Watery mushrooms

The pan cannot do two things at once

Browning needs a surface above the boiling point of water. As long as there is liquid water in the pan, the pan sits at boiling point and nothing browns — the energy goes into evaporating the water rather than into raising the temperature.

A handful of mushrooms in a wide hot pan releases water slowly enough that it evaporates as it appears, and the pan stays hot. A heaped panful releases it faster than it can boil off, the pan floods, and everything sits at boiling point until the liquid has gone.

The good news is that this resolves itself if you are patient. Keep the heat up, let the liquid boil away, and the mushrooms will start to brown once the pan dries out. They will be smaller and slightly chewier than mushrooms browned from the start, and perfectly good.

Getting them browned

1. Use the widest pan you have and get it properly hot before anything goes in.
2. Cook in batches. Half the mushrooms you think will fit is usually right.
3. Add a little oil or butter, but not much — the mushrooms will release their own liquid and too much fat makes them greasy.
4. Put them in and leave them alone for two or three minutes. Stirring constantly keeps releasing water and prevents contact.
5. If liquid appears anyway, turn the heat up and let it boil off. Do not turn it down, and do not cover the pan.
6. Once the pan is dry and sizzling again, the mushrooms will brown within a couple of minutes.
7. Season at the very end. Salt draws water out, so salting early guarantees a puddle.

Things that make it worse

• Washing them. Mushrooms absorb water readily. Brush or wipe them instead, and only rinse if they are genuinely dirty — then dry them thoroughly.
• Salting early. Salt draws water out by osmosis. Add it after they have browned.
• Covering the pan. A lid traps steam and guarantees a stew.
• Cutting them small. More cut surface means faster water release. Halves and quarters brown better than fine slices.
• A crowded non-stick pan on a low heat, which is the exact recipe for grey squeaky mushrooms.
• Frozen mushrooms, which have ruptured cell walls and flood the pan immediately. Use them in soups and stews rather than trying to brown them.

By mushroom

Chestnut and button

The standard, around ninety per cent water. Halve or quarter rather than slicing thin.

Portobello

Very wet and large. Best roasted or grilled rather than pan-fried, and gill side up so the liquid does not pool.

Shiitake

Denser and less watery. Browns more readily than most.

Wild mushrooms

Vary enormously. Many are wetter than they look and benefit from a dry pan first.

Dried, rehydrated

Squeeze them hard before they go in the pan, and keep the soaking liquid — it is the best part.

Common questions