Cooking Chicken of the woods .. Advice ?

[River_Forager]

Hello,  found my first chicken was pretty excited. Laetiporus Cincinnatus , the white bottom one.   

Got home confirmed it in the books and also on this site. Chopped some up fried it and much to my disappointment it wasn't very tasty... in fact I couldn't even finish it.   It didn't really fry like most mushrooms do, and the texture was kinda off putting (almost kind of like a Styrofoam texture), when it was done frying it almost looked the same as when it started? ... There didn't seem to be much water that came out of it during the frying process. 

Am I doing something wrong here, or was this one particular mushroom perhaps too old or dried out?  We just had a very hot week with no rain.  

Or is this typical of chickens, or maybe i need to parboil or something?   I don't want to throw out the rest of it but not sure what to do. 

Thanks for any advice. 

 

 

[vitog]

The specimen pictured is too mature to be eaten without special preparation.  They should be picked while the leading edge of the mushroom is still rounded; and, even then, only the outer, tender parts should be used.

[River_Forager]

I was worried that might be the case... thanks.   Next flush I will catch it earlier.. 

[River_Forager]

Would it be possible to still utilize some of this mushroom in a soup or slow cooked roast or something?  Or is it more likely not to turn out well not matter what ? 

[vitog]

I think that forum member ChefsWild described how he prepares old Chicken of the Woods mushrooms, but it was a complicated procedure.

[River_Forager]

alright, ill see if I can find this info, thanks 

[DeesFarm]

Hmm, maybe I like Styrofoam 🤣 but I've sliced these thin and put in soup. They softened up and actually had a chicken texture for a mock chicken soup. I also included oysters I found for a textural difference.  This was the specimen I used. I cooked half and froze half for later use. I've never found any other variety of chicken of the woods in my woods. Maybe one day I'll find the other..

[River_Forager]

Made some attempts of cooking it,  frying it was a no go, not good at all. Then I added some to a roast and let simmer for hours it got a bit better still kinda tough, tried again in a stew simmering all day and it was a bit better but again still kinda tough.   

The outer most edges of it were not terrible after it sat in the stew for the day, the rest was a bit tough.  

I got advise to dry it and make it into mushroom powder for cooking, which I may do for the remainder. 

Overall, harvesting one this late is something I may pass on in future chicken of the woods findings, OR cut the outter most edges of the mushroom off and just save those (as I've seen alot of people do with this mushroom) for stews etc...  I like the idea the mushroom can continue to grow a bit and pass on its spores if you just selectively harvest its outter most edges and leave the rest there. 

Im excited to find a younger one and see how it compares.