Morel mushrooms

[coyote]

Any morel hunters out there? It's getting a bit late in Ok. I did zero this year, but one of the guys I work with did! Believe it or not he didnt offer to take me to his honey hole! ( of course morel hunters etiquette fobade my asking)

[Da'engineer]

I haven't hunted morels in three years. But it's a good time. Especially the frying portion. I'd always hunt up in Michigan me and my father would find 1,000s of them in a couple days. I miss having them but in Alaska there really isn't any mushroom hunting. Although there is a lot berry picking in the fall which is equally enjoyable to me.

[48Rob]

Maybe this will help with finding them in Alaska;
http://www.uaf.edu/files/ces/publicatio ... -00021.pdf

These are from the last couple years, this years crop is coming in the next few weeks.

Rob

[dales133]

Do they have similar looking relatives that arnt so friendly?
I love mushrooms but always hesitant to forage myself

[48Rob]

They do, but they are easy to tell apart.
Do you know someone who is experienced?
Find the mushrooms, then have that person inspect them.

Here is a link to an identification guide;
http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/mo ... hroom.html

At the bottom are two pictures that show what the good and bad look like whole, and cut in half.
Once you've found a real one, there is no mistaking anything else for a morel.

Rob

[Da'engineer]

That link didn't include if your morel has white filling in the base it is bad. Like rob said though picking morels are pretty obvious after you have seen them once.

Another tip is the moment you get home soak them in salt water over night. A lot of bugs may come out of the mushrooms over night.

After that i try to eat them as fast as i can if i don't i go get them professionally flash frozen.

[48Rob]

You may have missed it, it is near the bottom.

The false morel on the bottom has cottony fibers inside, and the cap is attached directly to the top of the stem while the rest of it hangs free. (That picture was taken by Jason Hollinger and is published on Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0

[dales133]

I'm pretty sure they grow here in Australia as do pine mushrooms and a bunch of others.
Might have to research more on it and find someone to go with

[Da'engineer]

Ahh I see it now kinda just skimmed through they normally pop up after it rains around our part of the world never hunted in Australia so who knows

[dales133]

There have been a few deaths in recent years from inexperienced pickers, victoria where I am has the best wild mushroom varieties in aus from what I've heard although I expect tasmanian would be good also

[wagondude]

After my treadmill workout, I went on one of the walking/running/biking trails behind the gym. I came to a spot where I began to wonder if there were any in the woods. I left the established trail and headed to the top of the hill. After about 20 minutes, I was ready to give up the hunt and head back to the trail. Then I saw it. I walked over and found a stand of seven mushrooms. I brought five of them home with me. My wife and son won't eat them, so I guess five will be enough for me. Maybe I will go out again this weekend to see if I can find more. I need to find an area with more hardwood trees. Where I found these there were too many cedars growing.

[Dalorin]

I was taking my son on a nature hike last year and I was really absorbed in telling him what different plants were and which ones were edible etc etc. So I basically had my head in the clouds. All of a sudden he says, 'Dad, can I keep this?' I looked backward and discovered that as I'm bumbling around telling him what's going on I unwittingly kicked a huge morel mushroom out of the ground and he's back there holding it.

He was very proud of that mushroom. Nobody was going to eat it. It went into the freezer and everyone that visited us got to see Lees morel mushroom that he found hiking with daddy.

[Dalorin]

I was taking my son on a nature hike last year and I was really absorbed in telling him what different plants were and which ones were edible etc etc. So I basically had my head in the clouds. All of a sudden he says, 'Dad, can I keep this?' I looked backward and discovered that as I'm bumbling around telling him what's going on I unwittingly kicked a huge morel mushroom out of the ground and he's back there holding it.

He was very proud of that mushroom. Nobody was going to eat it. It went into the freezer and everyone that visited us got to see Lees morel mushroom that he found hiking with daddy.

[dmb90260]

There have been a few deaths in recent years from inexperienced pickers, victoria where I am has the best wild mushroom varieties in aus from what I've heard although I expect tasmanian would be good also

There have been deaths in California in the past, usually new arrivals. What looks safe in one country may not be safe in another, that is why it is wise to start with an experienced local hunter. The main culprit seems to be the Calif Death Cap( ?) that looks like an edible one in SE Asia. There is one mushroom here that is dangerous if it grows around the roots of an oak tree but it okay if it grows elsewhere. A friend of mine had been not seen for a long time, when he showed up again he was pale as a ghost. He was president of a local mushroom group. He saw some of those mushrooms in a friends yard, no trees around. He harvested, cooked, ate and almost died. When asked later his friend did say an oak tree used to be there.

[dales133]

Yikes , they can cause horrific organ damage aswell I hope he makes a full recovery