| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| jp |
Ceps, Chantarelles...& a Charcoal Burner?Today I managed to get only my second proper forage of the year - too much work at the moment .
Still, it was a good one - a couple of smallish but nice Ceps, & a good handfull of Chantarelles 
Also found what I think is a Charcoal Burner (Russula cyanoxantha). Found loads of them around under Beech mainly (New Forest). the one in the photos below has a cap about 9 cm across. No spore print yet. Taste is not strong. Seems to match the description in Roger Phillips. I'm still rather uncertain with Russula identification so any help or pointers to look out for would be most appreciated. 
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| happytechie |
I've no idea about the mystery 'shroom but the ceps and chantrelles look wonderful to me
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| PeteS |
Nice finds JP and good to have you back. It has been good for Chanterelles this season - almost as good as last year - but not quite. I found a couple of Ceps over a month ago but nothing since. I have also found quite a few Charcoal Burners and I would say that your example is one too. The gills should be elastic and not brittle like all the other Russulas. Rub a knife over the gills and if they are brittle and fall apart easily it is NOT a Charcoal Burner.
I have also been finding lots of hedgehog mushrooms. |
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| cab |
Could be a charcoal burner, but it would be a foolhardy man who gave a definite ID of any grey-green russula over the internet 
If you taste and it doesn't feel nasty and burny, then when cooked that shroom will at least be edible and tasty. |
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| jp |
Cab & Pete - thanks for the replies. Taste is mild. Gills are very elastic - not brittle at all. I'm fairly sure its a Charcoal Burner, but as I said before I'm very wary of Russula identification. I also found a few Hedgehog mushrooms but they were past their best - seems a bit wierd for this time of year. | ||||||
| PeteS |
The Charcoal Burner is a nice mushroom to eat - firm, chunky and it still retains it's flavour when cooked. It is odd this year, similar to this time last season. Here is my basket from last Saturdays dog walking. Hedgehog Mushrooms and Chanterelles....
This weekend I've been finding some huge Chanterelles, some 10 cm across the cap!.... 
And my basket from this Saturday. Oyster mushrooms, monster Chanterelles and a nice little Green Cracked Russula (Russula virescens) ... 
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| bubble |
Hi ,JP the mushrooms you got are definately not CEPS.They are Boletes ,i.e. the cep family .They are either Boletus Aereus,or Bol. badius.Check again your reference books paying specia attention to the chami-leather top and the colour. Adio for now. | ||||||
| fungi2bwith |
I would say they look like Ceps to me and definately not bay boletes or boletus aereus. But pictures can sometimes be misleading. 
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| Stewy |
Look like and most probably are Boletus edulis ie a Cep, how on earth you can think they could be B.badius is a bit strange?? 
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| cab |
Light falls on the cap of a cep in just the right way, it takes on the look of the cap of B. badius. I can see how he'd say that from the pic, but the stem looks right for B. edulis. |
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| asoverall |
Your Boletes are Boletus aereus not Boletus edulis the dark cap and stem with reddish brown streaks are good indicators. A good find as this an infrequent species of the B. edulis complex. I take it these are from the New Forest? It's one of the species strongholds. Andy 
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| cab |
I'd have to have that specimen in my hand to say which of those two it is, so I'd hesitate to question the initial ID. | ||||||
| bubble |
This is for Stewey, [looks like and most definately is B. edulis] is not good enough for mushroom ID.Be careful Stewey if you use only those critiria soomer or later you are going to be wrong as in this case. Right I' ve had telephone discussions with people who know more than myself and it is BOLETUS AEREUS.Adio for now. | ||||||
| Stewy |
I said looks like and probably never that it IS plus how can you be 100% sure without having a good look a the specimen? ie smell, cap size, habitat, what trees, spore size/shape etc,etc............ Where did you get the "Looks like and most definately is B. edulis" from??????? I never said that did I?????
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| PeteS |
Stewy, I understood what you meant. | ||||||
| bingo |
Did they taste nice JP? | ||||||
| fungi2bwith |
This just goes to show it is difficult to ID fungi from pictures. The boletus aereus I have found have a more definate brown stem. Either way they both tatse very good
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| bingo |
I would like to see what Mushroom Man says.
The ones I have found also have a darker stem but then Edulis I've found don't have such a dark cap...........weird. |
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| cab |
Precisely. Ain't easy to differentiate them based on that pic, so I wouldn't rush to question the id. |
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| mushroom man |
It is certainly not a Cep. The stem is a little pale for B. aereus but it may be OK. My first thought when I saw the picture, however, was Tylopilus feleus - the Bitter Bolete - the colour and dark reticulation on the stem are right and the bloom of the cap. They have pinkish tubes when more mature. A quick nibble would determine it. You would not be able to eat a whole one - they are horrible, though not poisonous. | ||||||
| bingo |
That's what I thought MM.......I've been on a forage with JP though and didn't want to offend him......that's why I asked if it tasted nice.
There where loads of bitters around these parts this time last year, it's a real p:sser when you find these. 
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| fungi2bwith |
The voice of reason speaks. I didn't even consider the bitter bolete until Bingo sent me some clues. But it was not foremost in my mind as I have never found one. I will get a shock one day when I eat one
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| PeteS |
I thought similar but did not want to start a 'you are wrong, I am right' war as some of the posts were getting a bit 'strong'. Bingo is correct in that there were loads of Bitter Boletes around the New Forest this time last season. It's always annoying because from a distance they can look like Ceps, especailly when young. I found my first of the year last weekend. However, it's the only one I've found and for some reason there are fewer about. |
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| bingo |
They taste really bad. 
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| bingo |
If someone can find the rude veg thread.....?
The mushroom I posted on there was a bitter.......looked like a cock.
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| bingo |
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| bingo |
Looks like a Cep but tastes like a tramps sick. |
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| jp |
Hi all - sorry about the delay in replying to all the posts. Having fallen for the Bitter Bolete (Tylopilus felleus) problem in the past I always taste Boletes that look like "Ceps" because once you try the Bitter Bolete you never forget it! These two tasted fine, cooked up with the Chanterelles in a nice omlette . You certainly find loads of the Bitter Boletes in the New Forest & they are v similer to Ceps when young - not so much when full grown though.
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| bingo |
Back to square one then. 
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| skedone |
i say boletus aerus as well specially as they are not bitter | ||||||
| bingo |
Look at this whopper!
I picked just under 2k today and Pete txted me to say he'd got about the same........from the same woods. I left loads to, and loads of small ones coming. I've never seen it like this.........new patches........big rings........big mushrooms. I could have picked 30k today given the time. Wow! |
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| PeteS |
Until today I thought last year was better for Chanterelles, but I was wrong, this sumer is better! I have never seen so many - there were even Chanterelles in the middle of paths - and as Bingo says there was more coming. Will post pics soon. | ||||||
| bingo |
Mental. | ||||||
| fungi2bwith |
There are loads at this end of Hampshire too. I walked past kilos of them today without picking them (which is very difficult for me) because I have so many at home in the fridge. Lots of Field mushrooms coming up today (the first of the year for me) and many boletes, russulas, deceivers, yellow stainers etc etc as well. Looks like this rain is bringing them all out. | ||||||
| bingo |
Ceps will be around in a couple of weeks. | ||||||
| PeteS |
Bingo, that monster must have been growing for a month or more!
Almost stepped on these 
Even my dog found some 
Ciggie brake 
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| bingo |
There where loads left, and still loads there Pete. | ||||||
| Bebo |
How easy is it to mistake a field mushroom for something else? Think I found some today. Brought one home and checked the book. When cut it stained a pale pinkish which faded to a biegish colour. The only dangerous one my book says it can be confused with is the yellow stainer, which I'm pretty sure it wasn't.
Also found a chicken of the woods on an old oak stump in my garden. |
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| PeteS |
Bingo,
Did not look like anyone had been picking there given the size of some of these mushrooms. It was hard work picking all these as for some reason I have developed a bad back. Probably too much bending down mushroom picking. I also checked your Horn patch. Well, I think it was your Horn patch as it was a long time ago that you showed it to me. Looked like a tree had fallen near it. Nothing there yet but a few more Chanterelles. |
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| bingo |
Funny that. Where that tree has fallen, horns do grow there, but it's not my big patch. 
If my horns come up while I'm away, give us a shout Pete.........and try to hide them.....
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| bingo |
It's quite easy to mistake the Agaricus family.......be carefull.
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| PeteS |
Yes, the Agaricus family can still confuse me, although I spend most time in the woods. Bebo, if you can post a picture then there might be a chance someone can ID it, but even from a good quality photograph it's not easy for people to be 100% sure. | ||||||
| jp |
are you going for an entry in the Guiness Book of Records Bingo - & I thought my haul was ok!!
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| PeteS |
It was amazing JP. Although cleaning and preserving getting on for 2kg of Chantelles is hard work. I now have plenty for the rest of the year, although is it possible to have too many Chanterelles? | ||||||
| jp |
If you had'nt photographed them I would have said you & Bingo had been nibbling on Psilocybe semilanceata
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| fungi2bwith |
Pete, how are you preserving them? |
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| skedone |
lucky people not found any yet this year tho did find a few more unusual ones so far this year | ||||||
| PeteS |
I have been off for a while due to the death of my father after a long illness
I find that Chanterelles are disappointing when dried. Sure, they dry well enough but when rehydrated they are tough and tastless. The best method I have found is to pickle them. See the end of this tread. http://forum.downsizer.net/Chanterelles_about32738.html After my father died I went for a long, long walk with my dog in The New Forest. Came back with about 1.5kg of Chanterelles, Hedgehog mushrooms, Chicken of the Woods and a couple of small but lovely Ceps - they are coming! The Chanterelles were swaped for dinner in a local restaurant. All in all my best haul this season. However, the Cep's made me rather sad. My father is Polish and loves mushrooms, especially Cep's, and could never get fresh ones in the UK. Well, before I started mushroom hunting. When he was in hospital he asked me if I could get him some, cook a meal etc for when he got out of hospital. Of course he never did. Maybe silly, but I have to admit that I had a few tears when I picked them. |
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| Stewy |
Sorry to hear about your dad Pete. 
I will check my Cep patches in the next few days to see if anything is doing. |
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| PeteS |
Thanks for that Stewy.
Yes, I think it will be worth checking your patches. And lets hope it's better than last season. Could it be worse? |
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| Jamanda |
Sorry to read your sad news Pete. Many condolences. | ||||||
| Cathryn |
So sorry Pete, a good memory though. | ||||||
| Stewy |
I hope not Pete, I found about all of 3!!! The good old days of '06 eh!!
Let's hope that Bingos 2 year cycle thingy comes good! |
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| PeteS |
Stewy, I found a couple of small Cep's this lunchtime and a few Horns starting to fruit. Whatever happens I get a good feeling that this season won't be as bad as last year. | ||||||
| fungi2bwith |
Thanks for the info Pete. Very sorry to hear of your loss. Garry |
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| PeteS |
I must say thank you to those that offered condolences. It may be a small thing to do but it does make a difference. | ||||||
| mosschops |
oh Pete, I'm so sorry. Be kind to yourself x |