Author: Christie Rotondo

If you've ever cooked a whole turkey for Thanksgiving or another holiday, you know how stressful dealing with a frozen turkey can be. While a frozen bird is typically the most widely available, convenient, and affordable option, having a still-frozen turkey on Thanksgiving morning is the stuff of nightmares for many. And not only do you have to thaw the thing—you also have to do it safely, lest you poison a dozen family members and friends. Fortunately, it's really not that hard to properly and safely defrost a turkey. For guidance, we spoke to two food safety experts and a chef to find out the best way to defrost turkey—and which methods home cooks should avoid. 

Why It's Important to Defrost Turkey Correctly

In the US, Thanksgiving turkeys typically range from 12 to 16 pounds, with some even exceeding 20 pounds. Because of the bird’s large size, defrosting it well—and safely—can be challenging. Depending on the weight of your bird and the method you choose, it can take up to five days for your turkey to fully thaw. And though it may be tempting to let your turkey sit out at room temperature or in a bucket of warm water, this can result in uneven thawing, with some parts of the bird hitting the temperature danger zone (40 to 140ºF; 4.5 to 60ºC), the temperature at which harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, clostridium, or campylobacter can multiply quickly and increase your risk of food poisoning. 

How you defrost your turkey matters, and to prevent foodborne illnesses, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has strict guidelines on how to safely thaw turkey. There are only three methods the organization recommends for defrosting turkey: in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in the microwave. Below, we'll explore each of these methods in detail so you can thaw your turkey safely and in a way that sets you up for cooking a juicy, succulent centerpiece of a bird.

How Long Does It Take to Defrost Turkey?

The time it takes to defrost your turkey will depend on its size. The USDA estimates that you’ll need 24 hours in the fridge for every four to five pounds of turkey you’re defrosting, but many factors can impact thawing time, including the temperature of your fridge and how crowded the fridge is. Beyond the turkey’s size, the cut and shape of your turkey will also impact how long it takes to defrost. Jessica Pryles, chef and author of Hardcore Carnivore, says a whole turkey is essentially a “big, round, frozen ball,” and its density means it’s not conducive to quick defrosting. While not commonly found at traditional grocery stores, spatchcocked turkeys will both freeze and defrost faster than an intact bird. Whole turkeys that have been separated into parts and then frozen flat will also thaw faster than a whole bird.

To give yourself plenty of time to properly thaw and brine your turkey, it’s best to begin defrosting the bird at least five days before you plan to cook and serve it. (As Kenji has noted previously, there’s no need to brine birds that are labeled as kosher, enhanced, or self-basting, as these have already been treated with salt.)

The Most Common Methods for Thawing Turkey

How to Defrost Turkey in the Refrigerator

According to Meredith Carothers, a food safety specialist with the USDA, and Catherine Nettles Cutter, a professor and food safety specialist in Penn State University’s food science department, defrosting your turkey in the fridge is the best way to thaw it. “It's the easiest and the safest,” says Carothers, who explains that a fridge set to maintain a temperature below 40ºF (4ºC) ensures that your turkey will never hit the danger zone, reducing the risk of food-borne pathogens.

To thaw your turkey in the fridge, Carothers and Cutter recommend keeping your turkey wrapped and storing it on a large platter or tray, such as a rimmed sheet pan, to collect any juices that may leak. You’ll also want to place it at the lowest possible point in your fridge to keep any rogue raw poultry juices not caught by the platter from contaminating anything else in your fridge. 

This method is the only one the USDA recommends using if you plan on dry brining your turkey, as the other two USDA-approved methods—thawing in the microwave and in cold water—are considered “rapid” and require you to cook the bird immediately after it thaws. Thawing in the fridge comes with two trade-offs, though: time and space. A 20-pound bird will need about five days to defrost, taking up precious fridge space you could otherwise use to store other Thanksgiving ingredients. Still, it’s the most hands-off method and is the safest approach, as it is the only one that guarantees your turkey will be held at a food-safe temperature the entire time it thaws. (We recommend using a refrigerator thermometer to ensure your fridge is at the right temperature.)

TL;DR: Defrosting turkey in the fridge is the safest and most hands-off method, and is the only USDA-recommended method if you plan on dry brining your turkey. It is also the slowest method and requires you to have significant fridge space.

How to Defrost a Turkey in Cold Water

If you’re running behind schedule and need to speed up the defrosting time of your bird, submerging it in cool water will do the trick. (We recommend keeping the turkey in its original packaging to prevent the meat from becoming waterlogged.) With this method, it takes about 30 minutes to defrost per pound of turkey, Pryles says. A 10-pound bird will defrost in about five hours, rather than the two to three days it would require in the fridge.

Because cold water conducts heat better than air, this method is faster than thawing in the fridge. This method, however, is a bit more hands-on than thawing turkey in the fridge. As I wrote in my guide to defrosting chicken, the USDA says this method is fine as long as your tap releases water in the 55 to 65ºF (12.7 to 18.3ºC) range. You’ll also have to change the water every 30 minutes or so to ensure the water remains in the recommended range; as the frozen turkey defrosts, the water around it becomes cooler, and eventually becomes cold enough to prevent the bird from adequately thawing.

The other problem with this method is finding a container large enough to hold your turkey. Kenji has recommended using a large cooler or tub and changing out the water every hour or so. A cooler, Pryles says, will also help keep the temperature more consistent and potentially reduce the number of times you need to refill it. Many coolers have spigots at the bottom, making it easy to drain when you’re done defrosting. If you don’t have a large enough cooler, Pryles suggests using a five-gallon bucket. “You just want to make sure that there's plenty of room between the actual turkey and the side of the bucket so it can actually be immersed in the cold water,” she says, which will help thaw the bird evenly.

If you have neither a cooler or five-gallon bucket, defrosting your turkey in a clean kitchen sink or even your bathtub is also an option. If you plan on defrosting your turkey in the sink or tub, be sure to thoroughly clean them to prevent any dirt, bacteria, or dish detergent and residues from bathing or cleaning products from contaminating your poultry. (Although we recommend keeping your turkey in the packaging, there is a chance of it being breached.)

Because defrosting via cold water is considered a rapid-defrost method, the USDA recommends you cook food defrosted this way immediately once it's thawed, which unfortunately means you won’t be able to dry brine a turkey defrosted this way.

TL;DR: Defrosting a turkey in cold water is faster than thawing in the fridge, but it is slightly more hands-on as it requires you to change the water frequently to maintain a temperature of 40ºF (4ºC) or below. You will also need a large vessel, such as a cooler or five-gallon bucket, for thawing the turkey. A turkey defrosted this way must be cooked immediately after thawing, which means you won’t be able to dry brine it.

What About Defrosting a Turkey in the Microwave?

Despite being endorsed by the USDA, defrosting a whole turkey in the microwave is simply not realistic for most people, as most turkeys are too big to fit in a standard microwave. This method is more suitable for thawing smaller cuts like drumsticks or wings quickly, though we do not recommend it unless it is the only option available. As I found in my research and testing on how to best defrost chicken, this method results in unevenly thawed meat; because the microwave jumpstarts the cooking process, the outer edges of the poultry may be fully cooked by the time the center of the bird is defrosted. The texture of the meat is also dry and unpleasant to eat. 

If you insist on thawing cuts of turkey in the microwave, the USDA recommends using your microwave’s poultry defrost setting to do so, and planning on it taking about six minutes per pound. You should also rotate and flip the pieces throughout the process to make sure it’s defrosting evenly. Because this is another rapid defrosting method, the turkey should be cooked immediately after it has thawed.  

TL;DR: Most turkeys are too big to fit in a standard microwave; this method is best for thawing smaller cuts of turkey like thighs or wings. Turkey defrosted this way will have a drier texture, and we do not recommend using this method unless it is the only one available. Because the microwave is a rapid defrosting method, the turkey must be cooked immediately after it has thawed.

Why You Should Never Defrost a Turkey at Room Temperature

Leaving a whole frozen turkey out at room temperature is the riskiest defrosting method, and the USDA does not recommend thawing turkey this way, nor do we. Think about it: Even weeknight-friendly cuts of poultry like chicken breasts, which typically weigh about one to two pounds, can take several hours to thaw at room temperature. A whole turkey—which is more than triple the size of those cuts—will take much longer. As the turkey sits at room temperature, its exterior will thaw first, and likely hit the temperature danger zone while the interior has yet to fully thaw, making it prone to bacterial growth.

Pryles notes that if you live in a cold climate where the outside temperature is consistently below 40ºF (4ºC), you could safely defrost the turkey outside in your yard or your porch. The USDA, however, does not recommend thawing turkey this way, regardless of the outside temperature. If the turkey happens to be in direct sunlight or if the temperature fluctuates throughout the day above 40ºF (4ºC), Carothers says, you’re putting your guests at risk. She also warns that a porch isn’t as sterilized as your kitchen, and the thawing turkey could attract unwanted Thanksgiving guests in the form of local wildlife and neighborhood pets. For those reasons, we don’t recommend this method either. 

TL;DR: Thawing your turkey at room temperature is the riskiest defrosting method. We do not recommend using this method.

Can You Cook Frozen Turkey?

Unless you are deep-frying your turkey—in which case the bird needs to be 100% thawed and thoroughly dried before taking a dip in the oil—you can technically cook a turkey from frozen and it will still be food safe according to the USDA. From a culinary standpoint, we don’t recommend it; a bird you’ve thawed in the fridge and dry brined is always going to be more flavorful and juicy. But if it’s Thanksgiving day and your turkey is still a block of ice and cooking it frozen is the only option left, you can, indeed, do this. Just keep in mind that a frozen turkey will take at least 50% longer to cook than a thawed turkey, and just tossing a frozen bird in the oven will certainly not result in a perfectly cooked, moist bird with crisp skin. We aren’t going to offer instructions for it here, but you can head on over to Thermoworks, where there is a thorough guide on how to cook a frozen turkey.

The Takeaway

For defrosting a whole turkey, our top choice is the refrigerator. Be sure to start defrosting at least five days before you plan on cooking the turkey, and calculate that it will need 24 hours in the fridge for every four to five pounds of turkey you’re defrosting, possibly longer. Be sure to build in time for prep methods, like dry brining.

Search for easy, weeknight-friendly recipes, and you’re bound to come across many featuring chicken. It’s no surprise that 75 percent of Americans eat such an easy, versatile protein at least once a week. Many home cooks keep it stashed away in the freezer for convenience, ready to thaw for their next minimal-effort meal.

While freezing chicken is convenient, defrosting it is not—especially if you forget to take it out of your freezer in time. The internet is littered with shortcuts for thawing chicken quickly, but do they really work as fast and as well as they claim to? Can the defrosting method you choose impact how your chicken cooks? And, more importantly, is it safe? Armed with more than 55 pounds of chicken—including chicken breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings, and ground chicken—I decided to find out.

Why It's Important to Defrost Chicken Correctly

You have two hours until dinner and you’ve forgotten to defrost your chicken. You place a package of frozen chicken thighs in a bowl of hot water in the hopes that the heat will thaw the poultry quickly. No big deal, right? 

While this may feel like an acceptable way to defrost chicken, you’re setting yourself up for a serious case of food poisoning by letting your poultry sit in the temperature danger zone, which ranges from 40 to 140ºF (4.5 to 60ºC). According to Meredith Carothers, a food safety specialist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), this is the temperature that harmful bacteria like salmonella, e. Coli, or campylobacter can multiply and “reach dangerous levels,” which can increase the risk of food poisoning. “Depending on the type of bacteria,” she says, “it can create a toxin that’s heat resistant.”

To prevent foodborne illnesses, the USDA has strict guidelines on how to safely thaw chicken. Though there are many ways of defrosting poultry, there are only three methods the organization recommends: thawing chicken in the fridge, in the microwave, or in a bowl of cold tap water with a temperature of 55 to 65ºF (13 to 18ºC).

How We Tested

To determine the best way to defrost chicken, I tested the USDA’s three recommended methods, along with two other common, even if objectionable, ones: allowing the chicken to sit under cool running water and at room temperature.

Curious to see if the best way to thaw chicken would depend on the cut, and to gather timing data for some of the most common pieces of chicken, I tested different parts: bone-in and boneless breasts, bone-in and boneless thighs, drumsticks, wings, and ground chicken. To ensure consistency in my testing, all meat was frozen as flat as possible in a quart-size zip-top bag. I weighed each cut and portioned them into individual packages that were all a similar shape and size, as how meat is frozen can impact how long it takes to defrost. 

Those packages consisted of: 

• Two drumsticks, weighing half a pound in total
• Five wings, weighing half a pound in total
• One pound of ground chicken
• One pound of boneless chicken breasts
• One pound of bone-in, skin-on breasts
• Two boneless thighs, weighing about half a pound in total
• A family-size, two-pound package of bone-in thighs 

As each cut defrosted, I recorded how long each method took, how hands-off it was, and if the temperature of the chicken ever reached the danger zone, which I tested with an instant-read meat thermometer. If the chicken did hit a temperature in that range, I noted how long it spent within the danger zone before the rest of the cut was completely thawed. I then cooked all the chicken to see whether each method impacted taste and texture. 

For the cooking itself, I rubbed drumsticks, wings, boneless breasts, and boneless thighs with salt and olive oil, then baked it on a rimmed baking sheet at 425°F (220ºC). I browned ground chicken in a nonstick pan on the stove. As for the skin-on, bone-in breasts and thighs, I first crisped them in a cast-iron skillet with butter, then baked them in the oven. My results below will hopefully help you determine the best method to defrost your chicken in the time you have—or if you’re better off ordering pizza for dinner.

The Most Common Methods for Thawing Chicken: Tested

Refrigerator

Method
To thaw chicken in the fridge, I removed it from the freezer, placed the sealed package in a container or on a rimmed baking sheet to collect any leaking juices that could cross-contaminate other food, then refrigerated it until thawed. This took about 24 hours on average, though how long it will take will depend on the size of the cut you’re defrosting.

How Safe Is It?
Food safety organizations, including the USDA, Canadian Ministry of Health, and European Food Safety Authority generally agree that defrosting poultry in the fridge is the safest. Carothers explains that a fridge calibrated to maintain a temperature below 40ºF (4ºC) ensures that your chicken will never enter the danger zone, minimizing risk of any food-borne pathogens and making it the safest way to defrost chicken. 

The Results
This method took the longest. As you’ll see in the chart below, the chicken took between 19 and 30 hours to fully defrost, depending on the size and dimensions of the cut.

Microwave

Method
To defrost chicken in the microwave, I removed the chicken from its packaging and placed it on a microwave-safe plate. If your microwave has a “defrost” setting, the USDA recommends using that to thaw chicken. (Some microwaves may also have different defrost settings for poultry, meat, fish, or bread. Choose “poultry” when thawing chicken.) If your microwave does not have a defrost setting, the USDA recommends defrosting the chicken at 30% power.

While defrosting, you’ll want to keep an eye on the chicken, as thin edges will likely begin to cook as the meat defrosts. Use tongs to flip the chicken periodically, about every two minutes or so, to help it defrost evenly. For ground chicken, the USDA even recommends using a spoon or offset spatula to scrape off bits of thawed chicken onto a separate plate. This prevents the chicken from cooking while also allowing the remainder of the meat to thaw more easily.

I used my microwave’s “poultry” defrosting setting, which recommends the amount of time to defrost the chicken based on the weight you enter. According to the manufacturer, my microwave varies between 20 to 30% power during the defrosting process to ensure even thawing. Despite this setting, the edges of my chicken were fully defrosted and beginning to cook before the center even had a chance to thaw.

It's important to note that how long it takes to thaw chicken in the microwave will ultimately depend on your microwave’s wattage. To demonstrate this, I tested defrosting boneless chicken breasts with both my higher-wattage microwave and a lower-wattage one to compare the results, and it took about three times as long to thaw them in a lower-wattage microwave (see details in the chart below). 

How Safe Is It?
The USDA considers microwave-thawing one of the safest ways to defrost chicken. You’ll have to cook the chicken immediately after defrosting, however, as the outer edges of the chicken will begin to heat up as it defrosts, bringing it into the danger zone. During testing, parts of the chicken frequently reached upward of 80ºF (26ºC)—well above the recommended limits, but still far from the USDA's recommended temperature for chicken of 165ºF (74ºC). Carothers, however, says this isn’t dangerous if you plan on cooking it immediately. “The time that [the chicken] is spending in the danger zone is not actually long enough for bacteria to reach a dangerous level,” she says.

The Results
The microwave was by far the quickest defrosting method. The smallest cuts, like the chicken wings, took as little as five minutes to defrost, while larger cuts took about 25 minutes. You’ll have to sacrifice taste for speed, though: Each microwave-thawed cut was substantially drier than chicken defrosted using other methods, as you’re blasting the poultry with heat to thaw it.

Cold Water

Method
To defrost chicken using the cold water method, I placed frozen packaged chicken in a bowl of cold tap water. According to the USDA, this method is fine as long as your tap releases water in the 55 to 65ºF (12.7 to 18.3ºC) range. I let the frozen chicken sit until fully thawed, and changed the water every 30 minutes to ensure it remained in that temperature range. To avoid bloating in the water, I kept all the chicken in its plastic packaging.

How Safe Is It?
This method, along with the microwave, are the only two rapid defrosting methods the USDA considers safe. Though this method takes much longer than the microwave (the wings took a mere five minutes in the microwave, whereas the same size package of wings took an hour and five minutes using the cold water method), the USDA still considers it “rapid.”

Depending on the size of the cut you’re defrosting, it may take more than an hour for the poultry to fully thaw. The warmer the water, the faster the thawing. To reduce the risk of food sitting in the danger zone, however, the USDA only recommends using cold water, and advises against thawing food in warm or hot water, as food should not be left out for more than an hour if the temperature is above 90ºF (32ºC). The USDA also advises cooking poultry immediately after defrosting in cold water, as the surface temperature of the chicken may approach the danger zone while it’s submerged.

Carothers recommends changing the water every 30 minutes to ensure that the chicken continues to defrost steadily while avoiding wasting water by having it run continuously. The water will get colder as the frozen chicken sits in it and, after 30 minutes, will become cold enough to hinder thawing. I found this true in my testing: Water would come out of my tap at around 65ºF (18ºC), and as the chicken thawed, the water cooled to about 48 to 50ºF (8.8 to 10ºC).

The Results
While not as fast as the microwave, chicken defrosted relatively quickly with the cold water method: All cuts were defrosted in 45 minutes to two hours. This method was also relatively hands-off and didn’t significantly compromise the texture of the cut.

Running Water

Method
To speed up thawing in cold water, many cooks will place their frozen meat under running water. To see if this was the case, I placed a bowl with frozen packaged chicken under cold running water from my faucet and let it sit until fully thawed. Depending on the size of your chicken, this can take anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. While the USDA doesn’t discourage this rapid defrosting method, there were some serious drawbacks. 

First: It’s an incredible waste of water. (A faucet that leaks at just one drip per second releases more than 3,000 gallons of water a year.) Plus, even with the poultry in a plastic bag, this method leads to water that is potentially contaminated splattering all over your sink and counter. This method was also loud: at 78 decibels, the volume of this method is about the same as a running vacuum. Finally, this method was not substantially faster than defrosting packaged chicken in a bowl of cold water, and also had much more uneven results. This is likely because the faucet is focused on just one area of the chicken, causing that one area of the chicken to thaw much faster than the rest of it.

Let Sit at Room Temperature

Method
After taking the chicken out of the freezer, I placed it on a rimmed baking sheet and let it thaw on my kitchen counter. Defrosting times will vary depending on the temperature of your space.  I  used an instant-read thermometer to check on the surface temperature every 10 minutes, and moved the chicken into the fridge when its temperature reached above 40℉ (4.4ºC) and had been out of the fridge for two hours.

How Safe Is It?
The USDA tells consumers to avoid this method, as leaving chicken at room temperature for long periods of time puts food most at risk for bacterial growth, making this the most hazardous defrosting method. It is especially dangerous if people treat it as a hands-off method; some home cooks may forget they’re defrosting chicken and cook the meat after it’s been at room temperature or sitting within the temperature danger zone for several hours. Though you won’t get sick every time you do something risky like this, Carothers says it can be especially dangerous for at-risk populations like children, pregnant people, and the elderly. 

The Results 
My home was at 74ºF (23ºC), and my cuts were all defrosted in two to four hours, then promptly cooked. I also took the temperature of the surface area at several intervals, and while some cuts did reach the danger zone, they were not sitting at this temperature for very long. (According to the USDA, cold food should not be left out of refrigeration for longer than two hours if the room is below 90ºF or 32ºC. If it’s above that temperature, it should not be left out of refrigeration for more than an hour.) In order for bacteria to multiply, both conditions (time and temperature) must be met, Carothers explains. 

With that said, most home cooks are more likely to take cuts out of the freezer and leave them on the counter for much longer without closely monitoring the temperature of their poultry, increasing the risk of food poisoning. Unless you plan on keeping a close eye on the thawing process by regularly checking the meat’s temperature, it’s best to employ one of the USDA’s recommended thawing methods instead.

What Is the Fastest Way to Defrost Chicken?

Regardless of cut or size, the microwave was unmatched in its ability to defrost food quickly. In the microwave, two pounds of bone-in chicken thighs fully defrosted in 23 minutes, while ground chicken took just 11 minutes to thaw, and the wings took a mere five minutes to defrost. 

That speed certainly comes at a cost, though. Because the microwave kicks off the cooking process, the meat is often dried out, sometimes almost to the point of being inedible. This was less noticeable in fatter, juicier cuts like bone-in thighs.

Which Method Produced the Best Results Overall?

While defrosting in the fridge often took a substantial amount of time—sometimes more than 24 hours for larger cuts—the cooked results were the best, regardless of cut.

How Should You Thaw a Whole Chicken

According to the USDA, a whole chicken may take one to two days to thaw. The Chicken Farmers of Canada, the organization responsible for managing chicken production in Canada, estimates that it takes about 5 hours to thaw each pound of chicken in the refrigerator. A four-pound chicken will take about 20 hours to thaw in the fridge; if you know when you plan on cooking your chicken, thaw it at least one day before you plan to cook it. If you’d like to give your chicken a day to dry brine before cooking, thaw it two days before you plan on brining and cooking it.

Is there anything cooler in the culinary world than the mushroom? For starters, they're blissfully weird: Some can have 23,000 sexes. Some glow-in-the-dark. Some can kill you. But more importantly for us cooks, so many mushrooms are just damn delicious. 

“The fun thing about mushrooms and fungi is that they're always kind of upending our assumptions about things,” says Maya Han, culture representative for the New York Mycological Society and consultant for the New York Botanical Gardens. And she’s right: Fungi are inherently non-binary, not fitting into the neat, clean orders of the plant or animal kingdom, which is why biologists have placed them in a category all their own. “The fact that they are the third kingdom makes them kind of inherently queer,” Han says. 

Mushrooms are queer indeed—especially when it comes to narrowing down which ones are best to eat, and how to prepare them. So, to demystify these fungi, I spoke to Han, as well as forager and co-author of Wild Mushrooms, A Cookbook and Foraging Guide, Kristen Blizzard, and Joseph Rizzo, a mushroom cultivator and owner of Blue Oyster Cultivation.  

What Are Mushrooms? 

While mushrooms are found alongside vegetables and fruits at the grocery store, they aren’t plants—they lack chlorophyll and are unable to make their own food, instead consuming dead and decaying organic matter. They also aren’t animals, as they consume their nutrients by absorption instead of ingestion and grow from spores. For those reasons, mushrooms belong to the fungi kingdom, along with yeasts, molds, mildews, and rusts. 

Mushrooms are actually the fruiting body of certain fungi, explains Han. “They're kind of analogous to the fruit on a tree,” she says, adding that they also bear spores, making them the reproductive part of a fungus. 

Most edible mushrooms are sought after for their taste; they contain glutamate, an amino acid also found in cheese, meat, and fish, which gives mushrooms their savory, umami flavor. Many also have a meaty texture due to the presence of chitin in their biological makeup, a substance found in the shells of shrimp and crab. Thanks to these elements, mushrooms are commonly found in many cuisines—sautéed in a French duxelle, shaved over a pizza, simmered in a Japanese miso ramen, or braised in a Thai curry. 

Where Do Mushrooms Come From?

In the United States, mushrooms typically fall into two categories: cultivated varieties and foraged varieties. Some, like the oyster mushroom and shiitake, can either be foraged or cultivated, depending on where they’re found. The most common mushrooms in grocery stores, like the white button, cremini, and portobello, are cultivated, not foraged. 

A majority of common cultivated mushrooms in the US are grown in California and Pennsylvania. Rizzo explains that cultivated mushrooms are grown on either compost or sawdust, depending on the variety. White button mushrooms, along with portobello and cremini, are usually grown in sterile environments on compost. At Rizzo’s farm, he focuses on wood-eating varieties like shiitake, lion’s mane, and oyster mushrooms, and grows them on sawdust that's been steam sterilized to create a hygienic environment. The sawdust is put into a breathable bag, where a culture of mushroom spores are introduced. Those spores colonize the wood, and then mushrooms grow within it. 

Foraged mushrooms—like morels, chanterelles, and maitakes—are found in forested areas, as they prefer particular trees, and thrive in damp, dark conditions. These mushrooms can also vary slightly in appearance, texture, and flavor depending on where they’re grown. "We use the word ‘terroir’ all the time in relation to mushrooms,” says Blizzard. “And for me, this idea of terroir is not just the forest and the soil, but there's also the recall of the experience of picking them."

Whether cultivated or foraged, culinary mushrooms are available in a few distinctive shapes: cap and stem mushrooms, for example, can have a round, flat, or conical “cap” and a stem that varies in thickness. Shelf mushrooms are large and tend to grow in clusters, while trumpet mushrooms are shaped like small horns or open flowers, and a few mushrooms even look like puffballs.

19 Mushroom Varieties to Know

There are 14,000 known species of mushrooms, with more being discovered on a semi-regular basis, according to Han. “It's very difficult to go out on a birding walk and discover a new species of bird,” she says. "But with mushrooms, you can do that.” Below is a list of edible mushrooms commonly available and used in cooking—though it’s by no means exhaustive.

Portobello

Size: Large, about four to six inches in diameter
Appearance: Cap and stem mushroom with a brown exterior, a large, flat, rounded cap, and dark brown gills underneath 
Texture: Firm and meaty 
Flavor: Rich, savory, and earthy 

Thanks to its large size, deep flavor, and meaty texture, the portobello is like the steak of the mushroom world, says Han. Its firm texture allows for easy grilling, making it an ideal substitute for burgers, as well as a great variety to stuff. The portobello, white button, and cremini are all actually the same mushroom—Agaricus bisporus—that are just harvested at different times in their life to achieve their flavor, texture, and size. The portobello is the most mature, and loses moisture as it ages, giving it the most concentrated flavor and firm texture.

White Button

Size: Small to medium 
Appearance: Cap and stem mushroom with white, very rounded cap
Texture: Spongy with a slight firmness in the cap; stem is often more fibrous than the cap
Flavor: Mild, but intensifies when cooked 

The white button mushroom is the most popular in the US, accounting for the majority of mushrooms consumed. It’s also the youngest of the Agaricus bisporus mushrooms available, and is white due to a genetic mutation that was discovered in the early 1920s. If the portobello is the steak of mushrooms, then Han considers the white button to be the “tofu” because of its mild flavor and versatility. Beyond its mild flavor, the white button is also one of the least expensive mushrooms available, making it more feasible to add to mushroom-heavy dishes like chicken marsala, top mushroom pizza, or slice raw en masse for a Ruby Tuesday salad bar.  

Cremini

Size: Small to medium 
Appearance: Cap and stem mushroom that’s light tan to rich brown in color, with a well-rounded cap 
Texture: Slightly firmer than white buttons, but similarly spongy 
Flavor: More umami and savoriness than white buttons 

Somewhat of a middle ground between the white button and portobello in terms of age and genetic makeup, the cremini (also spelled crimini) mushroom has a slightly firmer texture and a deeper, more savory flavor than the white button. While creminis can be used nearly interchangeably with white buttons, their deeper flavor makes them a better complement to beef and wild game dishes. 

Maitake (Hen of the Woods)

Size: Very large; can reach one foot across and weigh about 5 to 10 pounds on average
Appearance: Clustered shelf mushroom in a rippling frond shape that resembles a bunch of feathers; color can vary from cream to gray or dark gray, depending on age 
Texture: Tender and succulent
Flavor: Rich and woodsy with a nutty aroma

Also called hen of the woods, due to its feather-like shape, the maitake is found in the Eastern and Midwestern US in early fall. They grow under oak trees, and mother-loads are found around the biggest trees. Because of their large size, these mushrooms can be roasted whole, almost like a large cauliflower, says Han, or they can be broken down into smaller pieces and sautéed; they crisp up when fried as well. Their rich flavor makes them popular in Japanese and Italian dishes, especially vegan ramens and cream-based pastas.

Shiitake

Size: Medium 
Appearance: Cap and stem mushroom with an umbrella-shaped cap that curls under itself; cap varies from tan to brown, with a white underside and stem 
Texture: Dense and meaty 
Flavor: Smoky and umami-packed; intensifies when dried 

Native to East Asia, shiitake mushrooms are commonly found in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese dishes, such as ramens or stir-fries. These mushrooms aren’t found wild in the US, but cultivators, like Rizzo, have been able to produce them commercially on sawdust blocks, and they are also easily cultivated on logs by backyard mushroom growers. 

Known for their deep, savory flavor, shiitakes are often used for an umami boost in many dishes, especially soups and stocks. They are also commonly found dried, which can intensify their flavor. To rehydrate them, let them soak for about 20 minutes in boiling water, then save the mushroom stock for use as a flavoring agent.  

Chanterelles

Size: Small to large, depending on where it’s found 
Appearance: Cap and stem mushroom with a flower-like shape; typically golden in color but sometimes red or white, depending on where it’s found
Texture: Delicate and crisp  
Flavor: Distinctive fruity, apricot aroma and delicate earthy flavor

Found in the forests of Europe, Asia, and North America, this gourmet mushroom changes slightly in size, color, and flavor intensity depending on where it’s grown. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, chanterelles often grow under conifers, and don't come into season until later in the fall. When they do emerge, they have a bright golden color and a hint of apricot flavor, while chanterelles grown in drier climates, like parts of Colorado or Arizona, may have a more concentrated apricot flavor. Chanterelles from the Pacific Northwest are the most commonly sold variety in the States, even popping up at places like Costco when they’re in season. Because these can only be foraged in the wild during a limited season, chanterelles tend to be pricier than more common mushrooms like portobellos and white buttons.

The delicate flavor of this mushroom is beautiful in dishes with cream or eggs, says Blizzard. “My favorite thing to eat [chanterelles] with, I have to say, is eggs,” she says. “They're awesome in an omelet or anything with eggs and cheese, but especially quiche.” 

Enoki

Size: Small 
Appearance: Grown in tightly packed bouquets; wispy, small, and bright white with a tiny cap and long stem
Texture: Thin stems take on an almost noodle-like texture when cooked, similar to rice vermicelli 
Flavor: Clean and slightly sweet 

Cultivated commercially in East Asia, the ghost white enoki we see at Asian markets and grocery stores in the US looks nothing like how it would appear in its natural habitat, notes Rizzo. “In the wild, it's kind of more robust, thicker, very kind of a colorful brown-yellow type of mushroom,” he says. When cultivated, the mushrooms are denied light and oxygen to give them their distinctive white color and legginess. Despite being so thin, though, they hold up well in many Asian soups, and are a common ingredient in Chinese hot pot due to their mild, slightly sweet flavor, which pairs well with ginger, soy sauce, and garlic. 

Lion's Mane

Size: Medium to large 
Appearance: Fuzzy, white, and bulbous; almost resemble snowballs  
Texture: Shaggy exterior that looks a bit like crab 
Flavor: Sweet and reminiscent of seafood 

Perhaps one of the oddest-looking edible mushrooms, lion’s mane is often used as a seafood substitute in everything from “fish” tacos to “crab” cakes due to its stringy, pull-apart texture and sweet, shellfish-like flavor. “It is definitely not the earthy, kind of heavy, rich, portobello mushroom fungal type flavor,” says Rizzo. While the mushroom can be found in the States in the late summer and early fall, it’s considered an “advanced” foraging mushroom, so most varieties you’ll see at specialty stores are cultivated, either using logs or breathable bags. 

Morels

Size: Small 
Appearance: An elongated cap with a distinctive honeycomb pattern; ranges in color from brown to black and is hollow on the inside—an important distinction between them and poisonous false morels
Texture: Thin and tender 
Flavor: Meaty, nutty, and umami-packed 

In the US, morels appear in spring, sometimes as early as after the last snow, and are one of the more sought-after gourmet mushrooms in the country. (They often have a price tag to match, too.) Morels are a mycorrhizal fungus, meaning they have a symbiotic relationship with trees. For that reason, these mushrooms cannot be cultivated and must be foraged wild, despite having dangerous, toxic lookalikes, like the false morel. In fact, even true morels should always be thoroughly cooked, as they can also be toxic when raw—even potentially fatal. When prepared properly, they are an unparalleled delicacy. “They're just a delicious mushroom,” says Blizzard, noting that they are often found in gravies with butter, creamy pastas, atop a steak, stuffed with cheese and fried, or simply sautéed. 

Oyster

Size: Medium to large
Appearance: Clusters of shelf mushrooms that grow like a bed of oysters in gray, yellow, pink, and blue hues 
Texture: Dense and velvety 
Flavor: Meaty and slightly briny, with a bit of anise on the nose when foraged wild

Oyster mushrooms are becoming increasingly popular across the US, especially since they can easily be cultivated. They cook quickly, making them a no-brainer in stir-fries and other pan-seared dishes. The mushrooms are also easily substituted in dishes that call for white button or cremini mushrooms, especially if you’re looking for an option with a bit more flavor. “They are not only gorgeous to look at, but also delicious,” says Han. “I make a fabulous vegan carnitas—shredding them like pork, marinating, and roasting them.” Blizzard often includes them in curry, adding them after her aromatics and only simmering the dish for about five to 10 minutes, since oyster mushrooms can get slimy in dishes with added liquid. 

Porcini

Size: Medium to large 
Appearance: Short and squat cap and stem mushroom with a white stem and rounded cap that ranges from light tan to a dark reddish brown
Texture: Slippery exterior when fresh, but firm and meaty 
Flavor: Bold and nutty 

Porcini thrive in forests globally, but are particularly a staple in European cuisines, especially Austrian, Italian, Polish, and Spanish, as well as in Russia. Appearing in late summer and fall in the US, these wild mushrooms are often found around pine trees in large numbers. The most sought-after varieties are young, as they can be eaten raw or cooked and (unlike many other foraged mushrooms) can hold up to freezing at home, too, thanks to their firm texture. Porcini soften as they age, but drying them is an ideal way to extend their culinary life. Try them in pastas and risottos, paired with potatoes in latkes or dumplings, or in gravy. 

Truffles

Size: Small to medium
Appearance: Irregular round shape with a bumpy exterior; light tan to black 
Texture: Hard, like a raw potato 
Flavor: Intensely aromatic, musky, nutty, and earthy 

First thing’s first: Truffles aren’t technically mushrooms, though they are similar. Both truffles and mushrooms are in the fungi kingdom and serve as the fruiting body for fungi. However, truffles belong exclusively to the Tuber genus, while mushrooms fall under several genera. Truffles also grow underground, relying on animals to help spread their spores, while mushrooms disperse their spores on their own. Because truffles are found only in the wild, in symbiosis with hazelnut and oak trees, and require a truffle dog or pig to help source them, they are an expensive delicacy. 

Truffles are often used raw, either thinly sliced or grated over a dish, or infused into oils, butters, and creams.

Lobster

Size: Medium to large 
Appearance: Irregular, almost flower-like shape with a bright yellow-orange color 
Texture: Thick, dense, and very firm 
Flavor: Nutty and earthy with a hint of shellfish 

Unlike many other common edible varieties, lobster mushrooms are actually a parasite—forming only after an Ascomycetes fungi attacks and eats another fungi. “They become that bright yellow-orange, and also their flavor changes,” says Han. Lobster mushrooms appear primarily in North America’s temperate forests, and their firm texture and subtle shellfish flavor make them a great seafood substitute in American dishes. “If you have any shellfish or fish stock or seasoning, you can add that,” says Han, as this will enhance the mushroom’s shellfish flavor, like in a creamy lobster mushroom bisque. “What's also really fun is making vegan lobster rolls with the lobster mushroom,” she says. “It's very convincing.”

Wood Ear

Size: Medium
Appearance: Ear-shaped shelf that’s dark brown to black 
Texture: Firm and gelatinous when raw, crispy and chewy when cooked 
Flavor: Mild and neutral 

Wood ear mushrooms are most commonly found in Chinese and East Asian cuisines because of their texture. Unlike other mushrooms, wood ears retain their texture in most dishes and take on the flavor of whatever they’re cooked with. They are commonly found in hot and sour soup, moo shu pork, and dumplings, as well as Korean japchae. Across the US, wood ears are typically sold dehydrated and found at Asian grocery stores and markets (sometimes labeled “black fungus”).

King Trumpet

Size: Large 
Appearance: Thick white stems with a light brown, flat cap 
Texture: Firm and meaty 
Flavor: Delicate, nutty 

Sometimes called king oysters, king trumpets actually belong to the oyster mushroom family, and are the largest variety available within it. While some mushrooms have fibrous stems that are often discarded when cooking, the stems of king trumpets are easy to use. When sliced and seared with butter, they can somewhat mimic the texture of scallops. They are often used thinly sliced in Korean dishes, like kimchi jjigae, bibimbap, or glazed with gochujang for a vegan main course. King trumpets are native to East Asia and the Mediterranean, but can also be cultivated elsewhere by hobbyists and small producers using sawdust. 

Chicken of the Woods

Size: Large 
Appearance: Shelf, feather-like clusters in bright orange and yellow 
Texture: Firm and meaty 
Flavor: Similar to chicken breast 

Emerging in late summer to early fall, chicken of the woods mushrooms grow in temperate and subtropical climates spanning Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. They are often found on dead or dying wood and trees, and can even attack living trees as a parasite. In the kitchen, they’ve become very popular as a stand-in for meat, specifically chicken. However, Blizzard notes that older varieties can be tough, and therefore benefit from being marinated before cooking. She especially loves the way they absorb sauces and broths. “They do have this sponging effect where, if you introduce them to, say, cream and lemon and butter, they soak all that stuff into them,” she says. “And it makes this really delicious texture that kind of is firm but melts in your mouth and is full of all that flavor that you just put in.” 

Black Trumpet

Size: Small to medium 
Appearance: A trumpet shape with jet black skin 
Texture: Delicate, but slightly leathery 
Flavor: Deep and earthy with a subtle smokiness 

Despite having the nickname “Trumpet of Death” because of their jet black color, these mushrooms are not only edible, but a favorite for chefs and home cooks thanks to their intense and distinctive flavor, which is comparable to a truffle. (Black trumpets have even been called the “poor man’s truffle,” as their flavor can mimic that of the truffle, but at a fraction of the cost.) “If it’s your first time tasting, I’d take a bite of them raw, and then sauce them in butter or olive oil to get their natural flavor, before adding in creams or herbs,” says Han. In the US, the black trumpet is found predominantly in Northern California and Southern Oregon, popping up in January and February, making them one of the few edible mushrooms in season in the winter. They pair well with other winter ingredients, too: acorn and butternut squash, beets, and even citrus are great accompaniments, not to mention cozy dishes like risotto. 

Beech (Shimeji)

Size: Small
Appearance: Bouquet-like cluster of white or brown small-capped mushrooms with thin stems 
Texture: Firm, crisp, and slightly chewy 
Flavor: Bitter when raw but cashew-like when cooked 

Often grown indoors, beech mushrooms—also sold in the US by their Japanese name, shimeji—are typically found at specialty grocery stores and farmers markets, and are most prominent in Japanese cuisine. They are often included in miso soup, for example, as well as udon soups. You’ll also encounter beech mushrooms in Thai soups and curries, and in Vietnamese pho chay (vegetarian pho). Often confused with enoki, as they are sometimes white and have a similar shape, beech mushrooms typically have a firmer texture that holds up when cooking. 

Straw

Size: Small 
Appearance: Squat and short with an elongated brown cap
Texture: Smooth, firm, and chewy 
Flavor: Mild, earthy 

You’ll most often see straw mushrooms canned at Asian grocery stores, as they are firm enough to withstand the canning process, have a relatively uniform size and shape, and retain their mild flavor well. Straw mushrooms can be cultivated with rice straw, and are widely grown throughout Asia—China being a major producer, as well as Vietnam, Thailand, and India. They are most at home in those cuisines, and can be added to stir-fries, soups, laabs, and curries. Canned varieties that are marked as “unpeeled” have a slightly stronger flavor, while dehydrated straw mushrooms tend to taste even stronger. 

How to Shop for Mushrooms

As consumer interest in mushrooms continues to grow, many grocery stores are beginning to stock a variety of mushrooms beyond just white buttons. Han also suggests seeking out Asian grocery stores for an even greater variety of fresh mushrooms, as well as canned and dried options. Farmers markets are best for local options, especially foraged varieties. 

When buying fresh mushrooms, Han suggests choosing the freshest ones, with firm flesh. “If it's starting to look a little shriveled or dried out, don't get it,” she says. Also avoid mushrooms with dark spots or discoloration, as this can be one of the first signs of decay. 

If possible, it’s also best to smell mushrooms before purchasing them.  “[They] should have kind of a fresh, earthy—for lack of a better term—mushroom-y scent,” she says. “Avoid anything that smells off or putrid or weird.” 

How to Store and Clean Mushrooms

While mushrooms need damp environments to grow, once picked, it’s best to keep them as dry as possible. Han suggests not cleaning mushrooms until you’re going to use them. While Kenji found that it is OK to clean mushrooms by washing them, the experts I consulted recommend brushing dirt off rather than fully rinsing or submerging the mushrooms, as too much water can dilute the flavor of some more delicate varieties.

The dirtiest part of the mushroom will likely be the end of its stem or base, which connects to the fungi’s mycelium, or root-like structure that forms underground. “There might be a little bit of dirt on the bottom, but generally, cultivated mushrooms are raised in sterile environments,” says Han. She uses a mushroom brush, much like a small pastry brush, to clean hers. If she’s foraged mushrooms and thinks they could use a rinse, she gives them a spin in a salad spinner afterwards to ensure they are fully dry.

It’s also best to avoid keeping mushrooms in any type of plastic—a fully sealed plastic bag or plastic-wrapped container will collect moisture, which will speed up the mushrooms’ decay. Instead, store them in a paper bag in the fridge to extend their shelf life. If you only have plastic bags or storage containers around, keep them open to make sure the mushrooms are properly ventilated. 

How to Cook With Mushrooms

Raw vs. Cooked 

While all the mushrooms on this list are edible, some require a few precautionary measures before consuming. Many varieties should not be eaten raw. Raw morels, for example, can be toxic, while raw chicken of the woods can sometimes cause gastric distress. “Mushrooms have something called chitin in them that doesn't break down very well in your system unless they're cooked,” explains Blizzard. Chitin is a substance often found in the exterior skeletons of insects, as well as in the shells of shrimp, crab, lobster, and many types of mushrooms—even the most common varieties. It can be difficult to digest, but easier on the body when cooked. When sautéeing, make sure that the mushrooms release all their liquid, then soften and soak up any oil, fat, or aromatics. When simmering, they should be softened and take on a deeper color before consuming.  

Stir-Fries and Sautées 

One of the simplest ways to prepare most mushrooms is in a pan with a neutral oil or butter. When using mushrooms in a sauté or stir-fry, they'll often release liquid before they’re able to soak up a sauce, especially wild mushrooms like chanterelles. “​​When we're cooking them, we will let them give up their moisture when we're sautéeing them,” says Blizzard. “And then at some point, they sort of suck that moisture back in and the pan becomes dry.” A dry pan typically means the mushrooms are done. This is especially true when making duxelles, a simple traditional French preparation of mushrooms and shallots that’s used to fill a tarte, stuff a chicken, or surround a beef Wellington.

Soups and Stews 

Whether it’s hot pot, ramen, or a creamy mushroom bisque, many types of mushrooms are at home in warm, comforting dishes. Umami-packed mushrooms can enhance broths and stocks—especially when dried—and firmer mushrooms like lobster or chicken of the woods can withstand being simmered slowly without getting too mushy. According to Blizzard, another trick for softening tough mushrooms, like older chicken of the woods, is to marinate them overnight in buttermilk, or a bit of milk and lemon juice.

Gravies and Sauces

Mushrooms’ earthy, savory flavor is a welcome addition in pasta sauces, risottos, and gravy. Most mushrooms work well with creamy pastas, but if making a red sauce, look for mushrooms with bolder, deeper flavor, like shiitake or portobellos. If you’re using truffles, a little goes a long way—just adding a few shavings on top or incorporating a teaspoon of gratings in the finished dish will do the trick. 

As a Meat Substitute

The firmest, meatiest mushrooms will hold up best to grilling and frying, or as a stand-in for meat, like in a portobello mushroom burger or a shiitake mushroom po-boy. Given that chicken of the woods has a particularly firm texture with a flavor that is actually reminiscent of chicken, it’s an ideal stand-in for a chicken breast or thigh. Additionally, lion’s mane, oyster, lobster, and king trumpet mushrooms all have a briny or shellfish-like flavor that makes them a great stand-in in faux fish tacos, “lobster” bisque, or even seared “scallops.” A mixed medley of chopped mushrooms can also be formed into a holiday roast or pâté. 

My summer isn’t complete until I devour a ripe, juicy peach standing at the kitchen sink. It’s a moment I look forward to all year long, and I savor each bite of the fruit: its tender flesh, and, yes, even its soft, fuzzy exterior. I consider the latter an essential part of the peach-eating experience, though many are downright turned off by a hairy peach. My advice for those folks? Seek out its fuzzless counterpart: the nectarine. 

A nectarine is essentially a bald peach, but, as it turns out, going bald has a few other key effects on the fruit. Peaches and nectarines differ in taste, size, how susceptible they are to diseases, and where they’re grown, as multiple experts told me. And while peach fuzz—or the lack of it—may seem like a characteristic that’s only skin deep, it plays a role in all those other key differences, too. 

How Peaches and Nectarines Came To Be

Peaches: According to Harold McGee’s book On Food and Cooking, both peaches and nectarines are native to China, and eventually made their way to the Mediterranean around 300 BCE. The fruit spread across Europe and arrived in St. Augustine, Florida with the Spanish in the 1500s. Those early peaches were nothing like what we see at grocery stores today, says agricultural historian William Thomas Okie. 

The first peaches in the US, called “Indian Peaches” by colonists, were quite hairy and difficult to transport, as they couldn’t stay fresh for long without modern-day refrigeration. According to Okie, while Native Americans did cultivate these first white-fleshed fruits, European colonists used them for hog fodder, as well as for brandy. It wasn’t until around 1850—when a larger, yellow-fleshed peach variety from China, called the Chinese Cling, was brought to the US—that fruit breeders began producing the peaches we know today, like the Elberta peach or the Bell of Georgia, says Okie.

Nectarines: There is a common misconception that nectarines are a cross between a plum and a peach, but that’s not at all the case. Nectarines are actually the result of a natural mutation within peaches that allow them to develop without their signature fuzz. 

“It’s just a type of peach,” says Thomas Gradziel, a geneticist and professor at the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. “It’s not a different fruit.” A single recessive allele allows for nectarines to develop without the trichomes, or fuzz, found on peaches. In fact, the two are so closely related that some farmers have seen nectarines grow on the same trees as peaches. A fruit may develop with half of its exterior fuzzy, and the other half smooth, says Gradziel. 

The nectarine that we’re most familiar with, however, didn’t come to be until 1936, when California fruit breeder Fred Anderson crossed a white-flesh nectarine with a yellow-flesh peach. That crossing made Anderson known as the creator of the modern day nectarine.

Peaches vs. Nectarines: What’s the Difference?

Beyond just being hairless, peaches and nectarines differin a few key ways: 

Appearance: Typically, nectarines are slightly smaller than peaches, says Gregory Reighard, a horticulture professor at Clemson University and member of the school’s “Peach Team” cooperative extension. That’s because the recessive allele that’s selected when creating a nectarine is also tied to genetic traits that create smaller fruit, so it’s often difficult to get nectarines to match a peach’s size. 

The skin of a nectarine is thinner than that of a peach, notes Reighard. That thinner, smoother skin makes it easier for nectarines to blemish, which is often a turn off for potential customers. The nectarine may also look redder than a peach, but that’s likely due to the lack of fuzz. Inside, peaches and nectarines may have either yellow or white flesh.

Taste: While nectarines may be characterized as a type of peach, they do taste quite different—and that’s also due to the differences in their skin. A nectarine’s compact, waxy skin tends to hold on to flavor compounds better than a peach does, says Gradziel, allowing for less oxidation than in a peach. “Because the oxidation is different, that volatile profile is going to be different,” he says. 

The flavors of both peaches and nectarines will vary widely depending on the color of their flesh. According to Gradziel, both white peaches and nectarines tend to be sweeter and less tart than their yellow counterparts. White peaches and nectarines can also have more of a honey note, while yellow peaches and nectarines will pack a bit more acidity. White and yellow nectarines are slightly more alkaline than peaches on the pH scale, giving them a sweeter taste. They can also be more aromatic—almost floral, depending on the variety—and, even when ripe, have a slightly firmer flesh than ripe peaches. Peaches of both colors also tend to taste a bit more luscious, with tropical fruit notes. 

Both peaches and nectarines come in “clingstone” or “freestone” varieties, which refers to whether or not the fruit’s pit is attached to the flesh. Clingstone peaches are most commonly utilized for processing peaches—like your usual canned and puréed peaches, as well as jams—due to the meltier texture of their flesh. Freestone fruit, however, is what you’ll most likely find in grocery stores. (A local farmers market, however, may have both clingstone and freestone varieties.) Freestone peaches and nectarines tend to have firmer flesh than their clingstone counterparts. 

Agriculture: The season for both peaches and nectarines in the US runs from late April to mid-September, with 95% of the country’s nectarines grown in California. The drier weather is more conducive to growing nectarines commercially than in other peach-growing states, like South Carolina, Georgia, and New Jersey, as the fuzz on a peach makes them more weather- and disease-resistant.

“Those hairs aren’t there to make them cute,” says Grazdiel. “It gives [the fruit] insect resistance. It actually changes the microclimate around that peach, so it tends to make them hotter or cooler, depending on the sunlight or the ambient temperatures and such.” 

Because nectarines blemish easily and are more difficult to ripen, peaches dominate commercial agriculture production in the US: 74,400 acres are dedicated to producing peaches across the country, while only 13,000 are for nectarines. The nectarines in your big-box grocery store are most likely from California, even if you live in a large peach-producing state like South Carolina, says Reighard. To track down local nectarines, you’ll need to seek out roadside farm stands, CSA memberships, and small orchards.

How to Substitute Peaches for Nectarines and Vice Versa

Because nectarines are a type of peach, they can be used similarly, says Reighard. “Whatever you can do with a peach, you can do with a nectarine.” 

Yellow-flesh peaches and nectarines are what’s most commonly used for baking in turnovers, cobblers, and cakes, since they have more acidity to balance out additional sugar than white flesh peaches and nectarines. The yellow flesh of these fruits also adds color to the final product.

When substituting nectarines for peaches, you’ll also want to keep in mind that nectarines tend to be a bit smaller, so check that the number of nectarines you’re using is comparable by weight to what the recipe recommends. If you do experiment with white peaches and nectarines, just know that they may benefit from added acidity or saltier elements to balance out their sweetness, as you can see in this recipe for pickled nectarines, as well as this crisp, which adds blueberries for a bit of tartness. 

The Takeaway

Nectarines are peaches that lack fuzz. Because of that, nectarines tend to be a bit sweeter and aromatic, with an almost honey note, while peaches have a more complex, acidic flavor, as well as notes of tropical fruit. (Ultimately, how acidic or complex the fruit is will depend on the specific variety, though.) Nectarines are also more difficult to grow in wetter climates, as they are more susceptible to disease. 

Yellow-fleshed peaches and nectarines are most commonly used in cooking and baking, as these tend to have more acidity than their white-flesh counterparts. That extra tartness helps balance out the added sugar in many baking recipes. When using nectarines, keep in mind that these tend to be smaller than peaches, and may benefit from incorporating more acidic elements, such as lemon juice. White-flesh nectarines and peaches can be used in cooking, but are most commonly eaten fresh in the US. 

Even during peak stone fruit season—which is *checks calendar* right now!—finding a plum, apricot, peach, or nectarine that’s juicy and perfectly ripe is a near impossible task. While these fruits are a signature of the hot, slow days of mid-to-late summer, their inconsistency gives them an almost elusive quality.

There is one stone fruit, however, that is particularly hard to find: the pluot. Part plum and part apricot (with a Seussian portmanteau for a name), this hybrid fruit was developed to showcase the best of both worlds. It has the skin, flesh, and flavor of a plum and the sweetness of an apricot, but is in a class of its own.

“To this day, [pluots are] the most incredible fruit I’ve ever had,” Tom Grazdiel, a geneticist and professor at UC Davis Department of Plant Science, tells me, noting that their novel taste and highly selective breeding make the pluot particularly interesting. “These are fruits that were developed by breaking the rules,” he says. But what exactly is a pluot, and how can you track one down? 

What Is a Pluot?

A pluot is a hybrid between a plum and an apricot. What differentiates a pluot from other plum and apricot hybrids like apriums and plumcots, though, is that it contains more plum traits than apricot ones. Often, they are described as being about 75% plum and 25% apricot, but the genetic makeup of a pluot isn’t exactly that simple, Grazdiel says, and some pluot varieties’ genes may consist of even more plum parentage. To him, a pluot showcases “the best of a plum and an apricot”—meaning that it has the complex flavor of a plum, but its tannic skin is balanced by the sweet, honey notes of an apricot, and its flesh is juicy, but still firm. 

Floyd Zaiger, a California fruit breeder, created the pluot in the 1980s when he crossed a plum with Luther Burbank’s not-so-successful plumcots. Zaiger, one of California’s most well-known breeders, painstakingly chose the plumcots that he thought showcased the best characteristics of both apricots and plums in terms of flavor, sweetness, texture, and consistency. Then, he backcrossed his plum varieties with those hybrids, repeating the crossing across multiple generations to develop a variety of pluots. 

Zaiger’s “lab” was a farm just outside of Modesto, and he often brought journalists, other fruit breeders, and members of California’s agricultural community to see his work. Gradziel had toured Zaiger Genetics, and says that Zaiger likely began his first tests of pluots in the 1950s or ‘60s, though it wasn’t until the ‘90s that Gradziel tasted one of them. 

“I remember in the 1990s, visiting Floyd, and he was sampling out some pluots—what would become pluots,” he says. “That final product had that nice sugar balance that an apricot has and that nice acid and volatiles that plums contribute.” 

Zaiger cross-pollinated fruit by hand—a horticulture method that mimics how bees pollinate flowers. Using this method, Zaiger developed hundreds of patented fruit varieties, including sweeter peaches, sturdier white nectarines that can better withstand shipping and handling, and apricots that ripen later into the season, extending their availability. He and his family would go on to develop 420 patented fruit and nut varieties, and Zaiger’s plum varieties make up a majority of plum production in California today.  

Here’s how to identify a pluot: 

Appearance: Like plums, pluots have a smooth exterior, but vary in color, size, and shape. The Candy Stripe pluot, for example, has a pink-red stripe with a yellow undertone. Many are globe shaped, but some, like the Crimson Royale, can be more ovular, while the Flavor Heart is, indeed, heart-shaped. Depending on the variety, pluots can be deep red, purple-black, and even green-ish. The flesh can also be deep purple, pink, red, or yellow depending on the variety.

Taste: The pluot’s flavor profile is sweet and juicy—similar to a plum’s, but less tart, thanks to their hybridization with apricots, which keep the pluot’s skin from being as bitter as a traditional plum’s. That said, the amount of acidity in the fruit will depend highly on which variety you’re tasting: The Dapple Dandy pluot is luscious and acidic, while the Flavor Queen pluot has less acidity. They also tend to be very aromatic; if you come across one that isn’t, it likely is not fully ripe. A pluot is typically firm but succulent, with flesh that has the mouthfeel of an apricot: tender and velvety.

Season: In the US, pluots are in season from May to September, but this will depend on your location. Varieties in warmer states, like California, will ripen earlier in the season, but in New Jersey, they may not ripen until late August. Typically, any fruit available at the beginning of its season will have higher acidity than those that ripen later, as warmer temperatures allow fruits to produce more ethylene gas. (Ethylene gas is a plant hormone that triggers a fruit’s ripening by increasing its sugar content, flesh to soften, and acid levels to reduce.)  

What About Plumcots and Apriums?

There are a number of other plum-apricot hybrids in the US, and they are generally categorized based on how similar they are to a plum or apricot. While pluots typically share more features with a plum, such as smooth skin and a juicy flesh, plumcots’ traits generally appear split more evenly between the two fruits, so some can even be fuzzy, and the flavor is often balanced between that of a plum and apricot. Apriums, however, lean more apricot than plum, so they are often fuzzy with more red and orange coloring, depending on the variety. 

Where Can I Find Pluots?

Pluots perform best in areas with mild winters and warm summers. However, they do require two conditions to set their fruit: a range of chill hours (a.k.a. hours below 45°F) during dormancy and at least one other pluot tree nearby in order to achieve pollination. They are mostly grown in California, but can be found in other states where plums and apricots are grown like Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. However, because pluots are difficult to grow and have inconsistent yields, there are few commercial growers.

Some grocery stores, like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and King’s, may stock pluots when they’re in season. However, they often won’t have their variety listed, and when I checked my local Whole Foods, they were suspiciously indistinguishable from the plums they were stocked next to—and most did not have a product code. Where I’m located in New Jersey, local pluots don’t come into season until late summer, so the ones I’m seeing now in grocery stores are most likely shipped from California. The varieties found in grocery stores are usually picked early, rather than left to ripen on the tree, which makes them easier to transport. This, however, means their flavor may be dulled and they may be especially tart. 

“All fruits are fairly finicky, but pluots are particularly finicky,” says Gradziel. “If you pick it two days early, it’s going to be too firm. If you pick it two days late, it’s going to be [too] soft, depending on the variety.” Instead, it’s better to look for pluots at local farmers markets and orchards, he says. “The probability that you are going to discover the most wonderful fruit you ever had is much more likely in a CSA than a shipment from California.” 

Local farmers will most likely be able to tell you about the specific variety they’ve planted as well, which can help clue you in to how it tastes, so be sure to ask them when at the farmers market. 

What Are the Best Uses For Pluots?

In Chip Brantley’s book The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot, he describes how Chez Panisse, Alice Waters’ iconic Berkeley restaurant that championed California cuisine, occasionally served a Flavor King pluot in the early aughts:  “This piece of fruit had been just picked from the tree at the height of ripeness, and yet it was uncut, uncooked, undoctored in any way that would seem to justify its role as the finale of a $65 pre-fixe menu,” which, adjusted for inflation, would be $175 today.

Simply put: Pluots are best enjoyed fresh, especially if you haven’t had them before. However, they can be used similarly to plums and other stone fruits in a tarte or galette. (Chez Panisse also offered Dapple Dandy pluots in a late-summer galette last year, and a similar recipe for a plum galette appears in their classic 1999 cookbook that calls for a mix of pluots and plums.) 

If you happen upon a box or bag of pluots that seems underripe, Gradziel recommends using those for a jam, as they’ll benefit from a bit of added sweetness.