One of the best parts about hunting mushrooms (and other things) is that, not only do you get to bear witness to the incredible volume of nature’s bounty, you get to take it home, too, and when the mushroom patch is bumpin, or when the blueberries are fruiting heavy, you’ll find yourself, at the end of the day, staring at much more food than you might have anticipated. This is a good thing. Part of the real thrill of the hunt is the feeling of getting something for free–something valuable, and roasted chicken or hen of the woods stock is one of the best examples of that I know.
Chicken and hen of the woods can fruit in great numbers. This was about 10% of the fruiting from one tree!
Chickens and hens (and other polypores like Ischnoderma resinosum and Cerioporus squamosus) are both known for fruiting heavy, if you hit the right tree, at the right time, it wouldn’t be out of the question for you to be able to take 50lbs of mushrooms home that are completely edible. That’s a lot of food, and a lot of value when you consider the price of wild mushrooms wholesale is at the very, very least 10$/lb. As exciting as that find is (and we’ve all been there) there’s only so much fridge Tetris you can play (and that your spouse will put up with).
Roast wild mushroom scrap to reduce weight and volume
The other day, staring at a large pile of chickens I was preparing to clean, I had a stroke of genius. Most of the time I save the trim and woody parts for making stock or dehydrating to make seasonings, etc, but something occurred to me that I hadn’t thought of before. What if I roasted the mushrooms before making stock, not only to deepen the flavor, but to make it so I could fit more in the same pot?
Roasting the mushrooms would keep my yield in check (I don’t need 2 gallons of mushroom stock at home) as well as yield a richer end product, since more mushrooms by volume could be fit in a pot after roasting than when they’re fresh. In the end, my mushrooms lost at least 75% of their beginning weight, going from 42 oz down to 14 oz after roasting. That’s a lot of water loss!
Roasting the mushrooms reduces their volume, allowing you to fit more mushrooms in the stock pot, for a more concentrated flavor.
Only mushroom hunters need apply
And there you have it. A recipe for making wild mushroom stock that only the mushroom hunter can afford. Feel free to apply the method to all kinds of different polypores and chunky mushrooms, even terrestrial mushrooms that fruit in large amounts could be good too, things like golden oyster mushrooms, or honey mushrooms, since they both often fruit in very large amounts.
Roasted Chicken or Hen of the Woods Stock
Equipment
- baking sheet or large cast iron skillet(s)
- 1 gallon capacity stock pot
Ingredients
- 42 oz A little over 2.5 lbs wild mushroom scrap or trim
- ¼ cup flavorless cooking oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or to taste, optional, this is a preservative
- 1 each: small onion carrot, rib of celery
- 4000 grams about a gallon water just enough to barely cover the ingredients--not too much!
- Fresh herbs, like thyme, bay, parsley stems, etc optional
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350. Cut the mushrooms roughly into pieces the size of a quarter, then toss with the oil, and vegetables, lay out in a single layer on a baking sheet, and roast for 60 minutes, or until dried out and beginning to color.
- Check on the mushrooms at 30 minutes to shake the pan and check on them—if the heat seems too hot, turn it down, since if the mushrooms burn it can ruin the stock. You want to take your time here, leisurely roast them and dry them out, and opposed to roasting them hard to caramelize them. Keep in mind that your woody trim and scrap will have less water weight than typical fruiting bodies or tender margins of the same mushroom, so they may dry out and start to color slower or faster depending. Use your instincts.
- Take the roasted mushroom mix and put it into a stock pot with the fresh herbs, add the water until it barely reaches the top, bring it to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low and cook for 2 hours with the lid ajar. Strain the liquid, whisk in the salt if using, cool, and refrigerate. The stock will keep for at least a week if not longer, especially if you add the salt, and can be frozen.
Roasting first – that’s an exciting idea! Will try that next time, which might be soon, since chicken mushrooms are starting to appear. In the past, I’ve made beautifully colored and delicious stock from leftover pieces of fresh ones. (At the moment, I’m still working through the massive haul of boletes from Sunday, courtesy of tropical storm Isaias.)
Also, there is at least one polypore you didn’t mention, that’s absolutely worth collecting just to make stock. Black-staining polypore (Meripilus sumstinei). Appears about a month before the others, at least in the northeast. The stock is black, a bit woodier than maitake broth but just as much umami, and easy to make a lot of because these mushrooms are huge. Some people eat them, but they’re kinda like leather. (I never found a young one). It appears the staining capacity is gone once cooked. Of course, wear gloves when harvesting or you’ll end up with black stained fingers.
How long would this keep in the fridge? Freezer?
Freezer for months. Fridge for a good week or more depending on how heavily you season it with salt.
Final2 hour simmer covered or uncovered?
Lid ajar.