# First Chant harvest



## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

Wanted to hit some public land to see if any chants were available.
Pleasantly surprised, many in button stages very few in full bloom.
Chances are, by tomorrow they would be gone. So i invited them to come to my house.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

A bucket of chants is a beautiful sight, indeed!

I keep hoping and praying that no chants will pop around me, any time in June. So far, so good.

Without exception, every year that we get an early flush (June), the "real" season (July-August) is a complete dud. I dont want to see any trace of a chant until the first week of July at the earliest!

Last season was classic. I was picking 25 pounds per day solo, and not working too hard at it. The 2-3 seasons previous were duds. preceded by a weak, mid-June flush.

-NC


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## celticcurl (Apr 4, 2012)

I picked a few bug free buttons this weekend. Kind of bummed to hear about not wanting them to flush during June.

Found some tiny cinnabars too.

I didn't find a single cinnabarr chant last year. No black trumpets either and very few goldens.... so this year is already tons better!

Also found trumpets.

I'm in Ingham county.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

That is a beautiful sight wb-1.

I agree on last year, it was a great year, especially for my first year looking and finding chants, I walked past many later in season looking for blacks.

Looking forward to the rest of the summer / fall shrooming, gonna be a nice change for me (relaxing) not trying to hurry and hunt down shrooms I've never found before while they are out, seasons are so short. I have all my spots now to some degree I guess you could say, now hopefully they show themselves like last season, time will tell, and i think I'll get a little fishing in too for a change maybe.


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## Thirty pointer (Jan 1, 2015)

There was nadda for any mushrooms here last year in NE Kent the rain just didn't come .


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

What really surprised me the most with this harvest, was the lack of wormy chants. 
In all the years that i have been cutting chants in that same area, 8 out of 10 were
always wormy. Even the smallest buttons had worm holes in the stem.
This whole batch only had 3 with worm holes.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

That's great wb-1.

Have you or anyone else tried dehydrating chants? 

I see they sell dehydrated chants in harbor springs at a store near my Mom at Birchwood.


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

Yes i have dehydrated chants and many others. Most all of them will have a tendency to be a bit
Leathery,unless they simmer in some sort of liquid for some time. Like soups and stews.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Cool I can live with that, I enjoy putting up a percentage of each type I harvest this way along with my usual saute/freeze method, i have never dried chants, chickens, lobsters and blewitts yet. Thanks


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

I'm not to sure if i would dehydrate Chicken. It could maybe be the best mushroom soup one could make by using a bunch of different dried mushrooms.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Yah I agree with your chicken statement wb-1.

It makes sense cuz the only way I enjoy them is when they are young, thick and dripping, at least with the yellow pore, never had white pored yet.

Soup sounds good forsure.


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

Just under 1 lb. for today. To Darn hot out there.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Nice!! Some good eating right there.

Yes the heat is bad, me and my girl took a drive with the air cond. on high and checked out spots right off the two tracks for my other chant spots in the more typical chant woods and nada button seen lol, need rain bad. 

I need to get back out to the fir woods and pick some of those early birds that came up, they should be ready if they didn't dry up.

We did find a new maple that looked healthy but had three small Reishi buttons emerging.


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## rork (Dec 22, 2016)

As bragged elsewhere, I found 2 new spots Sat and Sun. Those not on north slopes yesterday were practically dehydrated.


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## on a call (Jan 16, 2010)

Just happen to catch this thread.

I have never picked a Chantrel ( spelling ? ). What kind of an area are they found ? Pines, oaks, maple, ?? 

I enjoy mushrooms and would like to try some  Those look really quite nice !


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## rork (Dec 22, 2016)

on a call said:


> Just happen to catch this thread.
> 
> I have never picked a Chantrel ( spelling ? ). What kind of an area are they found ? Pines, oaks, maple, ??
> 
> I enjoy mushrooms and would like to try some  Those look really quite nice !


 Chanterelles. I have limited experience. In SE lower I get the kind shown in my pictures, which I think are now called Cantharellus flavus (formerly we called them C. cibarius, after European shrooms). They seem to use both white and black oak, and I do best on steep north faces with gravelly soil. Near the Au Sable, I get what seems to be a smaller one in (red?, also Jack) pine, especially after burns. Also up north in beech-maple forests, flavus seems clearly associated with beech. I want to know if that's true farther south (near me, beech is rare, and I don't see chants on them). I have many other questions. Lessons appreciated. I've seen people with at least 2 other species, not even counting the little cinnabar colored ones (C. cinnabarinus). I know more about the Alps, but that's perhaps irrelevant (spruce). I see Gomphus clavatus up north too (pig's ear).


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## MrJosePetes (Feb 8, 2013)

Nice finds! I have checked all the usual spots up north with absolutely nothing yet. Need rain bad. Next good soaker should get them going up there. I deal with so many bugs when I find them down state I probably won’t even look while I’m down here. 

Habitat does vary as posted above. In the north I’ve found them around oaks, beech, red pine, aspen, and rarely around maples. In southern Michigan it’s typically oaks but sometimes maples and beech as well.


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## Joshmack (Mar 4, 2013)

I 


on a call said:


> Just happen to catch this thread.
> 
> I have never picked a Chantrel ( spelling ? ). What kind of an area are they found ? Pines, oaks, maple, ??
> 
> I enjoy mushrooms and would like to try some  Those look really quite nice !


I’ve found them in mixed woods often with beech trees. Oak and maples.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Nice mess of chants rork.

Josh I agree nothing in the big woods, and the same for me with tree type's and such in my neck of the woods except the balsum fir spot in a boggy area. 

Most all is drying up in the bog except the chants that are growing right next to the swamp water. Kind of strange growth to me for old buttons, real tall and the cap is leather like lol.
















These are some of the chants next to water, much nicer but still small yet.


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

Found 4 3/4 lbs. today 7-2. Had to take my glasses off due to sweating. After i got home
and took a closer look, i knew that at least 1/3 of them will be trashed. Worms, those little
invisible b-----ds that you cant see except the tiny little black head. Let the cleaning begin.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Awesome haul wb-1
Real nice pic also.


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## on a call (Jan 16, 2010)

Woodbutcher-1 said:


> Found 4 3/4 lbs. today 7-2. Had to take my glasses off due to sweating. After i got home
> and took a closer look, i knew that at least 1/3 of them will be trashed. Worms, those little
> invisible b-----ds that you cant see except the tiny little black head. Let the cleaning begin.


Your cooking them...whats a little protean ?


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## on a call (Jan 16, 2010)

Okay Guys...if I find some...what is the best way to cook them, soup ?

And is there a better time to find them like after a rain ??


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

on a call said:


> Okay Guys...if I find some...what is the best way to cook them, soup ?
> 
> And is there a better time to find them like after a rain ??


Lots of ways to cook them,Saute in butter a little olive oil,onion,S&P a little garlic. Make sure you get rid of all the moisture out of the Chants. Otherwise they be limp and still not done.
I like a little crisp on the edges. If i get a lot of them, that's how i prep them and then freeze em.

I do not like to go out after a hard rain,reason, a lot of up-splash dirt and sand, Not a lot of fun to clean. Not to bad when they grow in thick grass or moss.


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## on a call (Jan 16, 2010)

Another question....


Woodbutcher-1 said:


> Lots of ways to cook them,Saute in butter a little olive oil,onion,S&P a little garlic. Make sure you get rid of all the moisture out of the Chants. Otherwise they be limp and still not done.
> I like a little crisp on the edges. If i get a lot of them, that's how i prep them and then freeze em.
> 
> I do not like to go out after a hard rain,reason, a lot of up-splash dirt and sand, Not a lot of fun to clean. Not to bad when they grow in thick grass or moss.


When to look, now, later, fall ??


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

on a call said:


> Your cooking them...whats a little protean ?


Protein is good,no problem with that, i don't care to eat all their CRAP that is left in all their tunnels.


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## on a call (Jan 16, 2010)

Woodbutcher-1 said:


> Protein is good,no problem with that, i don't care to eat all their CRAP that is left in all their tunnels.


 agreed
You cook and then freeze them ??? Interesting.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Woodbutcher-1 said:


> Protein is good,no problem with that, i don't care to eat all their CRAP that is left in all their tunnels.


Lmao wb-1
I never really worried about it to much with the extra protein, but the way you just put it is making me re-think this now....thanks alot lol


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## on a call (Jan 16, 2010)

Woodbutcher-1 said:


> Protein is good,no problem with that, i don't care to eat all their CRAP that is left in all their tunnels.


 agreed
You cook and then freeze them ??? Interest


jeffm said:


> Lmao wb-1
> I never really worried about it to much with the extra protein, but the way you just put it is making me re-think this now....thanks alot lol


Sort of crappy of him 

No...the worm.


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## Sparky23 (Aug 15, 2007)

Yea best way ive found to preserve chants is to cook then i freeze them on a cookie sheet then add the to a bag that way they dont clump up amd you can take out and hamdfull when you need them. Dont unthaw just add frozen or they get mushy


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## rork (Dec 22, 2016)

I saute (peanut oil) and stop when there's still enough liquid that they can go in small plastic zip-lock freezer bags and be covered in liquid in 4-once batches. I can use 2 or 3 packages later if I want. I made 8 such packages this morning after some went in the omelettes. 
As for recipes, I thaw deer meat almost as a reflex, maybe glut (bottom round? I'm not that fluent). Saute cubes of it til slightly burnt, then cook/steam in barely enough liquid perhaps 50-80 minutes. Make a rue, add the deer, the liquid (possibly reduced), the shrooms, and half+half (or heavy cream). Paprika (or fresh red pepper) and marjoram is the tradition I'm used to (Bavaria). But that's up to you. The idea is to make something to go over noodles, but to go all out make semelknödel (bread dumplings; stuffing is similar and easy) or spätzle (little sparrows = home make noodles, for which I use a device though). Cause it's higher to be a Bayer.
Sauteed and served with grilled toploin is popular with guests, who'd have thought?
It's pretty good as part of seafood pasta's too. Classic for me is walleye (could be salmon), those tiny shrimp (or dungeness crab), chants, and white-pored chickens ("cinci's"). To impress guests, get the black noodles (squid ink), if you can find them.
In Austria there's a traditional soup you can google. At nice places they'll bring everyone a small cup on the house.


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## Thirty pointer (Jan 1, 2015)

rork said:


> I saute (peanut oil) and stop when there's still enough liquid that they can go in small plastic zip-lock freezer bags and be covered in liquid in 4-once batches. I can use 2 or 3 packages later if I want. I made 8 such packages this morning after some went in the omelettes.
> As for recipes, I thaw deer meat almost as a reflex, maybe glut (bottom round? I'm not that fluent). Saute cubes of it til slightly burnt, then cook/steam in barely enough liquid perhaps 50-80 minutes. Make a rue, add the deer, the liquid (possibly reduced), the shrooms, and half+half (or heavy cream). Paprika (or fresh red pepper) and marjoram is the tradition I'm used to (Bavaria). But that's up to you. The idea is to make something to go over noodles, but to go all out make semelknödel (bread dumplings; stuffing is similar and easy) or spätzle (little sparrows = home make noodles, for which I use a device though). Cause it's higher to be a Bayer.
> Sauteed and served with grilled toploin is popular with guests, who'd have thought?
> It's pretty good as part of seafood pasta's too. Classic for me is walleye (could be salmon), those tiny shrimp (or dungeness crab), chants, and white-pored chickens ("cinci's"). To impress guests, get the black noodles (squid ink), if you can find them.
> In Austria there's a traditional soup you can google. At nice places they'll bring everyone a small cup on the house.


Sounds like your quite the chef ...good for you .I love to cook .


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

Just shy of 1 lb. Someone beat me to them. Saw lots of cut stems.


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## Joshmack (Mar 4, 2013)

Found a mess of cinabars(sp?) in Benzie county but no yellow ones.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Cool deal guys.
1 lb. Maybe, no idea to be honest. Pick what wasn't dried out.


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## MrJosePetes (Feb 8, 2013)

Nice job gents. Walked around some trails today in SE MI but didn’t stray off the trail at all. Didn’t see much fungus, just a couple boletes.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

I just got up here in the NW lower, Emmet county tonight and its really dry just like the n.e was, but the n.e did get a decent soaking thursday so maybe the chants will start showing themselves soon hopefully.
Good luck


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Chants are getting big fast under the oaks. A guy could spend all weekend picking if that's what you like doing and not run out I'm thinking. 

I was in a kind of new woods today that was about a mile away from where I found quite a few last year but were on the buggy side, checked that woods out first and found a pound maybe, just a quick walk thru, not any real quantity yet in that woods. Decided to stop a mile down the road and walk in a ways and thought huh 80% BTA's in there so I decided to get out of there and on my way back to truck stumbled on to a decent patch of chants huh, looked up and it was a oak, well ok..I started searching out oaks and most every decent oak had some decent size meaty chants under it. I spent a couple hours there and will be back for a couple more Monday I'm hoping.

This maybe common I dunno, but I won't ignore heavy popple stands anymore while chant picking as long as they have some nice oaks here and there. Sorry so long winded I'm still a little excited bout this woods.


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

nice haul jeffm, need to get my lazy but back out in the woods again.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Woodbutcher-1 said:


> nice haul jeffm, need to get my lazy but back out in the woods again.


Hey thanks WB

I have a question pertaining to ripeness in the (Chantrelles mushroom specifically) like a fruit so to speak, pick to early and the flavor is just not there the way it is when mature, is there such a thing with Chantrelles ? They do say the mushroom is the fruiting body of the whole underground network and such. Any opinions or experiences that one has noticed. Thanks


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