Harvesting techniques, Chanterelles

[foragist]

As with any mushroom, I don't want the dirt with my food, so instead of pulling them up from the ground, I always pinch off the mushroom near the bottom of the stem, or cut it off with a sharp knife. The whole stems on chanterelles are edible, so I cut off as much as I can without the dirt. They do tend to splinter when pinched, so I use the knife for most chants; especially the bigger ones. Also, Chants are best cooked fresh, so don't let them dry out in a mesh bag. I still use my mesh bag, but keep it in a basket or bucket.
Any other tips?

[avngal]

I think your tip applies to most of your ground sprouting shrooms Foragist...it is a good thing to keep the dirt out of your bag...it only spreads around and gets into gills of other shrooms if you don't. Even if you pull the whole shroom up it is best to trim it with a knife removing all the dirt and placing it clean into your bag.

I've tried this new bag with a flexible ring at the bottom to keep the walls of the bag open so shrooms don't crush on other shrooms. It works great unless it is raining out...then the bottom...which is the only part not neeted...fills up with water...ack!

[foragist]

Hi Avngal!
I had the problem of collecting leaves & twigs in my bucket or basket. That's why I put my mushrooms inside a mesh bag. Then, after I picked a bunch of mushrooms, and put them in the bag, & I'm ready to go hunting for more, I make a habit of closing the bag, so no debris gets in.
Having the bag inside a container also reduces the crush factor.
My woven willow basket doesn't collect rainwater. A bucket would, so an easy-access cover, or drain holes would be a good idea.

[foragist]

As far as finding chanterelles; they grow mostly in the woods. I look in woods with big, mature trees. Mixed hardwoods. Look on the ground everywhere; not just around trees. They seem to grow good in little pockets where leaves collect. I've found patches growing in dips of old unused logging roads. But, like Earthmom says, they grow all over. I've also found them spread out in open areas between trees, and close up around trees.
The good thing about these is the easily visible color. That yellow color stands out. The orangish color of the cinnabars stands out good too.

[cisco]

There's a bit of interesting talk on the Minn page of the old board (I lurk there occaisionally) about how the pro pickers on the west coast twist chanterelles from the ground to avoid leaving a stem that would allow rot to infect the mycellium. (The posts were started by a DanF on 7/15 if anyone wants to look.) Interesting theory, but I don't know if there's any actual science behind it. There was also a post saying they keep better if you leave the dirty bottom on the stem, but I'm not going to put dirt in my bag. Sounded like a marketing scam to me.

[mushin]

I agree with the "no dirt with my mushrooms" style of harvesting for Chants and other mushrooms. Here are a few tips I've picked up on various sites or started doing on my own.

Before picking a chant or bolete, always squeeze the stem first. If it feels hollow it's wormy and not worth picking.

With small chants such as cinnebars and appalachiensis, I use a small shears to harvest them. Much faster and less apt to splinter the stem than using a knife. (I use about a 4" sewing shears with a semi-blunt tip.)

Using a small brush before bagging your shrooms to remove any dirt, bugs, plant debris, etc. keeps the crud from spreading from mushroom to mushroom and saves a lot of time cleaning later. A 1/2" natural bristle paint brush with the handle trimmed down works great, is cheap, and fits in a shirt pocket.

Paper grocery bags with handles are what I use to pick into. They protect the shrooms better than a mesh bag and are still "breathable" vs. plastic. If I'm going through an area with plants that drop debris into the bag, clipping a clothes pin on the top helps to keep it out.

I used to have trouble with mushrooms starting to dry out if stored for anything more than a day in our frost-free refrigerator. I then started storing them in a paper bag in the crisper drawer and now they keep perfectly for at least 3 days. The paper bag keeps them from getting too wet like they would in plastic, and the crisper keeps them from drying out. If you have too many shrooms for the crisper, or large hens, etc. putting a large plastic bag OVER the paper bag also works well.

[foragist]

good advice Mushin. Thanks.

Cisco: I wonder if the real reason they pull up the whole mushroom is to hide the evidence from other mushroom hunters.

Another good reason to pull up the whole thing is for identification purposes.

[Earthmom]

Regarding finding the chants...basically, you need to have a mixed hardwood or hardwood/conifer forest and then walk around every large oak looking for egg yolk yellow chants! That's how I do it and I have found chanterelles in every place I've looked whether it's a small stand in the city or a big national forest. I never find them in large quantities though. I hear the chants grow under pines but I haven't had that experience; any time I find them there are oaks very near. They grow in the same place every year! So BIG oaks, check all around them and be sure to move the leaves around. Be careful so you don't step on the buttons growing under the leaves. Chanterelles LOVE compacted ground so you will find them growing in oak woods, right off the trails! Also be sure to check all the compacted deer trails within the forest.