Ever had Giant Puffballs?

[fistfulladirt]

My wife came across these while out on her walk. We drove back got some and I fried them up. We left one the size bigger than a basketball. Huuuge!

 

[creskol]

YUM! Yup.. growing up on a farm in Maryland, we harvested a many puff balls! They are delicious!

 

[Duckshot]

I've tried them and I don't really care for them, but I'm glad you enjoy them.

They're up around here now, just started and got two or three in the yard by the street.

 

[Meadow]

I've eaten them when I was a kid. Mostly the size of a golf ball, never seen any anywhere near basketball size. I love mushrooms - if I can't eat 'em I just like looking at them.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Nothing like that around me is edible. All we have are poisonous "toad stools"

 

[fistfulladirt]

I can take ‘em or leave ‘em...it’s all in the prep - good to know they’re edible.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I can take ‘em or leave ‘em...it’s all in the prep - good to know they’re edible.

Well - as with all mushrooms...you must know your shrooms. Be an expert.
Look-a-likes maybe similar in different parts of the country.
The penalty for eating the wrong one can be seriously brutal if not deadly.

 

[Kray Gelder]

Yup. The good ones, and bad ones, all grow in the same areas. I haven't heard anything negative about the young puffballs.

 

[BillA]

kinda agree, never did get much into old puffballs

 

[Toecutter]

When i was a kid we would throw the green rotted ones at other kids lol it was great they would splatter green gunk all over... good times!!

 

[A2coins]

Many of those here in Mi I never know if they are poisonous so never tried em I usually put sauce or seasoning on my food so almost anything can taste better lol

 

[fyrffytr1]

I had them one time but penicillin took care of it!

 

[Samanthy]

Personally I prefer cheese puffs.

 

[fistfulladirt]

They aren’t bad when first fried, then eaten cold. It’s been about 40 years since I’d last tried some. Last time was at my grandma Schrauben’s, my younger brother became deathly ill from the smell of fungus frying. I later was pizzed when the boiled duck’s feet was eaten up by everybody and I didn’t get a sample. Later that nite, the local hoedown made everything better!

 

[Megalodon]

Giant puffballs are delicious and simply pan-fried, probably healthier than home fries. I eat them whenever I can find them before the bugs get into them - which they do quickly. They are so distinctive in appearance that I don't know how anyone could confuse them for something that might be dangerous.

Long ago, our ancestors knew what was good to eat. Now, people insist on plastic wrapped junk in supermarkets. The dumbing down of America.

 

[Megalodon]

kinda agree, never did get much into old puffballs

"Old" puffballs are those that have gone to spore. You kick the dried out old puffball and out comes an impressive brown puff of spores - hence the name puffball.

Only young puffballs that suddenly appear after a rain, are worth eating, and only then before the bugs get into them. They can grow quickly and size is not an indication of how new or fresh they are.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Well - as with all mushrooms...you must know your shrooms. Be an expert.
Look-a-likes maybe similar in different parts of the country.
The penalty for eating the wrong one can be seriously brutal if not deadly.

Agreed. Giant puffball mushrooms are one of the easiest edible mushrooms to identify. They emerge in the fall, volleyball sized are safe because there are no other fungi similar in size or shape. It slices up like a huge loaf of bread too -

 

[rginn]

We had those on the Southern Plains but they weren't edible as far as I know. On Plains tribes tipis, when you see a band painted around the bottom with circles in it, those circles are said to represent puffballs. For what reason, I don't know.

 

[A2coins]

Good question

 

[fistfulladirt]

I went back for the biggun.
Been eating the heck out of ‘em!
I have a bee hive de hydrator and drying out fungi.