Smoking mushrooms

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Torch&Tone

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 9, 2019
66
108
Washington, DC
Has anybody smoked mushrooms before? Someone invited vegetarians to Thanksgiving and I'd like to step up some of the sides for them. Likely do up some baby 'bellas (and maybe some specialty varieties) tomorrow, and then mix into either a stuffing or casserole.

Cold vs. hot, duration (want that smoky flavor but don't need them to be over-the-top smoke bombs), thoughts on wood type, etc., etc.
 
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I've never smoked mushrooms but I imagine if you put those baby bellas on skewers and smoke em you could always then pull em and grill em or remove and sauté them if needed.

Options are always good :)
 
Funny you should ask....I came across this recipe a few weeks ago, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

 
I grill portabella mushrooms over oakwood coals pretty often for veggie friends for burgers, and they turn out killer, everyone loves them. Also, when I took a wood fired pizza class from Chef Anthony Falco a couple of years ago, he made up a simple appetizer of shaved garlic, mushrooms drizzled with a really good EVOO with salt and pepper, cooked at 900* in a woodfired pizza oven which was fired with red oak wood, and they were something special. So mushrooms take on smoke flavor really well, I'm just not sure how well they would hold up to a long smoke without getting too overdone and smokey.

All you can do is do a trial run with a few shrooms to try things out.
 
You should try it and report back with results and method.

I have smoked baby bellas and it wasn’t good. They became bitter, I think it’s the moisture in the mushroom and the delicate nature of the flesh. That said, they grill very well, but I have made skewers with meat/veg and mushroom and for me, if they stay on the grill to long they are not forgiving. So now I do the shrooms on their own skewer and watch them close and pull them when they are done. I have not cold smoked any but if I did, I would make it a short smoke time. For me they can get bitter.
 
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Sorry I had to!

I have done stuffed mushroom caps several times in the smoker. Run it around 250 for 2 hours and always come out amazing. Mixture of cream cheese, cheddar, panko, some seasoning, little onion. Top with some shredded parm. Good stuff.
 
I make them from time to time. I have done portabello caps stuffed with chorizo that are great. But not what you need. These would go good with a baked sweet potato or regular tater. Green been casserole works for vegetarians too. I use mostly oak wood as I have a bunch of it.
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Obviously the sausage won’t work for you and I didn’t cook the pans under the sausage either. Just took the photo there.
 
Never tried smoking them but worked fine in a tea. :emoji_laughing:

Good info so far but as SMF's duly authorized Devil's Advocate it's best not experiment for Thanksgiving and stick to tried and true. For me that would mean grilled skewers of mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, onion, and cherry tomatoes tossed in salad dressing. That said, since I have the grill fired up I might try and grill some tofu rubbed with fajita seasoning or whatever suits you. https://www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-how-to-grill-tofu-vegan-experience
 
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I never could keep mushrooms lit. So, I gave up and just dipped them in peanut butter and honey or sprinkled them on pizza. :emoji_laughing:

Grilled mushrooms would fit the bill.
Use large portobello caps stuff with whole spinach leaves then top with vegan cheese.
Drizzle EVOO in the bottom of an oven safe glass baking dish.
Place mushrooms in backing dish, drizzle more EVOO on top of the mushrooms, then season with salt and pepper.
Place backing dish in a 400° grill until cheese is melted and lightly browned.
 
If they eat cheese or eggs (mayo) you could stuff them. I make them all the time as a side dish but could easily be a main. I use a pretty simple artichoke dip recipe and make two pans full. They get wiped out pretty quick.
Cup mayo
Cup graded parm( the kind in a shaker bottle)
1 can artichoke hearts drains and chopped.

Here is a thread from a while back where I used them as a side.
 
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If they eat cheese or eggs (mayo) you could stuff them. I make them all the time as a side dish but could easily be a main. I use a pretty simple artichoke dip recipe and make two pans full. They get wiped out pretty quick.
Cup mayo
Cup graded parm( the kind in a shelter bottle)
1 can artichoke hearts drains and chopped.

Here is a thread from a while back where I used them as a side.
That cook looks amazing. I’m going to bookmark that for sure. The wife loves artichoke hearts.
 
That cook looks amazing. I’m going to bookmark that for sure. The wife loves artichoke hearts.
That artichoke filling was originally just a dip . I thought it would be good in the mushrooms and now thats the only way I do them. You could also just put that in a small casserole dish and bake. I like it how it is but feel free to add more artichokes!
 
Finally following up!
Short, short version:
- Cold-smoked on cherry three hours, rested half-hour, diced, incorporated into stuffing mix, baked. Worked out great!
Less short version:
- Since I was wary of bitterness, I chose cherry, the sweetest of the woods I currently have. I think apple would have worked well, too, maybe better.
- Since it was going to get cooked with the rest of the stuffing anyway, I figured no need to cook it twice (and potentially overdrying, if that's a risk?) so I opted to cold-smoke.
- Halved the larger ones, to give a little more surface area while still being easy to handle.
- Three hours was a shot in the dark, but I was taking inspiration from cold-smoking cheeses - and three hours was manageable.
- Resting cheeses takes a lot longer, but I still wanted to give the smoke/mushrooms at least a little chance to even out a little bit so I covered them up and kept them cool.
- After half an hour resting, I was a little concerned by condensation giving them a bit of a slimy exterior, so I went ahead and diced them up, along with unsmoked shiitakes and onion.
- Stuffing was just like regular stuffing, but with {the mushrooms, an extra pinch of salt, and a touch of extra avocado oil} substituted for {bacon}
- The vegetarians pivoted away from the (other peoples' :emoji_wink:) green bean casserole and corn pie in favor of the mushroom stuffing. What little I did get (and I don't mind) went very well with the turkey and glazed ham.
- Excess mushrooms went to the vegetarians in to-go bags for their own cooking projects at home: a salad, a pizza, and a soup, I'm told.

Thanksgiving meant I was a *little bit* too busy for photo-taking, sorry: the mushrooms looked like mushrooms, but now with a rose-gold finish. And a heck of an aroma.

Will definitely consider doing again for use in ramen and on pizza. Will also look into various stuffed, hot-smoked approaches, too.
 
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Has anybody smoked mushrooms before? Someone invited vegetarians to Thanksgiving and I'd like to step up some of the sides for them. Likely do up some baby 'bellas (and maybe some specialty varieties) tomorrow, and then mix into either a stuffing or casserole.

Cold vs. hot, duration (want that smoky flavor but don't need them to be over-the-top smoke bombs), thoughts on wood type, etc., etc.
Really simple and fast smoked mushroom on a pellet grill. Baby Bella mushrooms from Costco. Took stems off, cleaned and dried with paper towel. 50/50 mixture of kosher salt and 16 mesh pepper lightly sprinkled. Placed in large zip lock bag for about 30 minutes with a bit of Olive Garden salad dressing. Placed in rack, cap side down with grill temp at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Cranked the heat up to 450 degrees. The grill started its slow climb in temperature. After about 15 minutes grill temp was at 400 degrees and most of the bellas had softened texture and just right smokiness. Used almond pellets but would generally use cherry or apple pellets. Turned out great and so easy, just not fancy. Those smoked shrooms are good with about anything and can be easily added to many other recipes.
 
The pics that flatbroke flatbroke posted look amazing!! Those are some great ideas he shared. I had a friend years ago that was a vegetarian and one of his favorite meals was large Portabelles cleaned out and loaded with masked potatoes then covered with gravy. I'm not vegetarian but loved the idea so been doing then off and on for many years. If you're inclined to take a look, here is a thread I did recently doing the Portabellas this way.


Best of luck and you're getting some really good ideas here. Hope it all works out well for you and your friend.

Robert
 
Agreed with what is stated above. Assuming they like cheese/dairy, I like to mix up some grated cheese, cream cheese, spices and stuff them before putting them in the smoker.

- Jason
 
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