I've just gathered my first batch of wild forest mushrooms that I plan to consume

[intrepidity]

Last edited Sat Dec 3, 2022, 01:08 AM - Edit history (4)

If you never hear from me again, you'll know why!

I only started learning last year, and have never consumed anything I've found--just took pics and did loads of research. I focused on gilled mushrooms, since that was predominately what I found, and to limit the scope of research.

It has been so dry around here this year that barely any mushrooms have appeared, until recently. And they are nearly all non-gilled. Almost everything I found today was a bolete, and I'm 99% sure they are Suillus Leuteus, or Slippery Jacks. I took a tiny test nibble of one and omg, the flavor! It was like a concentrated butter flavor. So now I need to clean them and decide how to use them. Looking forward to the experience!

Trying to post image; please let me know if it works

[ExtremelyWokeMatt]

1. Uhhh

Umm. I’m just going to say I really hope you’ve got roommates/family/friends nearby in case you need to call 911/poison control. Not all mushrooms are bad but it can take a long time to get trained on recognizing edible vs poisonous varieties…

Here’s hoping you’re alright after

[intrepidity]

2. I appreciate and understand your concern

I wont be eating these til tonorrow at earliest, so if anyone else has concerns they may post.

[WheelWalker]

3. There are several slippery jacks. Where was it found (habitat)?

Does it have a ring on the stem?

[intrepidity]

4. Yes, a dark colored ring/veil. Younger ones with veil intact.

They were all found along a trail peppered with doug fir, tan oak, redwood, bay, madrone/manzanita trees (Nor Cal/Sonoma).

Which others should I consider to eliminate? TIA.

[intrepidity]

5. See updated OP for pic nt

[WheelWalker]

6. David Aurora has an excellent field guide to western mushrooms

(All That Rain Promises, And More...). He offers good suggestions for preparing the Slippery Jack group. You will want to remove the slimey skin from the cap, but even then the flesh will probably cook up slimey. He suggests substituing for escargot in recipes (yuck) or drying and grinding to powder for seasoning/flavoring. If you don't have Aurora's field guide I recommend it highly. It's only about $17 and available on Amazon. I usually pass by anything in the slippery jack group, despite their abundance. While they may be edible, they are not incredible and there are far more tasty fungi to be foraged for and found. IMO. Good hunting to you. BTW, a lousy fall for fungi here in Oregon, as well.

[intrepidity]

7. Have heard that book rec'd multiple times, thanks

(I had composed a long reply to your post on Friday, but my browser crashed as I submitted it, arrgh, so lost it. Just now trying again.)

I usually use websites (eg, MykoWeb) as my ref tool, although I did purchase Mushroom of the Redwood Coast last year.

I found another pound or so the following day, and have spent loads of time double, triple, quadruple checking my identification. I'm all but certain these are all Suillus luteus. I decided that I will dry them (never done so, any advice? Temp/time?) after removing the cuticle (for sure) and perhaps the spongy pore layer too (is that advised/necessary? It's taking a lot of time to process, and the remaining piece has the look and feel of an artichoke heart--and the time investment similar, lol).

The stipe is the only part that bruises blue. Is the stem good eats, or no? Even as ground powder?

My foraging grounds, for now, are restricted to what is directly surrounding my home, where I walk my dog daily. This is the first edible species that I've found in any quantity and that I am certain of the identity (except for a few puffballs I found last year when I just began this journey--and I did not eat those). So, it's like a gold strike for me, lol. The predominate mushrooms I noticed last year were Russula, Lactarius, and loads of colorful Waxy Caps, and of course some Amanita but not the good kind. And tons of white and brown misc that are nearly impossible to identify correctly, so I take pics and spore prints and leave it at that.

We've been getting lots of rain this past week, and while the low temps have approached freezing, not quite there. I've forgotten the lower temp threshold for mushrooms, but we must be near it. Hopefully today's walk will be interesting.

Thanks for your input!

[intrepidity]

8. Update: Ate my first batch a couple days ago and no ill effects.

TOTALLY worth the effort, which was substantial. Went out and foraged a few more pounds. Amazing flavor, texture did not bother me at all (sauteed) but that batch was well cleaned. Will try less cleaning of future batches to see how well I tolerate the slime stuff.

Found some new species I can't identify....

[Prairie_Seagull]

9. Apparently there is a mushroom book, the mushroom book.

I will seek it out and let you know tomorrow. It's a tome.