Post Morel reports

[harvey lee]

Good picking rainman.With the nicer weather and a little rain the yellows should really get going.Have a great meal.

[fishermann222]

Hey rainman don't feel too guilty if you don't save any for me, I will forgive you.

[Trouthunter]

all the usual hotspots void, so i looked for new places...ended up with 22 for the weekend. Mostly yellows with a roon of greys.

next weekend should be the motherlode i predict

[cybermuskie]

I checked 5 spots Sat. one today...nothing! I got my hopes up find 2 early in the week. It really is getting green in the woods though.

[jeff127]

today was opposite of yesterday---4---- hrs 46 greys and 158 yellows. best day ever. All were new spots I have never checked before. One group of six dead elms in a 25 x 25 area held all the yellows.......it looked like a morel garden.

Anyone know what signs to look for pertaining to when a morel should be picked or when they should be left to grow a little longer. most of the yellows I picked seemed a little smaller than I have seen them but were looking like they were just starting to dry out---- so they went in the bag.

thanks

jeff

[harvey lee]

You can leave them to grow,but if the deer or someone else stumbles onto them you will never know how big they got.I would pick um when I see um.

[schr0563]

My wife is really starting to wonder what I am doing when I say I am going to look for mushrooms. 5-6 hours over the last two weeks with nothing to show for it has definitely got me frustrated. Can morels be purchased at grocery stores? I want to taste one to see if this is worth all the trouble.

[JEV]

It's been a tad early yet here along the border. I went out yesterday and found 5 small grays. We need some warmer weather up here. If the weather cooperates, I'd say in about a week things should be really rolling....

JEV

[Wayne Sieber]

Best day ever for me - 51 yellows!!! Had a couple of big dogs that were pushing 5 inches too! I did find a couple of grays that were really weird looking - Nickel/Quarter size heads (or caps or whatever) and stems that were 4 inches long!!

jeff127 - I noticed the same thing on some of the yellows I found yesterday (that they were drying out already) although that was only on the largest ones.

[harvey lee]

One windy day with heat and you can dry them down quick and they will start to get brown or get white mold.You can trim off the bad stuff.

[Rainman]

Don't worry Chewwy, I only feel guilty when I am picking them. And I never feel guilty when eating them. HEHE!!!

[fishermann222]

NO problem rainman I will leave that musk ox sample in the freezer up here so I can eat it when I come back from vacation LOL

[JIGSTER]

Fellow shroomers what are some other options other than drying morels.I'd like to try some different ways of preserving them to retain more of the fresh picked flavor!!Any help appreciated!!All I can say it's been one hell of a year so far!!We could use alittle rain though!No I don't live around the metro.You guys/gals should have a morel bonanza now!!Good shroomin' Jigster

[Heidi]

My two buddies found about 100 morels near Longville Saturday. It is pretty dry up there. I was out Sunday and Monday and found 10 total. Walked alot for get them. I did find some mushrooms that had a big burnt orange colored head on them. these were mainly in areas of pine trees. They smell like a morel. They look kind of like a brain. but they have the looks of morel. I called a buddy with a mushroom book and he seems to think they are ok to eat. any thoughts outthere? Thanks

[doser]

If it's not hollow don't swallow.

[New Yankee]

Heidi - sure sound like a false morel to me. As mentioned above, if the stem and body isn't hollow don't eat them - false morels won't be hollow. I'd pass....

[Hotspotter]

Heidi:

Almost for sure a false morel. These are poisonous and fatalities happen yearly because of these.

I've found a few turkey hunting, and you describe them to a "T":

-burnt orange/red cap

-twisted, brain-like, sometimes shiny cap

-no true pits/ridges like the spongy morel

Look them up on the internet, and they're probably it.

Be careful. I've heard of some people eating these without problem, but only after having the poison boiled out repeated times. Best to leave these to experts!

Joel

[jlm]

The best way I have found to preserve them is to dehydrate and freeze them. It is important not to over-dehydrate them, that will ruin them. To rehydrate them (I do it at deer camp, everyone loves it) I simply soak them in water for about an hour and they look almost as fresh as the day I picked them. Good luck!

[harvey lee]

I would agree with what jlm stated.I have used milk instead of water to rehydrate them and it works but I dont know if they are any better.Iam going to freeze some this year and see if just maybe they will taste a little fresher than dehydrating them.

I have not found a way to preserve them to taste as good as fresh.That maybe because the first meals are so good fresh and it had been a year since the last ones.

[cybermuskie]

I guess all I have ever done to dry them is grab a needle and some fishing line and hang till they are dry. Then I put them in a open top jar. When I am ready to eat some I soak them for about 15 mins in salted water. I guess I am wondering if they are dried out, why do you guys freeze them?

[jlm]

Freezing works ok to if you freeze them in water. If you just freeze the shrooms (like in a ziplock), they dry out and crumble apart. Harvey Lee has it right though, there is no substitute for the fresh ones! Good luck!

[archerystud]

I searched for a little while on Sunday and found about 50 but I got about 45 in one batch. A few were yellow but most were the dark gray/brown. I was hunting between Arlington and Henderson. I found all of them within 30 yards of a creek.

My mom always froze them and they tasted great.

[redhooks]

When I get extras I fry mine up in butter pour shrooms and butter in a ziplock and then squeeze out the air & freeze. Then all you have to do is thaw, heat and serve. Just had a package from last spring and they still tasted great. Haven't hit the motherload yet this year but hopefully soon.........good hunting!

redhooks

[hugonian1]

I'm not a big mushroom man but a couple of my buddies are. They have been hitting it pretty hard the last couple of weeks with limited success. I didn't go fishing today so I decided to look around in the woods on my property. To my surprise I found an area that has 40 to 50 morels all 4 to 6 inches tall. I can see how this can be addicting. My question is, can you take them all out without harming future "crops" or should some be left as seed?

[harvey lee]

Lots of myths on picking morels.Some say let the spores fall from the bag you put them in while picking.I have picked them in the same spots for years and all of a sudden they will stop.They might come back,they might not.Once a spot gets poor I will continue to watch for a few years,but I go looking for new ones.