Metro Hat-Trick

[NoWiser]

I love finding oysters! I honestly think I enjoy finding them more than morels, probably because morels are easy for me to find when they are in season, and the oysters prove to be much more elusive. Friday after work I found about a baseball cap worth of oysters. I went out yesterday evening to try to get enough for a feast, but completely struck out. The mosquitoes last night were unlike anything I've seen in years. It was absolutely ridiculous. The permethrin must have worn off my clothing because I had plenty of ticks, too.

Hopefully I'll find time to get out this week after work. I love those oysters, and am not looking forward to the early summer lull before the chants get out, like I experienced last year.

[Stick in Mud]

Funny--I have a harder time finding morels. The spots I had for a few years were completely dry this year, and I struck out on finding any real productive new ones.

I love how the oysters stick out so well on the dark bark of those fallen hardwoods. Nothing like knowing what you're looking at from 75 ft away.

[Matt Breuer]

I agree, they are so easy to find. My kids pick them out at 55 from the car...

Sure are tasty!

[jerkin'm]

Yep, oyster city out there..even some beauty straggler morels...The last two pics are a mystery to me...maybe undeveloped pheasants back?

[Matt Breuer]

Big haul!

What do you do with your leftover oysters? We cultivated some last year. Ended up eating them, giving some away, and letting some spore out. This year we intensified the cultivating 10 fold. With that and what we find in the wild, I need a preservation method!

[jerkin'm]

I have access to the equipment that makes it pretty easy to cook off big batches and freeze em..We have a big tilt braiser at work that I can braise up to about 50# of shrooms at a time...I hit them with a little veggie stock and fresh thyme and freeze them in 8, 16, or 32 oz. heavy deli containers...works sweet...I will add some veal demi, duck demi, or roasted chicken jus to some batches too..I give some away too, eat lots, share them with coworkers....etc..

[Stick in Mud]

They dehydrate very nicely and very easily. Medium heat on the dehydrator and stop when they get brittle. It doesn't take that long, either.

Plus, you can putz around with flavor when reconstituting them by using different liquids....beer, wine, cream, or water.

[Stick in Mud]

Stick in Mud the Elder and I had a tougher day today on our foray (that rhymes)...almost everything I found was loooooong past its expiration date. Would've been another nice haul if we had been out a few days earlier.

As it was, we only found a few clusters, both of which we found standing and chatting by the car before we went home.

[pushbutton]

Yep, getting browner and buggier. There will still be some to be had for a little while, but you will have to work for them now and pay for it in blood....the skeeters are starting to come out in full force. I canned some mushrooms with the pressure cooker last year, and is going to be my go to preservation method from here on out. You can pack some serious pounds in the jars, and no more hint of freezer burn taste in the late winter/early spring. Would definitely use some asorbic acid if you can find it. Vitamin c pills work fine as well though.....it does help to preserve a much better looking outcome.

This heat should start kicking out some chickens soon. Don't think I will harvest any this year, but always fun to find. There should be a few lobsters poking out in a few weeks as well....not a big flush like later in the year, but a few none the less. Looking forward to the mid summer hunt when I can hopefully find a hedgehog this year. Also going to try to can some crown tips this year. Froze some last year, and the held up really well.

[Stick in Mud]

Yeah, the skeeters today were terrible. With the oysters and the morels getting old/vomity-looking/no longer available, I've always had a bit of a lull this time of year until the mid-summer ones fruit out.

I'm just curious: Some 'shrooms don't dehydrate well at all, but oysters are super easy and they reconstitute very nicely. Is there a benefit to canning them over dehydrating them? Some don't dehydrate nicely at all, but the oysters are great...

[Matt Breuer]

Thanks, Stick in the Mud. I wasn't sure how they'd take to dehydrating... I've always been a freezer guy, but I know they don't freeze that well. One cluster per package takes up some serious space.

Our oysters here are just getting prime. The ones in my yard (clones, cultivation) are just pinning. I'll have oysters all year long...

PB, come up here when you can, late July, we'll do the hedgehog thing. Great shrooms, and so cool to photo!

Don't say lobster. Now I'll be seeing orange in my sleep.

[JP Z]

Matt,

I'm thinking this July you and I will need to get out as we've discussed. Once it gets closer we'll have to coordinate. Woohoo now I have mushrooming to look forward to even more!