Mushroom treat- Another good haul

[woodwzrd]

DW went on a 2 day backpack trip and brought me home a present.

sulfur shelf or chicken of the woods mushroom

top view

bottom view

This is just half of one of two mushrooms growing on one tree. I will be sauteing and freezing part of it and dehydrating the rest to make mushroom powder and slices to reconstitute. It really taste like chicken!!

 

[freemotion]

Yum! I'd love to find one of those!

 

[savingdogs]

I love mushrooms and know we have many exotic kinds that grow around here. I do have a mushroom identifier book but I'm still intimidated.

How did you all learn to positively identify mushrooms well enough to be confident eating them. I believe in my area chanterelles are the ones we can easily find. (Pacific northwest rain forest).\

I believe I have one of those mushrooms in your picture growing right in my backyard. Do they like wet damp stumps of alder trees to grow in?

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have a book, but some of them so closely resemble the bad ones that I would need futher study. I mainly just harvest from the fallen willow trees after a fog. Its the one time we can eat our fill on fried mushrooms.

 

[woodwzrd]

How did you all learn to positively identify mushrooms well enough to be confident eating them. I believe in my area chanterelles are the ones we can easily find. (Pacific northwest rain forest).\

I believe I have one of those mushrooms in your picture growing right in my backyard. Do they like wet damp stumps of alder trees to grow in?

Movin' to the country, gonna eat alot of Peaches! HaHaHa That would be The Presidents Of The United States of America if I remember correctly.

Actually I have two different mushroom books that I cross referance. If I can not absolutely positively ID them I won't eat them. I tend to hunt for and gather the ones that do not have look alikes. The mushroom in my pics is one of those that does not have a look alike. There are however a few variations but they all have the same plate like structure and similar orange and yellow coloring. Get yourself a couple of really good books and cross check everything. My favorite is The National Audobon Society's book.

Free, I ussually get lucky enough to find at least one of these every year. last year I managed to sell 27 Lbs. of it to 2 different food co-ops in our area.

 

[savingdogs]

Yes, you have the song right. I wonder how many people read that and don't know why I said Peaches when I live in WA state on a mountaintop where peaches cannot grow...

That is the book I have! Is there anywhere you could take the actual mushroom to have some expert identify it for you?

 

[woodwzrd]

Yes, you have the song right. I wonder how many people read that and don't know why I said Peaches when I live in WA state on a mountaintop where peaches cannot grow...

That is the book I have! Is there anywhere you could take the actual mushroom to have some expert identify it for you?

What! peaches don't grow up there? Hahaha

I don't know of any place you could have your mushroom ID'd. The best thing to do would be to latch on to someone who is familiar with the local crop and have them ID it.

The saying goes there are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters but there is no such thing as an old bold mushroom hunter.

That is why I cross check every thing with 2 books. The book you have is probably the best resource you can find but I would try to find another one more area specific for where you are and use the 2 together.

 

[patandchickens]

Woo, good find! Congrats!

I love mushrooms and know we have many exotic kinds that grow around here. I do have a mushroom identifier book but I'm still intimidated. How did you all learn to positively identify mushrooms well enough to be confident eating them.

I'd suggest sticking to things that really HAVE no dangerous lookalikes. There are a few. Some chanterelles; puffballs if you cut them open first (and since they are best sliced and sauteed *anyhow*, you normally *would* cut them open, so would notice if they were actually a newly-sprouted amanita); hedgehog mushrooms (which I just noticed some last week in the provincial forest where I walk the dog, and am having a lot of trouble refraining from nicking 'em for the dinner table LOL); or those blackish funnel-shaped ones that look like dead leaves whose name escapes me at the moment. [e.t.a. - I looked it up, it is Craterellus cornucopioides, horn of plenty or black chanterelle - also known as trumpet of death but is totally not poisonous, I think that name is just b/c it is black]

Beyond that, or if you're not comfortable even with *that*, find a local mushroom group that does classes or does forays for newbies. Best to learn from people, in person, who can point at things and say yes/no, and draw your attention to details, and check your IDs.

Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

I want to mush hunt but honestly I am scared too lol

 

[woodwzrd]

I have been mushroom hunting for about 10 years now and quite honestly there are alot of mushrooms out there that scare the crap out of me. I have positively ID'd tons of edibles but I can't push my self to eat them. Like Pat said I tend to stick to the ones that have no dangerous look alikes or the ones that I have found or have been show by more experienced mushroom hunters. For me alot of times it becomes more of the thrill of going out and foraging and IDing something that I could eat if push comes to shove. You definately need to be carefull but agian as Pat pointed out there are local group that are more than willing to take newbies under there wing but don't expect them to show you all the their spots. Mushroom hunter are very protective of their spots and kind of funny that way.