Fermented Mushrooms
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So, I am not necessarily bored with the ferments that I have in my fridge. But, I did realize that I always ferment the SAME THINGS. Again and again. Simply because we have our favorites. When I was at the store the other day, this beautiful carton of mushrooms caught my eye. They even spoke to me. “Ferment us!” I thought, can I ferment mushrooms? Well, why not!? I grabbed two cartons and some accompanying herbs and tossed them in the cart.
As with most other fermented foods, setting up the fermented mushrooms couldn't have been easier. Especially since I bought sliced mushrooms. That was a time saver right there! I just put all of the ingredients into my quart-sized mason jar, weighed the mushrooms down (they LOVE to float), put the lid on, and waited. For three days. I tasted them after 3 days and they were ready. If your kitchen is cooler, it may take 5 days. Just taste as you go along and stick them in the fridge when they are just how you like them!
I love the flavor of these fermented mushrooms. They will be excellent on my scrambled eggs in the morning. They will also be delicious with the green beans I am making later this week. Ah! don't forget the salads! Mmmmmm. If you are a mushroom fan, go ahead and make up a batch of fermented mushrooms. You won't regret it!
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Fermented Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 8oz packages of mushrooms I used about 1 and a half packages of sliced mushrooms
- Fresh thyme a couple sprigs, depending on your taste
- Fresh marjoram a couple sprigs, depending on your taste
- Smashed garlic 2 or 3 heads, depending on your tastes
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon culture starter
- Filtered water
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients into a quart sized mason jar. I really smashed the mushrooms and other goodies down into the jar to get as many in there as I could.
- Add filtered water to cover, leaving an inch of head space at the top.
- Weigh down your mushrooms because they like to float!
- Set on your counter for 3 to 5 days.
- Move to your refrigerator.
Enjoy!
I have fermented mushrooms in the past, but they turned to mush very quickly. I found the new texture to be very unappetizing. Did I do something wrong? How do you keep them from turning to mush?
Mine haven’t turned to mush yet. Honestly, I think I will eat them before they turn to mush. The texture is very similar to sautéed mushrooms.
Hello,
Is your culture starter vegan?
Thanks,
Ros.
If you go to the Cultures for Health website, you can find out. I think it was grown using dairy. They have a great customer service system which can answer those questions better. I know they have a vegan yogurt starter…
I’m brand new to fermenting. Can I use my whey for this?
Yes you could use whey also. 2-4 tbsp for a quart size jar. Any ‘starter’ will do! Good luck and these are delicious!
Wondering if whey can be used in place of the starter culture
Yes, you can use any starter you would like…whey, starter culture, liquid from a previous batch of ferments…!
Hi!
I tried the recipe as described adding whey. On the 4th day opened to try and the smell was awful. Waited for two more days but unfortunately nothing changed. Threw them out finally.
What do you think could have been the problem? Mushrooms were portobello.
Many things can go wrong with fermenting. Did you use fresh whey? Salt? Did it get moldy at all? The ratio of good bacteria to bad may have been off. You can try using a different starter…either a wild ferment (no starter and a bit more salt) or Culture Starter from Body Ecology http://bodyecology.com/911-37.html. Bummer! I hate fermenting fails!! 🙂
Have you had success with other ferments?
Thank you for the link – the problem is I live in Bulgaria, Balkan Peninsula, Eastern Europe and buying something online from the US could be a bit tricky with delivery prices and customs.
I think I found out what the problem was. I used a natural stone (after sterilizing it in my steamer for 15 min). The other jars where I used the same stones also went into the trash :(( We don’t have any weights sold specifically for this purpose, so I guess I have to be creative again.
My other ferments of zucchinis worked out great, though the dilly carrots took over 2 weeks. I have sauerkraut and roasted beets (the last is standing already for 3 weeks and doesn’t even smell close).
You could fill a ziploc bag with rocks and use that as a weight. Or boil/sterilize the stone first?
Could you use a small amount of kombucha or fermented lemonade as a starter? Just wondering. Can’t wait to try the mushrooms!
The kombucha is a different type of fermentation process, not lacto-fermentation so I am not sure. But fermented lemonade should work! Let us know how it goes!
By the way. I love the fermentation recipes. Keep up the great work.
I just recently learned: during the 1700-1800’s in the Americas and Europe ketchup was a fermented mushroom sauce. Tomato ketchup didn’t come around in popularity until the late 1800’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29u_FejNuks
https://savoringthepast.net/2012/08/01/did-george-washington-use-ketchup/
How much do these differ from pickled mushrooms? Is the flavor similar? Thanks!
Ok maybe a no-brainer
But if the pre-fermented mushrooms (oyster in this case) have a light white fuzz oer them, is that mould?
I had planned to ferment them, along with the chestnut mushrooms
But would it be disastrous to begin with possibly mouldy shrooms?
Or would it be fine for purposes of lacto-fermenting preserves?
Thanks
Just a simple question here. In the above recipe for Fermented Mushrooms, one of the ingredients is listed as 2-3 heads of smashed garlic. I was wondering about that, because 2-3 entire heads of a hell of a lot of garlic in only one quart jar of product! Did you perhaps mean 2-3 cloves?
The recipe calls for a culture starter, can it be substituted with a probiotic capsule?
Sure!
Thank you for sharing! Now something to spice up our dishes. Amazing!
Thanks for your suggestions on how to use the fermented mushrooms. Sometimes that’s my biggest hurdle. I see in the comments a lot of people are stressing about the starter culture. I’ve been fermenting mushrooms (shiitake) for a few months now with only salt and a bit of water. They get very bubbling after only 3-5 days.
This looks so delicious and I bet it tastes amazing! My family will love this. I can not wait to try this at home. This is a great way of introducing healthy foods into our menu. Thank you.
This is a must-try!
Thanks for you great information. I have a question. What is the proper way to use mushrooms in our diet.
This recipe sounds wonderful! I want to make it.
Just checking on the garlic In the ingredient list. 2-3 HEADS of garlic? Did you really mean heads, or cloves? Please clarify. Thank you so much!
Never thought about trying to ferment mushrooms! I am excited to try this!
Never thought about fermenting mushrooms! I can’t wait to try this!
To be honest, after seeing this, I cannot wait to try this. I’m sure it’s very tasty. This recipe looks gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I can’t wait to let my wife make this at home and try it. I’m sure we will all love it. Keep on sharing.
Mushroom foraging season is here! stoked to try this recipe with some fresh picked mushrooms!
Nice! I can re use the mason jars that I grew the mushroom spawn in for fermenting in 😀 stoked to try this!