# Oyster Mushroom



## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

Is this an oyster mushroom?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

elkmule123 said:


> Is this an oyster mushroom?


No.

They are normally white or tan in Utah and grow on wood or rotted wood in clumps.

August/early September is good for oyster mushrooms in Utah.

.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Goob,

All the rain we got in early August caused an eruption of wild mushrooms here on the Cache. I've never really taken the time to learn how to identify the good and the bad kinds of mushrooms, but hiking around last weekend I thought I'd try a couple that looked pretty inviting. First I got all tingly, then I got a bad case of the giggles, then I got to thinking I had a helluva pack of bear dogs. I'm not sure if they were the bad variety or not, but by the next day I thought I might be better served buying a reference manual and studying up on the different types of mushrooms before randomly sampling the current crop. Have you any suggestions?


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

wyogoob said:


> No.
> 
> They are normally white or tan in Utah and grow on wood or rotted wood in clumps.
> 
> ...


That's my understanding of them as well, but all the searching I've done, the Oyster is the closet thing that I've found so far. There is alot of dead fall in this area, and could easily be barried underneath the dirt. The dark center is actually dirt captured in the "cup" lid of the mushroom. There was another one about 8" way from this one, but was already rotting away.

There definitely has been a plethora of mushrooms growing this past week. I came across a lot of white mushrooms that are about the size of a portabella mushroom but white with light brown gill.

I also came a cross another small white mushroom that the underside looked like white toad skin. I haven't come across anything like that one as well in my online searching.


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

The other mushroom that I've found that is similar to the first one that I posted is the chanterelle mushroom, but the colors are way off.

This is very similar to the large white mushrooms that I found. I don't remember a ring on the stem, I'll have to look at the two that I collected. The got damaged a bit on the hike out.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Kevin D said:


> Goob,
> 
> All the rain we got in early August caused an eruption of wild mushrooms here on the Cache. I've never really taken the time to learn how to identify the good and the bad kinds of mushrooms, but hiking around last weekend I thought I'd try a couple that looked pretty inviting. First I got all tingly, then I got a bad case of the giggles, then I got to thinking I had a helluva pack of bear dogs. I'm not sure if they were the bad variety or not, but by the next day I thought I might be better served buying a reference manual and studying up on the different types of mushrooms before randomly sampling the current crop. Have you any suggestions?


Slice thin, dry fry to remove the moisture, and then pan fry in a little red wine with some butter. Feed it to the wife and then wait 24 hrs.

Uhh...you'll be fine short term. But in 20 years you'll gain lots of weight sitting around listening to Beatles records and your memory will slip.

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

elkmule123 said:


> The other mushroom that I've found that is similar to the first one that I posted is the chanterelle mushroom, but the colors are way off.
> 
> This is very similar to the large white mushrooms that I found. I don't remember a ring on the stem, I'll have to look at the two that I collected. The got damaged a bit on the hike out.


I looks like agaricus campestris, the common field mushroom. But I would need to have it in my hand to be sure. Agaricus campestris are really close to the mushrooms you buy in the store. They are common in this part of the country. They should be popping now. We get quite a few in September out in the sagebrush steppe after a rain storm. Have to be careful, they have some nasty look-a-likes.

Most of our chanterelles are yellow but there's a few black and dark blues. The dark blue chanterelle is one of my favorites and once in awhile I find a few in the High Uintas.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

elkmule123 said:


> That's my understanding of them as well, but all the searching I've done, the Oyster is the closet thing that I've found so far. There is alot of dead fall in this area, and could easily be barried underneath the dirt. The dark center is actually dirt captured in the "cup" lid of the mushroom. There was another one about 8" way from this one, but was already rotting away.
> 
> There definitely has been a plethora of mushrooms growing this past week. I came across a lot of white mushrooms that are about the size of a portabella mushroom but white with light brown gill.
> 
> I also came a cross another small white mushroom that the underside looked like white toad skin. I haven't come across anything like that one as well in my online searching.


No, that's not an oyster. That thing is inedible but I can't remember the name of it. I'm on the road and don't have my books. That thing grows all over where I elk hunt in WY.

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

You guys are killin' me. It sounds like it's going to be a banner year for shrooms. I will probably miss the mushroom season....workin' on the road.


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

Sorry to hear that you might miss the season. My FIL went out yesterday and found a bag full of various mushroooms. A bunch of them were the field mushrooms (BTW, what are the nasty look a likes so we can learn to tell the difference). A porchini, and some that I think are the slimy jacks; they had the yellow sponge bottoms with a blueish bruising. The tops were a bit different, textured kinda like a ****ake mushroom. He also found some that look kinda like the chanterelle, but brown. He also had a bunch of other ones, even a blueish one, just to many to describe them all. 

Right now we are just taking samples and trying to identify them. Hopefully for future consumption


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## OldGeezer (Jun 3, 2014)

Yesterday I was in the same area where elkmule found his and found a bunch of different mushrooms. I have been trying to learn about the types in our area so can anyone tell what these are ? The ones with the spongy green bottoms went slimy real fast. One looks like a bollete to me.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

elkmule123 said:


> Sorry to hear that you might miss the season. My FIL went out yesterday and found a bag full of various mushroooms. A bunch of them were the field mushrooms (BTW, what are the nasty look a likes so we can learn to tell the difference). A porchini, and some that I think are the slimy jacks; they had the yellow sponge bottoms with a blueish bruising. The tops were a bit different, textured kinda like a ****ake mushroom. He also found some that look kinda like the chanterelle, but brown. He also had a bunch of other ones, even a blueish one, just to many to describe them all.
> 
> Right now we are just taking samples and trying to identify them. Hopefully for future consumption


FIL huh

Well then, fry all those shrooms up and let your MIL try them out. :grin:

Sounds like you have some Slippery Jacks, edible but wormy and slimy....need to dry fry them before cooking. I often use the young ones, the buttons, in a meals out in the field; say with pine grouse or brook trout.....big game liver.

Porcinis get wormy as they mature. Pick them young. I'll slice the wormy ones and soak them in salted water or water with a pinch of vinegar or a little dish soap. That will dislodge the worms from the mushroom slices. Then just rinse and pat dry.

It's a little early for chanterelles where I go; North Slope and/or Western WY.

In a week I'm going to be working on the edge of the Olympic National Park in Washington for a month. Good mushrooming there. Hope I can get some time off.

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

OldGeezer said:


> Yesterday I was in the same area where elkmule found his and found a bunch of different mushrooms. I have been trying to learn about the types in our area so can anyone tell what these are ? The ones with the spongy green bottoms went slimy real fast. One looks like a bollete to me.


That's cool. I see blewits, porcini (king bolete), slippery jacks, oyster, russulas, agaricus campetris.......

Do you have a mushroom book?

And wow, 99¢ for 8lbs of potatoes is really good.

.


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## OldGeezer (Jun 3, 2014)

wyogoob said:


> That's cool. I see blewits, porcini (king bolete), slippery jacks, oyster, russulas, agaricus campetris.......
> 
> Do you have a mushroom book?
> 
> ...


I need to go get a book, there are so many up in the hills that it would be nice to know which are edible. So far this year I have found morels, oysters, shaggy manes, and puff balls and all were very good. Not a fan of the puffball texture however. I'll look up the ones you mentioned and try to match them up.


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## OldGeezer (Jun 3, 2014)

wyogoob said:


> FIL huh
> 
> Well then, fry all those shrooms up and let your MIL try them out. :grin:
> 
> .


The MIL thinks I'm nuts for even picking them up, no chance she will ever eat one.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

OldGeezer said:


> The MIL thinks I'm nuts for even picking them up, no chance she will ever eat one.


Slip the ones yer not sure of in spaghetti sauce or a pizza. Worked for me.

just kiddin'

.

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

OldGeezer said:


> I need to go get a book, there are so many up in the hills that it would be nice to know which are edible. So far this year I have found morels, oysters, shaggy manes, and puff balls and all were very good. Not a fan of the puffball texture however. I'll look up the ones you mentioned and try to match them up.


There are a bunch of used, and cheap, mushroom books on Amazon. I think people buy a mushroom book, get brave and experiment with a sack of wild mushrooms, and then die of some mysterious kidney failure thingie.

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I usually don't take a lot of mushroom pictures, especially of easily identifiable and common mushrooms like the oyster.

Although here's an odd oyster mushroom; a cluster of only two old and dried up oysters....way up on the trunk of a dead elm tree.

Nov 2009 Illinois


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks for posting the picture. That's what my understanding of a oyster mushroom looks like. The one that i found had similar characteristics but on the ground, so that's why I though it would have more of a stem, and also why I asked. Have more search, I guess its more like a russula, but the stem on it was huge compared to the other russuala pictures that I've looked at. I did pick the mushroom and broke it open -O,- it was filled with worms and mushy stuff.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

elkmule123 said:


> Thanks for posting the picture. That's what my understanding of a oyster mushroom looks like. The one that i found had similar characteristics but on the ground, so that's why I though it would have more of a stem, and also why I asked. Have more search, I guess its more like a russula, but the stem on it was huge compared to the other russuala pictures that I've looked at. I did pick the mushroom and broke it open -O,- it was filled with worms and mushy stuff.


Actually my pic is not representative of most oyster mushrooms. Most oysters are in clumps of 6 or more mushrooms and they are normally lighter in color. The one in my pic is "over ripe", I think, it was up where I couldn't reach it.


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

So I found this mushroom on the internet that looks really similar to the OP. I'm still no sure this is it, and I can't compare since the OP mushroom has deteriorated and tossed.

Here's the link to the page.
http://mushroomhobby.com/Gallery/Russula/Russula brevipes/


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

I also found some mushrooms that look a lot like these yellow gilled russulas. One big difference is the size. The website I found the yellow gilled russula stated that it only grows up to about 3" in diameter. The ones that I found were at least 6" with one easily pushing 8".


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

been getting a ton of the aspen boletes and a few of the king boletes up to the cabin, a few oysters but not many. remember that oysters normally grow on dead aspen, cottonwood or similar species but not normally on coniferous dead. been a great shroomin season.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

also, lots of suillus or slippery jack... not as fond of those however.


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## SethS (Nov 4, 2015)

*This pic was taken today. In Nephi UT. 11-4-2015*

These are without a doubt oysters. And they are delicious.


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Oh oh, you're gonna have Goob down there


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

Sweet find :mrgreen:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Dunkem said:


> Oh oh, you're gonna have Goob down there


Yeah, I'm warming up the truck now!!

Hey SethS, do you like jerky? How 'bout a trade?

Welcome to the Forum.

.


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