Minnesota Master Naturalist Submission: Cheryl Batson
Chicken of the Woods is an easily identifiable mushroom to harvest for beginners. They grow late spring through fall. It is best practice to verify your selection with an experienced forager before eating to ensure you are correct. The Minnesota Mycological Society is a low-cost option for beginners in Minnesota to learn mushroom identification, and the club holds forays throughout the harvesting season. Learn more about them at their website. Also essential is getting a good Minnesota mushroom identification book such as Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest by Teresa Marrone and Kathy Yerich. Being certain of your identification before eating any wild mushroom will help prevent food poisoning and potential death.
Chicken of the Woods is associated with live, dead, or dying trees. The mushroom causes heart rot in the host tree. The cap or top of the mushroom is orange to yellow orange. They are smooth to wrinkled in appearance, potentially leathery but never hairy. Edges may be round or scalloped and range from flat to wavy. The underside of the cap is a pore surface. There are several varieties of Chicken of the Woods. The most common is L. suphureus, which grows directly of deciduous wood and most commonly on standing oak trees or their stumps or downed wood. L. suphureus shown below has a bright yellow pore surface on the underside and the cap edges are often yellow. The caps are typically arranged in tight overlapping, shelf-like layers but can occasionally grow as a rosette. (Marrone, Teresa, Yerich, Kathy Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest (2014) pp32, 33.)
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Always compare your mushroom to known look alikes. Hen of the Woods is a similar mushroom but is tan or gray and thinner. The toxic Jack O’Lantern can look similar at a distance but has obvious stems and gills on the underside. The inedible Orange Mock Oyster has gills on the underside instead of pores and the caps are hairy. (Marrone, Teresa, Yerich, Kathy p.33).
Chicken of the Woods have a meaty taste similar to chicken. As with all wild mushrooms, never eat them raw and eat a small amount first to ensure you are not allergic. To prepare the mushrooms for cooking, simply brush off any dirt. Most people only eat the outer edges, which are more tender. Slice or dice these up and cook in butter. Use in any dish where you want a meaty taste.
Photos by Cheryl Batson