A wintry cold snap, even during the weeks of mid-autumn, can mean different things to different people.
To mushroom hunters, a cold snap any time of the year equates to one or more of the following:
—No mushrooms (Too cold to even bother checking.)
—Fewer mushrooms (Most of which are inedible.)
—Frozen mushrooms (Some of which are choice edible species.)
All three selections are valid, though it is the last option that I’d like to address in the following video.
You see, quite a few edible mushrooms survive and reproduce in cold temperatures. It is therefore not uncommon to find edible fungi frozen solid to their substrates.
Recently, I’ve received numerous questions regarding the practice of foraging frozen mushrooms.
Is it safe to do so? What if the mushroom has been on a tree for weeks? Does the freeze/thaw cycle alter its texture?
These are all great questions that I address in the following video. Additional topics discussed in the video include the ability of fungi to produce antifreeze agents, the destructive effects of freezing on a cellular level, and lots more.
Check it out!