Canning Mushrooms

Home-canned mushrooms are delicious. Tinned mushrooms from the store are metallic tasting and rubbery-textured in comparison.

But home-canned are really a gourmet-level product to have on hand. They really do taste fresh and pure mushroomy.

Note these are plain mushrooms to be used as an ingredient in cooking, as opposed to pickled or marinated in oil. If you wish to preserve your mushrooms in oil, see this tested recipe: marinated mushrooms.

Plain, unpickled mushrooms must be pressure canned. If you don’t have a pressure canner, then pickle your mushrooms, dehydrate them, or freeze them.

The following procedure is from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. It is also reproduced exactly in the Ball Blue Book, Bernardin, and So Easy to Preserve.

This is a high-quality product.

There is no safe tested method for larger-sized jars.

Contents hide

• 1 What type of mushrooms
• 2 Quantities of mushrooms needed
• 3 The recipe
• 4 Canning mushrooms
  • 4.1 Ingredients
  • 4.2 Instructions
  • 4.3 Nutrition
• 5 Reference information
• 6 Recipe source
• 7 Lighter-coloured home-canned mushrooms with ascorbic acid
• 8 Nutrition
• 9 Should you use the mushroom blanching water or not for canning?
  • 9.1 Yes, use the blanching water
  • 9.2 No, use fresh water
• 10 Cooking from canning recipes

What type of mushrooms

Canning directions apply only to white button-type mushrooms (aka champignons de Paris.) Other types (such as Morels whether cultivated or wild, wild mushrooms, etc) should be frozen or dehydrated.

For specific information on morels, see: Collecting, Preserving & Using Morel Mushrooms (2015 edition) by the University of Alaska Extension Service.

We are not told why the canning directions apply only to button-type mushrooms. It could be because they don’t want to encourage untrained people to go picking wild mushrooms. It could be because mushrooms come in such different shapes and sizes that they would all pack differently into the jars, and pack-type and density do affect processing times.

Quantities of mushrooms needed

Numbers are approximate guidelines.

On average, as a very rough guideline, expect to need about 1 kg (2 lbs) of mushrooms per half-litre (US pint) jar of canned mushrooms.

• 6 ½ kg (14 ½ lbs ) of mushrooms = 9 x half-litres (US pints) canned mushrooms

The recipe

Jar size choices: Either quarter-litre (½ US pint) OR half-litre (1 US pint)

Processing method: Pressure canning only

Yield: varies

Headspace: 3 cm (1 inch)

Processing pressure: 10 lbs (69 kPa) weighted gauge, 11 lbs (76 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet)

Processing time: Either size jar for 45 minutes

Print

Canning mushrooms

How to home pressure can plain mushrooms, following tested USDA methods Course Side DishCuisine AmericanKeyword Mushrooms Prep Time 1 hour hourCook Time 1 hour hourTotal Time 2 hours hours Servings 1 varies Calories 54kcal

Ingredients

• mushrooms
• water

Instructions

• Trim off and discard stem ends and any discoloured parts.
• Soak in a sink, or large pot or bowl, full of cold water. Soak for 10 minutes to loosen any dirt.
• Refill sink with fresh clean cold water, and wash the mushrooms.
• You can leave small mushrooms whole; cut large ones up.
• Put mushrooms in a pot with water, bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes.
• Pack into hot quarter-litre (½ US pint) or half-litre (US pint) jars.
• Leave 3 cm (1 inch) headspace.
• If desired, per half-litre (US pint) jar add ½ teaspoon of salt or non-clouding, non-bitter salt sub as seasoning.
• Top up with clean boiling water (such as from a kettle, for instance), maintaining headspace.
• Debubble, adjust headspace.
• Wipe jar rims.
• Put lids on.
• Processing pressure: 10 lbs (69 kPa) weighted gauge, 11 lbs (76 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet)
• Processing time: Either size jar for 45 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 54kcal | Carbohydrates: 8.2g | Protein: 7.9g | Fat: 0.7g | Sodium: 14mg | Fiber: 2.5g | Sugar: 4.3g

Processing guidelines below are for weighted-gauge pressure canner. See also if applicable: Dial-gauge pressures.

Jar Size	Time	0 to 300 m (0 - 1000 feet) pressure	Above 300 m (1000 ft) pressure
¼ litre (½ US pint)	45 mins	10 lbs	15 lb
½ litre (1 US pint)	45 mins	10 lbs	15 lb

Reference information

How to pressure can.

When pressure canning, you must adjust the pressure for your altitude.

More information about Salt-Free Canning in general.

Recipe source

Mushrooms whole or sliced. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Complete guide to home canning. Agriculture information bulletin No. 539. 2015. Page 4-13.

Modifications: none.

Lighter-coloured home-canned mushrooms with ascorbic acid

The USDA Complete Guide notes: “For better color, add ⅛ teaspoon of ascorbic acid powder, or a 500-milligram tablet of vitamin C.” (per half-litre / US pint) jar.

Here’s the difference. On the left, a jar of mushrooms with the ascorbic acid; on the right, jars without have darkened.

Nutrition

Serving size: ½ cup, drained (About one half of a ¼ litre / ½ US pint jar.)

Per ½ cup:

• 54 calories, 14 mg sodium
• Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 0 points (mushrooms are free on Weight Watchers).

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.

Should you use the mushroom blanching water or not for canning?

Yes, use the blanching water

• Bernardin Guide 2013 says “use cooking liquid.” [ref] Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving. Toronto, Canada: Bernardin Ltd. 2013. Page 103. [/ref]
• Ball Blue Book says, “Pack hot mushrooms and liquid into a hot jar.” [ref] Ball Blue Book. Muncie, Indiana: Healthmark LLC / Jarden Home Brands. Edition 37. 2014. Page 114. [/ref]

No, use fresh water

The Ball / Bernardin Complete Book says, “Drain, discarding cooking liquid. Pack hot mushrooms into hot jars as directed…. ladling in fresh boiling water to cover mushrooms.” [ref] Kingry, Judi and Lauren Devine. Ball / Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving. Toronto: Robert Rose. 2015. Page 390. [/ref]

The USDA Complete Guide (2015) says, “Fill hot jars with hot mushrooms… Add fresh hot water..” [ref] Mushrooms whole or sliced. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Complete guide to home canning. Agriculture information bulletin No. 539. 2015. Page 4-13. [/ref]

Presto’s manuals say, “Pack hot mushrooms in clean, hot Mason jars… Cover with boiling water…” [ref] Presto Pressure Canner and Cooker, 23 quart model, #72-719F. 2014. p 13. [/ref]

Cooking from canning recipes

3-Minute Mushroom Soup

Beef, Kale, and Mushroom Pie

Italian-style green beans

Mexican Rice

Pepper rice

Pork and pepper in cream sauce

Slow Cooker Turkey and Stuffing from home canning

Turkey Curry

Turkey Pot Pie Filling