Wild Mushroom Delicacies : Chicken of the Woods Hunting & Cooking (Vlog & Photo Log)
Chicken of the Woods, also known as Sulphur Shelf, is a polypore mushroom found through North America in the Laetiporus genus. There are two main varieties in the Eastern United States where we are Laetiporus sulphureus and Laetiporus cincinnatus. Both are very easy to find and delicious!!
Chicken of the Woods or Sulphur Shelf
Yesterday we took a trip down to the Buffalo River in Arkansas to show Ini's sister who is visiting from Canada some of the area.
We got lost on the way there and the trip all around took a bit longer than we were expecting so it was especially awesome to "stumble upon" this gorgeous mushroom at the beginning of our hike.
More photos of this gorgeous spot to come in a future post!
This specimen was the best and freshest I've ever found. We also found one two years ago in May when Ini's dad was visiting so we know they come out around this time of year.
We were really surprised no other humans had collected this wild mushroom, but it's also common for humans to be afraid of eating wild mushrooms. In this vlog and post, we hope to dispel some of the fears around this mushroom, specifically.
The Chicken of the Woods is quite easy to identify with its bright orange-yellow colors and overlapping shelves.
There are many other Sulphur Shelves in the woods, but none with this bright coloring, making them very easy to ID. We usually find them at the base of rotting trees or on stumps.
They have no gills on the bottom, only little pores. The underside looks smooth. If there are gills, it's not the Chicken of the Woods.
It does taste like chicken!!
If you're wondering if the taste is true to its name-- YES IT IS!
These really have a texture and taste reminiscent of chicken meat-- making this a favorite mushroom of newbies and experts alike! It's one of the first mushrooms I ever found in the wild and one of the first wild edibles I learned so it's quite special to me and I LOVE the taste. This one is a true treat! If you find it fresh, you've really scored!!
Make sure to cut it off with a knife near the stem and store it in a cool place - a basket in the shade, a bowl or paper bag in the refrigerator, but never in plastic. They'll keep for a couple days like this, but you really want to cook it as soon as possible. Only take the matured parts of the mushroom-- leave the smaller less developed parts for the next person- or for a future harvest for yourself!
I really love to eat them simply sauteed for 10-15 minutes in butter or another cooking oil. Add a little salt and really this is one of my favorite foods!!!
As always, if you aren't 100% sure of the ID of a mushroom, don't eat it! Mushrooms can be poisonous!
That said, this is a very safe specimen. Happy Hunting!
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I think there is a lot of fear of mushrooms in the wild because most of us don’t know enough about them to be sure what we’re getting. I appreciate your spelling out how to identify and how to differentiate this one. If I come across it, I might actually give it a try. I have some friends who eat wild mushrooms but I’ve never dared it myself.
yes, great point dear. and for good reason people have hesitancies if they don't know. it's a good kind of fear as the most poisonous mushrooms can cause death within an hour and others can do permanent damage to your brain! in a response i gave the following starting points and i'll share them with you, too:
this is how i did it. i've never formally been in a myco group, but have just focused on one species at a time. this makes it completely manageable. mushrooms are beautiful and usually catch our eye so it's easy & fun to find them & bring them home for a little research! this one for sure is one that you could eat as a newbie as there really aren't any toxic lookalikes.
That looks delicious, and I like the way you clearly described it with detailed photos. I am one who is afraid of eating wild mushrooms, simply because I don't know how to identify them and I presuppose that the wild flora of southern Florida is less friendly than in more temperate areas.
yeah i'm not familiar with mushrooms of Florida, but i do know so much grows in your region! it can be scary to start. one thing i do is focus on a few species at a time and make sure to know if there are any poisonous lookalikes. if there are, i make sure to study those too and know the differences. this allows you to move forward with confidence. if you think you do have a 100% id, you can also eat just a small amount of the mushroom at first (cooked of course), just to see how you react (everyone reacts differently). also, you can go out with a local myco group or get a mushroom id book for your region (or wild edibles in general for your area). you can also bring back mushrooms you find and practice IDing them to start. this all helps you familiarize and then it's not a scary world at all, but a world full of fun(gal) friends that taste great! :)
Do you find them on a specific type of log or any dead tree?
probably most often on oaks or other hardwoods, although I wouldn't say that's a hardfast "rule". They're definitely in your area as I've found them there on fallen trees and stumps! :D
Sweet thanks! I spotted a old dead oak tree that was mostly still standing last year. It look like it had fungi growing towards the top. Most of that tree has falling down over the winter so I guess I should go check it.
yeah! best wishes! as i mentioned in the article, there are a lot of varieties of sulphur shelves obviously, but this one's pretty easy to ID due to the bright color patterns!
We've been getting a lot of rain lately
I'm on Oregon we have a wide variety of mushrooms that resembles the chicken of the woods never have picked that one ,will be looking .good post and info
yes they're also out in your neck of the woods. i'm not familiar with how your varieties of chicken of the woods may vary, but you could easily google it :) happy hunting!! y'all have a lot of mushrooms out there!
Those are so beautiful! Wow, did you have them for dinner last night? I bet family loved it. I really want to try them you have talked about them for so long, but I have never found them. Great video! Great information about selecting the safe ones!
so so beautiful right?! we got home really late from our journey so we didn't have them for dinner, but we did have them for breakfast and ini is cooking fish and i'll fry up some more for dinner. i so wish you were here (or i was coming up!!!) and i could share them with you. i know you would love them. they're perhaps the best mushroom for people who aren't so into mushrooms! xo
El Sulfur Shelf no los conocia, en españa tenemo los rebollones que están buenísimos.
Gracias por compartir.
de nada. este hongo es muy bien! pienso que no es possible a cultivar este hongo en tu region. gracias!
Love it
<3 <3 thanks for stopping by! we love it too- breakfast and dinner today!
Cracking specimen I need to forage more. I got put off but a friend years a go who ended up in a coma. Must learn more 💯🐒
oh man... yeah gotta be safe and scares like that can really be daunting. here's to 100% correct ID and safe foraging! is your friend ok?
He came out of the coma but was never the year was years ago since I last spoke to him 💯🐒
wow, glad he's ok!
👍🏽 💯🐒
Love the one shot of the Buffalo river. Can't wait for more. Reminds me of canoe trips many years ago.
Good post about the chicken of the woods. I chickened out when someone gave me one to try a couple of years ago. Been kicking my own butt every since then. Used to see them every year in the same places, but not any more. It sure does look pretty in Arkansas right now. 🐓🐓