6 ms·

Mushroom foraging sounds really fun but I’m too scared to eat anything that I find.

antx 4y ago
There's no wiggle room. You need to be 1000% certain of identification, if you decide to eat a mushroom. That's how I've been doing it for the last decade. I forage a lot of mushrooms, but don't consume anything I'm not sure of. Also, there are "beginner" mushrooms, that don't have any dangerous look-alikes, such as the famous "chicken of the woods" (laetiporus sulphureus). You can't really go wrong with mushroom like these.
- chasil 4y ago
  My farmers' market has a mushroom guy that brings in things that I've never seen before. Some of them get expensive and a few I've found rather unpleasant. There is absolutely no way that I could find these things myself, so I would suggest a dealer like this if you are in an area large enough to support one. This is the dealer at my market: https://www.wildgrowthgourmetmushrooms.com/ https://www.wildgrowthgourmetmushrooms.com/
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    I just wish I could find a morel, chanterelle, and porcini dealer.
    - chasil 4y ago
      What happens when you put in your zip code and search here? https://shop.marketwagon.com/collections/vendor/3711?redir=true&trk=mh25988w https://shop.marketwagon.com/collections/vendor/3711?redir=t...
      - ceejayoz 4y ago
        "Sorry, we do not currently support your location."
        chasil 4y ago
        I hope you find something near you.
    - dzhiurgis 4y ago
      > chanterelle How do you cook them? They are pretty cheap here so I tried number of times this summer and found the flavour just not worth the cleanup hassle. Maybe they are different in NA. IIRC the traditional method here is to boil them and then cook with bacon and onion, so chances of their flavour is 0.
      - cinntaile 4y ago
        Fry them in butter and put them on a piece of toast.
        dzhiurgis 4y ago
        Tried exactly that, def there’s nice mild flavour, but personally not worth the hassle.
  - jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
    Yeah, I've got foraging with a friend that knew what she was doing, and she really only did it for a fun excuse for a hike and bought her mushrooms at the farmer's market. Granted, I'm in Portland, so mushrooms are exceptional up here, but there's just no way you'll find the quality and quantity the pros do.
  - formerkrogemp 4y ago
    You should try lion's mane if you haven't already. It's pretty good. My favorite typically remains pink oyster mushroom.
  - rwmj 4y ago
    I've grown mushrooms (from known spores) before and it's interesting. The problem with it is that most mushrooms only grow on very specific materials, eg. only on oak wood or straw.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  Ha ha, more like "pancakes of the woods" [1]. I'll have to keep my eye out for them. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=laetiporus+sulphureus&client=safari&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJn5zS3uP6AhUjpIkEHeI5Ag4Q_AUoAXoECAMQAw&biw=1334&bih=789&dpr=2 https://www.google.com/search?q=laetiporus+sulphureus&client...
- kaitai 4y ago
  "There are old mushroom hunters, there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters."
junglistguy 4y ago
And aren't you terrified of eating food from a supermarket full of chemicals?
- retrac 4y ago
  Depending where you are, that worry might be greater with foraged berries, mushrooms etc. I live in an area that's been heavily industrialised for over 150 years. The soil at my mom's place when tested had too much lead and PCBs for safety. And not too long ago they found leaking barrels of nuclear waste from the 1940s in a lovely wooded area just a couple blocks over from my old primary school. Only God knows what's in the soil here, unless you test it.
AngryData 4y ago
Many people just stick to the very easily identified mushrooms with few or no real look-a-likes or atleast mushrooms who's poisonous look-a-likes aren't that deadly but just make you feel shitty. Morels are super popular around me because they are very easy to identify and false morels aren't very hard to differentiate once you have seen true morels a couple times. They may look similar to someone who has never seen or picked morels before, but they have very distinct differences once you know what to look for. At the very least someone should learn what the extremely deadly mushrooms, like death caps or destroying angels, look like so they know what to most definitely avoid. Especially with the delayed reactions which might prevent them from connecting their illness with the mushrooms they ate a day or two before. A good field guide will specifically call out similar but deadly mushrooms when referencing edible mushrooms and are very clear on the dangers of misidentification and the minimum neccessary identification required. Some mushrooms require a microscrope, but many others just require you to identify certain distinguishing features.
herbst 4y ago
In Switzerland 'community halls' near forests usually have mushroom checking days where you can bring them in for free. Not sure how this works in other countries

antx 4y ago

There's no wiggle room. You need to be 1000% certain of identification, if you decide to eat a mushroom. That's how I've been doing it for the last decade. I forage a lot of mushrooms, but don't consume anything I'm not sure of. Also, there are "beginner" mushrooms, that don't have any dangerous look-alikes, such as the famous "chicken of the woods" (laetiporus sulphureus). You can't really go wrong with mushroom like these.

chasil 4y ago
My farmers' market has a mushroom guy that brings in things that I've never seen before. Some of them get expensive and a few I've found rather unpleasant. There is absolutely no way that I could find these things myself, so I would suggest a dealer like this if you are in an area large enough to support one. This is the dealer at my market: https://www.wildgrowthgourmetmushrooms.com/ https://www.wildgrowthgourmetmushrooms.com/
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  I just wish I could find a morel, chanterelle, and porcini dealer.
  - chasil 4y ago
    What happens when you put in your zip code and search here? https://shop.marketwagon.com/collections/vendor/3711?redir=true&trk=mh25988w https://shop.marketwagon.com/collections/vendor/3711?redir=t...
    - ceejayoz 4y ago
      "Sorry, we do not currently support your location."
      - chasil 4y ago
        I hope you find something near you.
  - dzhiurgis 4y ago
    > chanterelle How do you cook them? They are pretty cheap here so I tried number of times this summer and found the flavour just not worth the cleanup hassle. Maybe they are different in NA. IIRC the traditional method here is to boil them and then cook with bacon and onion, so chances of their flavour is 0.
    - cinntaile 4y ago
      Fry them in butter and put them on a piece of toast.
      - dzhiurgis 4y ago
        Tried exactly that, def there’s nice mild flavour, but personally not worth the hassle.
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
  Yeah, I've got foraging with a friend that knew what she was doing, and she really only did it for a fun excuse for a hike and bought her mushrooms at the farmer's market. Granted, I'm in Portland, so mushrooms are exceptional up here, but there's just no way you'll find the quality and quantity the pros do.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago
  You should try lion's mane if you haven't already. It's pretty good. My favorite typically remains pink oyster mushroom.
- rwmj 4y ago
  I've grown mushrooms (from known spores) before and it's interesting. The problem with it is that most mushrooms only grow on very specific materials, eg. only on oak wood or straw.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
JKCalhoun 4y ago
Ha ha, more like "pancakes of the woods" [1]. I'll have to keep my eye out for them. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=laetiporus+sulphureus&client=safari&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJn5zS3uP6AhUjpIkEHeI5Ag4Q_AUoAXoECAMQAw&biw=1334&bih=789&dpr=2 https://www.google.com/search?q=laetiporus+sulphureus&client...
kaitai 4y ago
"There are old mushroom hunters, there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters."

junglistguy 4y ago

And aren't you terrified of eating food from a supermarket full of chemicals?

retrac 4y ago
Depending where you are, that worry might be greater with foraged berries, mushrooms etc. I live in an area that's been heavily industrialised for over 150 years. The soil at my mom's place when tested had too much lead and PCBs for safety. And not too long ago they found leaking barrels of nuclear waste from the 1940s in a lovely wooded area just a couple blocks over from my old primary school. Only God knows what's in the soil here, unless you test it.

AngryData 4y ago

Many people just stick to the very easily identified mushrooms with few or no real look-a-likes or atleast mushrooms who's poisonous look-a-likes aren't that deadly but just make you feel shitty. Morels are super popular around me because they are very easy to identify and false morels aren't very hard to differentiate once you have seen true morels a couple times. They may look similar to someone who has never seen or picked morels before, but they have very distinct differences once you know what to look for. At the very least someone should learn what the extremely deadly mushrooms, like death caps or destroying angels, look like so they know what to most definitely avoid. Especially with the delayed reactions which might prevent them from connecting their illness with the mushrooms they ate a day or two before. A good field guide will specifically call out similar but deadly mushrooms when referencing edible mushrooms and are very clear on the dangers of misidentification and the minimum neccessary identification required. Some mushrooms require a microscrope, but many others just require you to identify certain distinguishing features.

herbst 4y ago

In Switzerland 'community halls' near forests usually have mushroom checking days where you can bring them in for free. Not sure how this works in other countries