through twenty pounds of cremini a day, and the one thing I can tell you is that the "crisper drawer" is often where mushrooms go to die unless you prep the environment first.
The paper bag trick and why it actually works
Forget the plastic. If you take away nothing else from this, take the mushrooms out of the plastic. The gold standard for home storage is a simple brown paper bag. It’s porous. The paper absorbs excess moisture that the mushrooms release, but it doesn't let them dry out so fast that they turn into wood chips.
You don't need to fold the top down tight. Just a loose fold or even leaving it open a crack is fine. If you don't have a paper bag, a clean kitchen towel works too. Just wrap them loosely and set them on a shelf in the main part of the fridge. Avoid the very back where things sometimes freeze; mushrooms hate being frozen as much as they hate being boiled in their own juices.
Interestingly, Harold McGee, the legendary author of On Food and Cooking, notes that mushrooms are quite resilient to heat but incredibly sensitive to cellular breakdown from ice crystals. If your fridge has a "cold spot" that accidentally hits 30°F, those mushrooms are toast. They’ll turn into mush the second they thaw. Keep them between 34°F and 38°F for the longest life.
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How do you store fresh mushrooms when they are "fancy" varieties?
Not all fungi are created equal. If you're dealing with delicate varieties like Oyster mushrooms or Lion's Mane, the paper bag might be a bit too aggressive. These guys have a lot of surface area. They dry out fast.
For these, I usually go with a glass or plastic container but leave the lid slightly ajar. Lay a damp (not soaking) paper towel over the top. It creates a little micro-climate. For Shiitakes, which are a bit tougher, the paper bag is still king. I’ve seen some foragers suggest storing morels in a bowl covered with a damp cloth because they need even more airflow to prevent the tiny crevices from harboring mold.
The "Wash or No Wash" debate
People argue about this constantly. You’ll hear "never let water touch a mushroom!" because they supposedly soak it up like a sponge. Well, Kenji López-Alt over at Serious Eats actually tested this. He weighed mushrooms, washed them, and weighed them again. They barely absorbed any water.
However, the real issue isn't the absorption; it's the surface moisture. If you wash them before storing them, you are inviting rot. Only wash them right before you cook them. If they have dirt on them—which they will—just use a dry brush or a paper towel to knock off the big clumps before they go into the fridge. Save the rinse for the five seconds before they hit the pan.
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The shelf life reality check
How long do you really have?
- Button, Cremini, Portobello: 7 to 10 days if you use the paper bag method.
- Oyster and Chanterelle: 3 to 5 days. They are high-maintenance.
- Shiitake: Up to 2 weeks. They are the marathon runners of the mushroom world.
If you see the gills start to darken or the caps getting "tacky" to the touch, cook them immediately. Tacky is the precursor to slimy. Once they are slimy or have dark, sunken spots, throw them out. It isn't worth the stomach ache.
What about the original grocery store packaging?
Look, if you bought a pre-wrapped blue pint of mushrooms and you're going to cook them tonight, leave them alone. The industry uses a specific type of plastic film that is actually slightly permeable to gas. It’s better than a standard Ziploc, but it’s still not great for long-term storage. If you aren't using them within 24 hours, poke a few more holes in that plastic or just move them to paper.
Advanced Preservation: When you bought too many
Sometimes the farmers' market deal is too good to pass up and you end up with three pounds of maitake. You can’t eat that much in a week.
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One thing people get wrong is trying to freeze raw mushrooms. Don't do it. The water inside expands, breaks the cell walls, and you get a puddle of black goo when you defrost them. If you need to store them for months, you have two real options:
- Sauté then freeze: Cook them in a bit of butter or oil until they’ve released their water and browned. Let them cool. Throw them in a freezer bag. They’ll stay good for months and can go straight from the freezer into a soup or sauce.
- Dehydration: If you have a dehydrator, or an oven that goes down to 140°F, slice them thin and dry them until they snap. Dried mushrooms actually have a more intense flavor. Store them in an airtight jar in a dark cupboard.
Summary of Best Practices
Stop overthinking it. The core of how do you store fresh mushrooms is just managing humidity.
- Remove all airtight plastic packaging immediately upon arriving home.
- Transfer mushrooms to a brown paper bag to allow for gas exchange.
- Place the bag in the main body of the refrigerator, not the high-humidity crisper drawer.
- Keep "woody" or "wild" mushrooms like Chanterelles separate from store-bought buttons to prevent cross-contamination of spores or bacteria.
- Never wash until the very moment of preparation.
- If the mushrooms start to look slightly shriveled but not slimy, they are still perfect for soups—their flavor is actually more concentrated.
Actionable Steps for Today
Check your fridge right now. If you have mushrooms sitting in a sealed plastic bag or the original grocery store container with the film intact, go get a paper bag. Transfer them. If you don't have a paper bag, grab a Tupperware, line it with a dry paper towel, put the mushrooms in, and leave the lid half-off. This simple change will likely double the lifespan of your produce. If you notice a few are starting to get soft, slice them up and sauté them tonight with some garlic; cooked mushrooms keep in a sealed container for another 4 days, giving you a head start on tomorrow's dinner.