French presses make delicious cups of coffee and tea, but they're also handy kitchen gadgets with other uses. For example, to reconstitute dried mushrooms, just partially fill your press, drop in the mushrooms, and put the press down on them so they're fully submerged. Come back later and you'll have full, plump mushrooms.


Sure, you could just put some water in a bowl and toss the mushrooms in, but they tend to reconstitute unevenly and pop up to the surface, leading to mushrooms that are tender in some places and tough others. America's Test Kitchen suggests that if you have a press with a glass carafe, wash it out well and give your mushrooms a soak with the plunger down over them, so they don't pop up to the surface. When you come back, they'll be fully, evenly reconstituted and ready for cooking.

Remember to wash your French press well beforehand: you don't want your mushrooms to absorb any coffee flavor. We know this can't be the only way to keep dried mushrooms underwater while soaking. Do you have a different method, or will you give this a shot? Let us know in the comments.


Photo by Dharion.

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