Lions mane mushroom/ chicken of the woods

[Gamechaser]

I like cooking my lions like sweet and sour pork, the chicken i deep fry

 

[Ames]

No chickens this year at all. I blame the drought.

 

[user 31257]

Hen of the woods is my personal favorite but it’s been real dry this year. Generally I tear them into pieces and roast them in the oven until the edges are crispy.

 

[Gamechaser]

I agree

 

[Gamechaser]

This is my third batch of lions since it has turned colder.

 

[Buckskinn]

I've grown lion's mane and it is delicious, can be cooked many ways. Never have seen it in the wild here.

It was a great fall for hen's here, I have about 2 lbs of dried hen's and another 15 or so frozen. Many uses for hen's as well, I like to give them an egg wash and lightly dust with seasoned flour and fry in bear lard, absolutely the best fried mushrooms I've had this side of morels.

I also found a great recipe for giant puffballs, I made a big batch this fall and froze a bunch in ziplocks to use as gravy for roasts and such.

 

[Gamechaser]

I've never found hen of the Woods yet, still looking. Found lots of turkey tail this year. My problem is when I find it chicken of the woods and try to harvest it conservatively, the deer eat the rest. When I come back it's all gone. Maybe I should start hunting more deer

 

[user 31257]

I found this last weekend deer hunting, it’s a gone by hen of the woods. I’ll be back earlier next year because they will be there every year as long as the tree lives. Lots of other big oaks in the area to check too.

 

[Buckskinn]

That's a bummer.... They will keep going several years even after the tree dies as well. I have one tree in particular that has 2-3 hens on it every year, probably pulled over a 100 lbs of mushrooms off of it.

 

[sheriff john]

Daughter's a mycologist. She eats stuff I won't put in my hand. Even this dry year, she's harvested far more than we can eat. Prices for Chantarelles, etc. are quite high in St. Louis. Morels were a complete bust this year, but hen of the woods "fair".

 

[user 31257]

If I had my life to live over again I’d go to school to be a mycologist too. I find mushrooms to be absolutely fascinating.

 

[user 31257]

That's a bummer.... They will keep going several years even after the tree dies as well. I have one tree in particular that has 2-3 hens on it every year, probably pulled over a 100 lbs of mushrooms off of it.

I had a great tree that I could get a half dozen from in a normal year, unfortunately the property was sold and I no longer have access.

 

[Gamechaser]

Everybit of chicken I've found that has passed, never comes back

 

[user 31257]

Everybit of chicken I've found that has passed, never comes back

I’ve never found chicken of the woods in the same place twice but that’s not the case with hen of the woods.

 

[Rawhide67]

I’ve never found chicken of the woods in the same place twice but that’s not the case with hen of the woods.

What is the difference? Serious question as I have no idea.

 

[sheriff john]

What is the difference? Serious question as I have no idea.

I think they're the same thing. I can walk around with her looking for morels, some days get only a ballcap full. Various other ones, we fill sacks. Only harvest ones she points out b/c mistakes are not a pleasant thing. Fall fungi are easier to find.

 

[Rawhide67]

I ask because I found 3 chicken/hen of the woods last year growing at the base of a massive old oak tree on a swamp edge. I was told to return this year and there would be others. Apparently I was too late last year, they were wormy. One was the size of a basketball. My advisor tells me they are about the best mushroom to eat. His opinion, I e never had them and would be cautious about eating fungus from the woods unless I could be 100% sure what it was.

 

[sheriff john]

Even if a person's sure about a certain type, it's best to try a small amount first. We have what some call "red mushrooms" in Missouri. False Morels? I like them, but they make others sick. They look nothing like morels but show up about the same time of year (spring). Good fried with a mess of crappie filets.

She brought one kind last weekend that glows in the dark. Inedible.

 

[user 31257]

I think they're the same thing. I can walk around with her looking for morels, some days get only a ballcap full. Various other ones, we fill sacks. Only harvest ones she points out b/c mistakes are not a pleasant thing. Fall fungi are easier to find.

They aren’t the same thing.

 

[user 31257]

The chicken of the woods that I’ve found has been growing on upright, dead or mostly dead hardwoods. It’s bright yellowish or orange and they’re are actually 2 different but similar species.