puffball

[CP Dan]

Found this one last year. Hope they come back this year, I was afraid to eat it last year, but the fear is gone now.

[matt]

Hi Dan.
Just found two nice fresh ones yesterday.
I'm in northern lake county.
Matt

[Earthmom]

I found one the size of an orange yesterday. I guess those will be everywhere in a day.

[CP Dan]

Has anyone ever eaten one? What can you say about the flavor?

[ec rob]

I haven't ever eaten any of the big ones so i don't know how they taste, but a friend of mine just brought me a softball sized Calvatia craniiformis that she found in her yard. It is very slightly yellow in the middle, and i'm just wondering if it is still safe to eat that way, or if it is too far gone now.

[kristi]

I have always heard that puffballs should only be eaten when pure white.

[mushroommike]

Anything besides pure white and firm to the touch with puff balls is past prime.

[blitzfish]

Saw a few of them right before I left the U.P. They are out and about now, but some rain might help a few more do a little better.

[ec rob]

Thanks for the replies. I tossed it. Oh well. I'm sure there are more out there, and i'll get to try one. An elderly neighbor down the street had some what looked like craniiformis in her front yard last fall, I was going to ask her if i could pick them, but she didn't answer the door. I keep watching for them to come back.
My inlaws have some giant puffballs that come up in their woods every fall, and a few years ago i picked a perfect one. Not knowing much about mushrooms at the time, except that i had heard they were edible, i was scared to eat it. last year i got there too late, and they were all blown. maybe this fall i can get to them in time. I've only tried one puffball so far, a Lycoperdon perlatum, and it was pretty good.

[mikes]

I tried one a few years ago, I just slabbed it into 1/2 thick steaks and fried it with butter and salt&pepper. was not really impressed with it, didn't have much in the way of mushroom flavor and texture was like eating soft foam. But if I were to try it again I was thinking it would be good to cut it or gate it into like a pasta and put a sauce over it.

[Payne]

I've always likened it to eggplant, but much softer-- in my opinion, they are great fried with marinara sauce or breaded. Not sure if that's helpful though. I enjoy eating them, more for the texture than anything.

[deerslayer]

Finally got rain and the effect was immediate. Found my first puffball of the year, right in my backyard where the dogs poop.... It was about the size of a baseball but got stampeded. More to follow.......

[tvacao]

Found this one today but way too far gone. At least it was huge and fun to find

[rob]

I find numbers of these in the woods where I find Morels,not the exact morel spots but usually not far from there.I dont really like them but the kid in me likes to give a few of them the boot.

[kentuckyred]

Hi all. Super new to the whole wild mushroom thing and I'm wondering if there are other mushrooms that resemble giant puffballs? I picked up a very white, bigger than softball size, dense mushroom from my yard the other day. It smelled a lot like the mushrooms you buy in the grocery store but it didn't have a stalk like those. I didn't eat it, was just fascinated by it, and I wanted to know if there are others that look like it that might be unsafe to eat. I live in West Kentucky and would love to start finding edible mushrooms around here. Thanks