chicken of the woods

[in. pred]

scored some shrooms this morning in the woods. love these things battered and fried. just dip them in honey mustard or make a chicken sandwich out of them. go get u some they are abundant and free. lol

5# or so of chicken and a puffball bonus also!
me and my son made sandwiches for lunch. egg wash then shake in famous andys cajun and fry. add Lettice, maters, n mayo all you need for a hardy tasty sandwich.

so all you vegans go hunt up some "chicken". oh maybe not many of those on here eh. lol

 

[jcam222]

I had a nice puffball out back but hit it with the mower when backing out of shed. Didn't see it somehow beforehand

 

[cpaysonc]

Nice! We're seeing some Frost Boletes, hoping for some Hedgehogs soon. I love poking around for wild mushrooms.

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

How do you know what is edible and what's not?! I love mushrooms, but I don't trust myself to pick the ones that aren't poisonous!

 

[indaswamp]

Very nice! We are getting some rain next 3 days so hoping that will make some shrooms pop.

 

[cpaysonc]

How do you know what is edible and what's not?! I love mushrooms, but I don't trust myself to pick the ones that aren't poisonous!

Start with some of the very easy ones. For my wife and I it was the Old Man of the Woods, based on the weird appearance and the way it stains/bruises when cut, there's nothing else like it. Get a good beginner book for your area of the country and make sure each mushroom passes each ID test. Then when comfortable with your "gateway shroom" find another to explore. In our case it was a Lactarius Indigo, bruises a beautiful blue, easy ID. The only thing it could possibly be mistaken for is its peppery cousin, which is also edible. Start small and grow from there. Boletes are far safer than gills in most areas of the US for consumption. Many guides wisely say to avoid gills entirely, which is stellar advice.

 

[pc farmer]

How do you know what is edible and what's not?! I love mushrooms, but I don't trust myself to pick the ones that aren't poisonous!

This is me. I would never eat a mushroom I picked. It would kill me for sure

 

[JIMSMOKES]

How do you know what is edible and what's not?! I love mushrooms, but I don't trust myself to pick the ones that aren't poisonous!

Pick the ones growing on a cow patty!

 

[ajbert]

I learned a long time ago that if you watch the critters in the forest and see what they eat then it is probably safe for us to eat. We have some mushrooms that grow around the house that are white with no stem showing, kind of like what you have in the picture. They never get that big as they start to turn rotten but no critters ever eat them. I'm not sure what kind of mushroom grows at 9100 feet but these ones dol.

 

[cpaysonc]

I learned a long time ago that if you watch the critters in the forest and see what they eat then it is probably safe for us to eat. We have some mushrooms that grow around the house that are white with no stem showing, kind of like what you have in the picture. They never get that big as they start to turn rotten but no critters ever eat them. I'm not sure what kind of mushroom grows at 9100 feet but these ones dol.

Looks like a common puffball to me. Beautiful white flesh, tasty, but very quickly starts to decompose if not harvested soon enough. Don't take my word for it by any means, but find one of interest, look into it, next thing you know, you're harvesting one!

 

[Smoke-Chem BBQ]

Morels are another easy to identify species. Hard to go wrong with that one. Yes, there is a 'false morel' out there, but they're really not all that similar-lots of online references show the obvious differences.

I joined a mushroom club, errrr mycological association, here in North Idaho to try and learn my way around foraging for edibles. I've only scratched the surface of a whole LOT of information, so thus far there are still only three species I'd be comfortable picking and eating...morels, corals, and chanterelles. But apparently there are over 30 edible species in the area, I just don't know enough yet to do a positive ID.

I did learn that almost all wild mushrooms need to be cooked, thoroughly. Stick to button mushrooms from the supermarket if you want them raw on your salad. I also learned that not all mushrooms that wildlife eat are safe for humans...differences in liver enzymes between species can make a big difference in what is toxic and what isn't.

Also, eat only a small portion of any new mushroom the first time you try it. Some are notorious for being fine for most folks, but causing a fair bit of gastrointestinal distress in others, even though they aren't actually toxic.

 

[indaswamp]

This is me. I would never eat a mushroom I picked. It would kill me for sure

I thought you picked some of those chanterelles you found last year growing on your property?

 

[forktender]

Chanterelles, are the only shrooms I will pick, I don't trust myself with any others. I wish I was older when my Gramp's was alive, he picked all sorts of shrooms.

 

[archeryrob]

I never find chicken of the woods when out. Puff balls have all been tiny this year, maybe dry weather?

 

[in. pred]

everyone leery of wild shrooms is smart. inly takes one mistake to kill ya. thats why i stay with the easy to id types. oysters puffballs chants chickens hens morels mostly. "learn your land" is a great mushroom info channel/site. informative videos on all kinds of shrooms and stuff.

i have a bunch of volete in my area but never learned what ones are safe. i tend to stay away from shroom that look like toadstools. even medow shrooms that are everywhere here.

rite now chickens should be common. i harvest upwards of 90# most years. they are the easiest to spot with their bright colors and tendency to grow up trees. there are very few lookalikes. locust trees and oaks host them mainly here.

not only are these shrooms good. they have healing properties to them also. the chicken is great for an anti inflammatory. i tturned a friend onto them one day. showed him a tree full and how to pick them. then we chowed down about 2#. lol the next day hew called and asked if they helped with pain? i saif his shoulder had hurt for 12yrs and this morning his pain was gone! so i looked into it and found they have many health benefits, like other wild shrooms. so they arent just good to eat! lots of mushroom research in cancer fighting properties too the last 10yrs. they found some compounds in them stop the growth of cancer cells! those cow pie shroom mentioned we as kids ate for fun are now helping Alzheimer's patience! micro doses help stop the progression and sometimes reverse the effects!!

the puffball is a safe eater but its not great table fare. i like to use them for pizza crusts. brush them with olive oil and season with pizza seasoning and grill one side then flip over and sauce n top the pizza with your goodies. then grill untill the toppings are melted. great way to use them. most people just sautee them in some butter. i had my wifes grandpa tell me about making them like mashed taters but i couldnt ever get it rite? said he was kicking one down the road one day as a kid. and alady sked him if he could get more. he took her one and thats what she did to it. but he didnt know how she made it like that..........

so go get you some fall shroom and learn about them. you will be glad you did!

and if you eating raw shrooms(from the store) read some of Paul Stamets opinions!

 

[in. pred]

I learned a long time ago that if you watch the critters in the forest and see what they eat then it is probably safe for us to eat. We have some mushrooms that grow around the house that are white with no stem showing, kind of like what you have in the picture. They never get that big as they start to turn rotten but no critters ever eat them. I'm not sure what kind of mushroom grows at 9100 feet but these ones dol.

of it looked like chicken but it was whit it could still be a chicken variety. if it was whit and on the ground it was probably a black staining polypore. look them up and you will see resemblance.

 

[pc farmer]

I thought you picked some of those chanterelles you found last year growing on your property?

No. Buddy gave them to me

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

I have some massive puff balls this year, didn’t know they were edible…