Puff Ball Mushrooms

[EMC45]

Got some puff balls outta the yard today with the boys. Sliced up a big fat one and fried it in the cast iron with butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Really tasty.

[zymguy]

mmm puff ball. we found a nearly 16# earlier this summer. ate soo much it nearly got boring

[MaryB]

Haven't seen a puffball around here in ages...

[Omega]

Funny you should post this, I have a soccer ball sized one in the yard that I swear grew overnight.

[Thundarstick]

There was a dozen or so in the pasture behind the house, bit the 221 Fireball vaporized them! I knew they where etable but never tried them.

[dale2242]

Mushrooms. Yummy.
I have found a puffball big enough to eat around here....dale

[KenH]

mmm puff ball. we found a nearly 16# earlier this summer. ate soo much it nearly got boring

Did you say 16 lb? I've never seen a puff ball that big, not even close. Perhaps 4" diameter would be max for me. How big would that be? As big as the soccer ball mentioned?

Puff balls sure are good eating.

[EMC45]

We are expecting some rain and damp here in east TN. May have some more pop up.

[Kosh75287]

I guess I had it drilled into me at an early age to NEVER eat ANY mushroom/toadstool found in nature. I'd have to be starving to do what you guys did, but it's nice to know that SOME of them are edible. Are they edible as you find them, or must they be cooked before eating?

[Omega]

I guess if critters will eat them then they are good to go. I have four deer in a small field next to the house, they seem to like them.
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[MaryB]

Puff balls and morels are two that are easy to ID and don't have look a likes that are super close. False morel is super easy to ID, I have never seen anything look like a puff ball that wasn't a puff ball. Grade school I used to go to had them growing in the playground dirt. We used to kick them like soccer balls and when they were ready to spore they would explode in a cloud of dust. That playground is now a subdivision...

http://americanmushrooms.com/edibles3.htm

[big bore 99]

Don't use the critters nibbling on them for a test. I know squirrels are immune to the poison. My grandfather used to throw a silver dollar in the pot when boiling them. He said if it turned black they were poison. Not a true test either. He took a tiny bit of one and promptly started foaming at the mouth and had to rush him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped. I'll pick mine at the grocery store.

[Kosh75287]

+1 to that.

[Snow ninja]

I usually only see a couple around here every year. And rarely bigger than a softball. Good eating though.

[zymguy]

Did you say 16 lb? I've never seen a puff ball that big, not even close. Perhaps 4" diameter would be max for me. How big would that be? As big as the soccer ball mentioned?

Puff balls sure are good eating.

15# 6 oz. we used a fishscale so i feel like rounding up is appropriate = ) it was a bit bigger than a basketball . If i sill used photo bucket id post a photo

[Thundarstick]

If you want to learn the edible mushrooms, or the poison ones, I highly suggest the National Audubon's Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. BTW, just because there not poison, don't mean there good to eat!

[KenH]

I guess I had it drilled into me at an early age to NEVER eat ANY mushroom/toadstool found in nature. I'd have to be starving to do what you guys did, but it's nice to know that SOME of them are edible. Are they edible as you find them, or must they be cooked before eating?

Well, some can be eaten raw, but others MUST be cooked first. A funny, Many years ago we picked lots of mushrooms to cook and enjoyed them very much. Then years later a couple on boat a couple slips down and I were in a place where there we lots of fresh mushrooms growing. I remembered these were good, they have a real "peppery" taste raw, but cooked they are not hot at all. I told them about the mushrooms, hot taste when raw, let John taste one, as did I. He agreed it was pretty hot. I took a batch to boat to cook for supper. Next morning the lady came over knocking on boat, "Thank the Lord you're alive" she says. It turns out John had to be rushed to emergency room that night due to severe stomach issues which was blamed on raw mushrooms. They knew I was eating a big batch for supper and were concerned I was laying inside dead from mushroom poisoning.

They always blamed the mushroom for John's ER trip, I'm not sure if it was truly the mushroom or perhaps it was allergic reaction to something he ate, which might have been mushroom. Needless to say, never could get them to eat wild mushrooms after that.

So, yes - I do think some might need to be cooked before eating.

Ken H>

[Omega]

Well, the critters (deer) have finished up all the puffballs in the yard. Must of been about 6 or seven of them with the soccer ball sized one being the largest, the rest were more softball sized. I was real surprised about how fast they grew though, anyone know how fast they sprout up?