Foraging for wild mushrooms can be a fun way for food lovers to enjoy being outdoors before bringing home ingredients for a gourmet meal. However, without years of experience, mushroom hunting can be an exercise in frustration. These insider tips can help you find greater success in your quest.
Be 100% certain of identification
Always be certain you’ve identified mushrooms correctly. Credit: Copyright 2015 Wendy Petty
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The first rule of mushroom hunting is to never eat a mushroom unless you are certain that you’ve correctly identified it. One of the best ways to safely learn about mushrooms is to go on a foray with an expert. Seek out your local mycological society. They lead walks for people of all knowledge levels, identifying mushrooms with experienced hunters. These events often end with a mushroom tasting.
Additionally, make certain you know the regulations regarding mushroom collecting in your area. Even if there are no limits or permits issued where you live, obey the greater laws of not taking more than you can use and never leaving a place less beautiful than you found it.
Know your trees
Know your trees. Credit: Copyright 2015 Wendy Petty
Each species of mushroom grows in a very specific habitat. Mushrooms tend grow in association with a particular tree. If you don’t know how to identify the trees where you are hunting, mushroom foraging is a shot in the dark. Save your time and focus your efforts by researching which tree your desired mushroom grows near or upon.
Scout locations in the off-season
Scout your foraging grounds in the off-season. Credit: Copyright 2015 Erica Marciniec
The act of seeking out and collecting mushrooms is time-consuming. When mushroom season comes around, you’ll want to target areas where you have the best chance of finding them. Take advantage of times outside prime mushroom season to walk new trails, carefully noting habitat.
Mine the Internet
Mine the Internet for information. Credit: Copyright 2015 Wendy Petty
Your local mushroom club more than likely has social media groups where you can post questions, arrange forays and share pictures. You can use that information for clues about when and where to hunt. If many people in your region start to share pictures of the mushroom you desire, then you know it is time to hit your favorite spot.
When it comes to searching the Internet for mushroom hunting information, don’t underestimate unusual sources. Hiking blogs will often mention what kinds of trees are alongside a trail and will share pictures of “toadstools” seen on the hike. If you know that fly agarics grow in the same area as porcini, and you see a picture of a red-capped mushroom with white spots on a hiking blog, you’ll know it’s a trail where you’d have a good chance of finding fungal gold.
Keep a journal
Keep a journal. Credit: Copyright 2015 Wendy Petty
Note the date and location of your forays, which species you saw, what the conditions looked like (Is the ground too dry or too wet? Is a particular flower in bloom, or a kind of fruit ripe?), as well has the number or weight of each species of mushrooms you collect. Also, record the weather patterns in the time leading up to and during mushroom season. This information is invaluable in learning the fruiting patterns of mushrooms, as well as predicting when and where a flush will occur from year to year.
Learn a few less-loved edible mushrooms
Sarcodon imbricatus is a lesser known edible. Credit: Copyright 2015 Erica Marciniec
If you know every hunter in your area will be looking for a choice mushroom, it’s nice to know some less obvious edibles in case an area has already been picked over, or isn’t flushing. In the Rockies, a mushroom that looks like a hawk’s wing, Sarcodon imbricatus, grows in the same habitat as porcini. Some don’t know it is edible, others find its flavor too strong, so it isn’t often harvested. However, it’s a wonderful mushroom to dry for the pantry because that beefy mushroom flavor gives muscle to deep-winter dishes such as stew.
Field dress your foraging finds
Field dressing a porcini. Credit: Copyright 2015 Wendy Petty
Mushroom knives almost always come with a brush attached to aid in cleaning at the time of harvest. Gilled, pored, and toothed undersides of caps grab onto dirt and won’t let go when dirty mushrooms are jumbled together for the ride home. Field dressing saves time in the long run.
Be prepared for bugs
A worm in a porcini. Credit: Copyright 2015 Erica Marciniec
Mushroom hunting can be a dirty affair in the obvious way. Stalking through the forest, plucking mushrooms and kneeling on the ground can leave you filthy. What may not be known to the novice is that many species of mushrooms are as loved by bugs as they are by humans. You may think you’ve found a beautiful specimen, only to discover that it’s riddled with squirmy larvae.
Factor in cleaning time
Be sure to factor in cleaning time. Linda Marciniec works to clean freshly foraged mushrooms. Credit: Copyright 2015 Erica Marciniec
You’ve have had a glorious day on the trail, joyfully picking pounds and pounds of your favorite mushroom. When you get home, all you want to do is take a shower and kick up your feet. Not so fast! Mushrooms are perishable, and some, particularly ones that may have bugs inside, should be cleaned and cooked or prepared for storage immediately. Depending upon the species and how many you have collected, this can take quite a bit of time and tends to feel tedious compared to the high of finding wild edible mushrooms. The task of cleaning mushrooms is undoubtedly made more pleasant by good company and a nice drink.
Learn how to store each species of mushroom
Mushrooms drying in jars. Credit: Copyright 2015 Wendy Petty
There is no one method that is fit for preserving all mushrooms. Porcini excel as dried mushrooms. Their flavor actually concentrates and improves. Chanterelles, on the other hand, lose their magical aroma and silky texture when dried, and are better frozen. Knowing how each species is best preserved saves the frustration of discovering too late that the mushrooms you put up are no longer as tasty as they could be.
Main photo: Each species of mushroom grows in a very specific habitat. Credit: Copyright 2015 Wendy Petty
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