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Scaber Stalks Edibility?


MattVa

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Picked a bunch of these Scabers under birch. I have read conflicting things on these many times about there ability to make people sick. It seems like dehydrating is the safe way to go and is best for flavor is well.

I know some of you pick and eat these often and I would like your opinion on verietys to possibly avoid before I try these. I have no issues with throwing them in the trash if they are not worth it.IMG_20170915_193353.thumb.jpg.351522d8b10e99d8f899e879fe93c199.jpg

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The hotel room light is making things screwy I think. In hand they all look the same and look like the 3rd pic. But they do all stain brown/redish on pores and redish in the flesh so maybe the flash is picking up undertones,some had very blue flesh down close to the root of the stalk.  They where all picked together.Might should do a ID post too.

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usually I pickle them but was planning on dehydrating this year. As for the types, they do look slightly different from the ones I pick but I don't believe there are any poisonous ones. The ones I eat also stain pink and blue/green. Watch out for soft caps once they open up, I toss them, and some develop very tough fibrous stems, I discard those too.

 

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Eb it's 1am why are you awake..lol.

Thanks for the tips! I passed on alot of spongy ones, I have limited cooler space so I only picked the better ones. I might take some more pics tomorrow and see if the outdoor lite shows these a little better..... It usually does as we know but I found these on the edge of darkness. I might just start a ID post if they haven't changed to much overnight.

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Matt,  these look just like some scabers I have found recently under some yellow birch.  I ate the caps in some omelets and had no ill effects. But I have read as well that some people can have an issue with orange-red capped Leccinum.

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Hey Matt, try them out. I really like them and have never had any adverse effects from eating them. Cook them well. Definitely worth picking imo. One of the better boletes if you can stomach them. I, personally, have never met a person who has gotten sick from them and I think it is a very small % of people who do. As for the reports of them being fatal, I have my doubts that the mushrooms they ate were actually scabers. Try a small amount, I recommend it.

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Matt,GNc15 thanks for the input. I don't see many Leccinums in my area of Virginia. Only birch in my area is paper birch so it could be a long while before I see anymore like these.  These where found in WVa under some sort of planted veriety of birch unknown to me. I have dried some and will give them a try.

 I will add that these Leccinums where very strongly associated with the birch. There was a birch growing/planted about every 75' and they where found only under the drip line of the birch trees. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Interesting, the staining pattern --reddish in the upper part of the stalk and blue below-- is a trait associated with L. snellii. But the cap color does not match this species.

I'd say these are good edibles. Dried material tends to darken sauces/soups. So if you use them like this in beef stew or pot roast, the gravy is rich/dark. I like Leccinum sliced fresh, fried in butter, and salted until slightly crisp. Nice bacon substitute. Quality of Leccinum mushrooms is basically a function of the robustness. Thick stalks are good, but frail versions don't offer enough meat to eat. 

There have been reports from Colorado and Michigan about people being made sick from red/orange-capped Leccinum. Neither my wife nor I have ever had a problem eating any Leccinum mushroom. Maybe some people are sensitive... like with Armillaria? 

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Thank you as always Dave. The blue staining was only present in a hand full some only had a few specs,some alot and some had none. I did dry them but had not tried any yet. Did eat my first A.mellea yesterday ....just a small button. I boiled it to death and sauteed it in butter. Pretty sure I ruined the flaver by over boiling but no negative reations so im going to try a few more with less boil and more sautee.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎2017‎-‎10‎-‎01 at 5:15 PM, MattVa said:

Thank you as always Dave. The blue staining was only present in a hand full some only had a few specs,some alot and some had none. I did dry them but had not tried any yet. Did eat my first A.mellea yesterday ....just a small button. I boiled it to death and sauteed it in butter. Pretty sure I ruined the flaver by over boiling but no negative reations so im going to try a few more with less boil and more sautee.

Honeys need to be parboiled about 5 minutes. Any more and you are stripping the flavor completely out. You'll find your boiling sweet spot with them. Don't go to crazy with them, it's just a precaution really because everyone has different sensitivities to them.

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Thanks GC, the over boiling was intentional I figured if I had a reaction then, then they where off the list for good. I have since eat them about 3 more times and have brought the parboil time back to 5-10 min. Just hoping we get enough rain for me to make it back out to find some more.

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I have not heard of any safety issues with the brown capped scabers. A few years ago someone died after eating what I believe was a mixed bag of mushrooms and the guy who looked into the event concluded that the culprit might well have been an orange capped scaber. There was some discussion about it here and you may be able to find that with a site search. The guy who pointed the finger at the orange scaber was from Cornell and his credentials were solid enough to cause a lot of people to re-think eating the orange ones. If you search cornell mushroom blog you might find considerable discussion on the subject. I also have heard that the orange ones have caused problems in Colorado but I havent read anything scientific about that. Where I live in Ontario folks (especially Euros) collect all scabers by the bucketful with no apparent ill effects but I have no information on how they cook them.

My own personal approach is that I dont need to eat every mushroom I find. If a mushroom has a dodgy reputation I simply dont eat it and I dont need a mountain of scientific data to back up that decision. I put the orange scabers in the dont eat category. There is a good chance I am missing out on a good edible but I simply dont care, Im not eating anything with a dodgy reputation.

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  • 2 months later...

Very late reply here. Been stupid busy and haven't even had a chance to follow the site.

 Couple things; I'm one of those that "some" fresh leccinums have an adverse reaction too. I think I've isolated it to leccinums associated with aspens, ones in hemlock don't seem to be an issue. Nothing major just ,lets say, very loose bowels. Dried, they have no adverse effects and are a welcome addition to soups/stews.

 The staining, reported here, I find common and is often irregular between various areas. Sometimes just brown but often blue or red. Probably different sub species, however I just group them together and dry any large finds.

 Although I'm one of the few who experience adverse reactions to certain leccinums . I still find them to be a tasty and robust mushroom. One that is a common meal addition at a friends property.

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  • 2 months later...
On ‎2017‎-‎10‎-‎13 at 2:40 AM, DufferinShroomer said:

I have not heard of any safety issues with the brown capped scabers. A few years ago someone died after eating what I believe was a mixed bag of mushrooms and the guy who looked into the event concluded that the culprit might well have been an orange capped scaber. There was some discussion about it here and you may be able to find that with a site search. The guy who pointed the finger at the orange scaber was from Cornell and his credentials were solid enough to cause a lot of people to re-think eating the orange ones. If you search cornell mushroom blog you might find considerable discussion on the subject. I also have heard that the orange ones have caused problems in Colorado but I havent read anything scientific about that. Where I live in Ontario folks (especially Euros) collect all scabers by the bucketful with no apparent ill effects but I have no information on how they cook them.

My own personal approach is that I dont need to eat every mushroom I find. If a mushroom has a dodgy reputation I simply dont eat it and I dont need a mountain of scientific data to back up that decision. I put the orange scabers in the dont eat category. There is a good chance I am missing out on a good edible but I simply dont care, Im not eating anything with a dodgy reputation.

90% of the leccinums I find are the orange caps. I have never had an issue with them. I, also, eat the red and brown leccinums as well but find them with less frequency. I do not parboil any of them. It's either a very thorough pan fry when fresh or I dehydrate them. In my neck of the woods, most people are of Ukrainian/Polish heritage and eat the orange caps fervently. I have never heard of anyone getting sick from them yet. They are a highly desired mushroom in these cultures.

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