Cain F

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely always make sure it's cooked before serving any edible mushroom!

That was basically what I was thinking. I always make clear the risks of people eating foraged edible mushrooms that can have adverse effects. Thanks

Appreciate the reply. I try to only harvest it from Oak because I know some people are allergic to hemlock. Would it be alright to have someone who wants to try it take a very small portion to see if they have a reaction?

I am pretty new to edible mushroom hunting. Only started last year and have had success with black morel/laetiporus cincinnatus/dryad saddle and found many more that I didn't eat. I found a ton of what appeared to be chicken of the woods and decided to read up more on it. I saw on Wiki that in 2001 they found more species in the laetiporus family. One being Laetiporus huroniensis that is indistinguishable from chicken of the woods. My issue is that from what little information about this mushroom there is, I am reading that in 10% of people that eat it, it makes you really sick. I live in the great lakes where this mushroom grows and have a lot of people that want to try some of my foraged mushroom recipes. I don't want to inadvertently poison them so I am hoping you more experienced hunters have more information on this. I also read that Laetiporus huroniensis can cross-breed with other laetiporus. Basically any chicken of the woods I find now has the possibility of poisoning even when it's 100% positively identified. What are your thoughts on this? Have any of you gotten sick eating chicken of the woods?