The first two days after the forest: from basket to frying pan

Wild mushrooms don't keep for long, and many mistakes happen not in the forest but at home: a bag left in the boot, an extra day in the fridge, a hurried fry-up. This guide is about the first two days after picking: how to store, clean and cook your mushrooms, and how much to eat. It assumes your haul has already been reliably identified, and it won't help you work out whether a mushroom is edible.

How long do you have? Two days

No more than two days after picking, and the mushrooms stay in the fridge the whole time. They spoil quickly, so they need to be eaten or preserved as soon as possible ¹.

Mushrooms start to spoil on the way home, and the plastic bag is most often to blame. In a bag they get no air and spoil faster. If your haul made the journey in a bag, take it out straight away ¹⁶.

At home, put the mushrooms in a fridge at no more than 4 °C, away from other food. Count the two days from the day of picking, not from the day you sorted the basket ⁶².

Which brings us to next time: pick only as much as you can eat ⁵. Before setting out you can look at the forecast map and the weekend forecast. This is a MicoRadar model calculation based on weather conditions, not a report that mushrooms have already appeared.

To wash or not to wash?

It's better not to wash them if you can do without. Extra moisture speeds up spoilage, and mushrooms lose their aroma and flavour ¹.

Wash very dirty mushrooms under a gentle stream of cold water and don't soak them, so they absorb less water. Then let the water drain, lay the mushrooms on a paper towel for a few minutes and cook them straight away ¹.

What should you do before you turn on the hob?

Set aside one raw specimen of each species and photograph your haul. If someone becomes ill, a specialist can identify the species from the raw mushroom, and the photo will help doctors choose the treatment ¹⁶.

Photograph them so that all parts of the mushroom are in the frame. And don't cook the whole haul at once, or you'll have nothing to show what exactly you ate ²⁴.

Why can't they be eaten raw, and how long should they be cooked?

Some mushrooms are toxic raw, and heat treatment neutralises their toxins. Raw mushrooms may also contain parasites and bacteria, and raw they are hard to digest ¹².

Cook mushrooms for 20–30 minutes in a frying pan or 15 minutes in boiling water, then pour the water away. This kills parasites and bacteria, while a quick fry does not: undercooked mushrooms are one cause of poisoning ⁶.

Cooking won't fix an identification mistake

Long cooking protects against what is described above: toxins in raw mushrooms, bacteria and parasites. It will not make a poisonous mushroom safe. The most dangerous toxins withstand heat, however long you boil them ¹⁸.

So everything written here applies only to mushrooms you are sure about. What to do if you aren't sure is in the section on poisonous mushrooms.

Why does each species go in its own pan?

Cook each species separately and don't eat mixtures. If you become ill after a mixture, you won't know which mushroom is to blame ⁶¹.

This rule works together with the specimen set aside: a separate dish tells you which mushroom made you ill, and the raw specimen tells you what that mushroom is.

How much can you eat?

An adult should eat no more than 150–200 g a week. Mushrooms are high in fibre and are hard to digest in large amounts ⁶²¹.

It's better to eat mushrooms at lunch than at dinner ⁵.

Don't give wild mushrooms to small children: if poisoned, they are at high risk of dehydration and death ⁶. For the same reason, elderly people are better off avoiding them. So are pregnant women: bacteria and parasites that can be found in soil are dangerous for the foetus ².

What should you do with leftovers?

Put them in the fridge. A dish can be reheated once. Frequent reheating of a mushroom dish is one of the reasons perfectly good mushrooms make people ill ⁷.

Feeling unwell? Call 112

If you or someone close to you feels unwell after eating wild mushrooms, call 112. Keep the raw specimen you set aside and the photos of your haul to hand to show the doctors.

In brief

• Take the mushrooms out of the bag and put them in a fridge at no more than 4 °C, away from other food.
• Eat or preserve them within two days of picking.
• Wash only very dirty mushrooms, under a gentle stream of cold water, then dry them and cook straight away.
• Set aside one raw specimen of each species and photograph your haul.
• Cook each species separately: 20–30 minutes in a frying pan or 15 minutes in boiling water, and pour the water away.
• Put leftovers in the fridge and reheat them only once.

Checked against sources on 3 October 2026.