Chicken or Sulphur?

[james81]

True Chicken of the Woods vs. Sulphur Shelf

For those of you interested in trying Chicken of the Woods, I suggest the L. cincinnatus which has a white-whitish underside and grows at the base or around the tree vs. the L. sulphurous that has the yellow pores and grows like a shelf off the tree itself. I’ve found through my experiences that Sulphur Shelf tends to be woodier in texture and not as palatable as the True Chicken of the Woods which is what I’ve used to fool people into thinking they’re eating real chicken. Which is why I call the L. cincinnatus the True Chicken of the Woods.

L. cincinnatus (True Chicken of the Woods)

L. sulphurous (Sulphur Shelf)


However if you’ve had the Sulphur Shelf version of the chicken and your experience was good, I would be happy to hear how you prepared it so I can try it myself. I tend to find more of the Sulphur Shelf type than the True Chicken and usually pass it up because I don't find it as desirable.

[blitzfish]

I will completely agree. I didn't care for the sulphur shelf all that much, but L. cincinnatus is much better.

[Earthmom]

For whatever reason I tend to find the L. cincinnatus and rarely the other yellow pored mushroom. I like both but most people agree the white pored version is way better. The first time I found my own chicken of the woods I was actually looking for chanterelles (in an oak type woods) and it sort of startled me because it seemed to grow right out the forest floor like a big gorgeous orange flower! I wasn't even certain it was a COTW because it was so far away from an oak tree but yep, growing off a slightly buried root. Just really pretty!

[tvacao]

So then would this be the sulphur? Guess I didn't realize they were soo close. Thanks!
T

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[blitzfish]

Yes, that looks like sulphur to me

[rob]

found a big number of sulfur shelf today.Most probably no good but one little beauty that just started.

[rob]

this mornings find my girlfriend didn mind being woken up to see this beauty.For the record her favorites think i like the actual shelfs better but dont care that much for them either way.I had been finding small one shelfs and stumbled on this cincy,so it turned out to be a good morning.

[tvacao]

Went to a spot today hoping to find some sulphur shelves but everything I found was huge and washed out.

[ec rob]

Found my first L. Cincinnatus over the weekend, haven't tried it yet though. I didn't much care for the sulfur shelf variety, but I'll give the L. Cincinnatus a try one of these days. It's just chillin in the fridge at the moment.

[sol]

If the cincinnatus was fresh you are in for a treat. Just curious how far north you are. I moved to vilas this year and have found nothing but sulphur shelf up here and I don't care for them. Not sure if the cincinnatus grows up here or not ?

[ec rob]

I'm in Frederic, which is about even with Rhinelander in latitude. Still haven't tried it, been a little busy, hopefully it'll still be good when I get home from work.

[sol]

Cool maybe I will find some up here then. I only pick them if they are still thick at the ends and juicy. If they have thinned out to nothing at the ends of the fronds they are generally but not always too far gone for me.

[gramacrocodile]

SOL, if you are the same SOL that posted the recipe for cotw with orange sauce on another forum, a big Thank You! It was absolutely delicious and is my new favorite to make them.