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How to Forage Puffball Mushrooms for Dinner

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Jonathon Engels, a long-time vegetarian turned vegan, is currently on a trip from Guatemala to... Read More

Foraging for wild mushrooms is great fun, and it isn’t nearly as daunting as parents once made it seem. Yes, there are toxic mushrooms, some even fatally so. But with very basic safety rules, straightforward knowledge, and help from more experienced ‘shroomers, getting a handle on a collection of easy-to-identify mushrooms is completely within any adult’s grasp.

There are very popular mushrooms that can be foraged safely in the wild without having a degree in mycology. Oyster, chanterelle, chicken of the wood, morel maitake, and lion’s mane mushrooms are all easy to id, and they are all considered choice mushrooms for cooks. It’s just a matter of knowing what to look for and where.

Puffball mushrooms are another favorite for foragers. They are rarely found in markets because they can’t be cultivated, but puffballs—there are several edible types–are very common finds in their native habitats. Identifying them is simple, and more importantly, identifying what isn’t a puffball and possibly dangerous is also simple.

Different Species of Edible Puffball Mushrooms

Source: Learn Your Land/Youtube

Puffball mushrooms once belonged to a group of fungi called Gasteromycetes (“stomach fungi”), and they have a unique feature in that they form spores inside solid fruiting bodies as opposed to having gills. Their spores spread in little puffs that come from within the mushrooms when they are mature. There are tons of different types of puffballs, and most are edible. Popular species include:

Gem-studded puffballs (Lycoperdon perlatum) have shaped much like a flattened sphere, aka turban-shaped, with an elongated base suggestive of a stem. The fruiting bodies are covered in tiny “spines”. The young, edible mushrooms are white inside and out, and they grow on the ground. As the mushrooms get older (and inedible), the color morphs into yellow-pink then brown. Gem-studded puffball mushrooms grow in open forests or abandoned fields from mid-summer to mid-autumn. They are the most common puffball in the US and grow from Alaska to Mexico (and all over the world).
Pear-shaped puffballs (Lycoperdon pyriforme) are—shockingly—pear-shaped, particularly when turned upside down. They are light brown on the outside, with tiny warts all over them. When young and edible, they are pure white on the inside, turning brownish and inedible with age. Ultimately, a pore forms atop them and puffs out the spores. Pear-shaped, or stump, puffballs grow in clusters on decaying wood and can be found from mid-summer through to late autumn. They are found all around North America.
Giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea) are renowned for being huge, potentially as big as a basketball. They have no decipherable stem or trunk, but they may not be perfectly round. Young, tasty mushrooms are white on the outside and inside, and as they mature and lose edibility, they turn yellow and brown. They grow on the ground in grassy areas and are no strangers to popping on a lawn. Giant puffballs are best found in late summer/early fall, and they grow throughout North America and Europe.

Eating Puffball Mushrooms

Source: Trillium: Wild Edibles/Youtube

Puffball mushrooms have a very mild mushroom flavor, often considered bland, but they have the reputation of really absorbing flavors well, much like tofu. They must be cooked before eating, and they work baked, boiled, fried, or even roasted. They can work as dumplings in stews, a meat substitute in sandwiches/burgers, or breaded and fried as tasty morsels in their own right.

Puffballs should be eaten on the same day (or soon) after they’ve been harvested. They don’t have a good shelf life. They can be frozen or dehydrated to preserve them; however, the pleasing texture of puffballs—also tofu-like—diminishes once they’ve been reconstituted or defrosted. Dried puffballs are known to have a more prominent mushroom flavor and are sometimes ground into powder to use as flavor/thickener in soup and stew.

Danger: Puffball Lookalikes

Source: Fireside Brew Co./Youtube

While puffball mushrooms are easy to identify, it is extremely important to go through the steps each and every time they’ve been foraged. There are some puffball lookalikes that are absolutely toxic and extraordinarily dangerous.

That said, the rules of thumb for safely eating puffball mushrooms are simple:

They should be pure white inside. If they have started to brown, they are no longer good to eat. Better luck next time. There are some puffball lookalikes, such as the pigskin puffball, which is actually an earthball and not a mushroom. The spores inside young specimens of pigskin puffballs are yellowish-brown then get darker as it matures.
The most important rule is that they should be cut down the middle and the interior of the mushroom should be solid, again much like cutting into a block of tofu. Many highly toxic amanita mushrooms—the destroying angel and the death cap—look like small puffballs when they are button mushrooms. However, when cut down the middle, they’ll show signs of forming a cap and gills. Any doubt and the mushroom should be tossed.

Safety First When Foraging

Beginning foragers should always seek out an experienced, knowledgeable person to help with identifying their finds before consuming them. There are pages on Facebook and other social media sites that can help with this. Before searching for something, it is important to understand both how to identify the desired specimen(s) and how to differentiate them from potentially dangerous lookalikes. Follow these safety-first rules, and fungi foraging can be a fun and rewarding pastime.

Always consult several sources when becoming familiar with a wild food, checking and triple-checking before consuming the plant. Articles like this are meant to open the door to these possibilities, but they are not a substitute for due diligence on the forager’s part. Furthermore, it’s important to never forage in places where chemicals have likely been used.

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