Tips for Hunting Morel Mushrooms

Depending on where you live, the time can be coming close to start hunting for the elusive Morel mushroom. Morels are tan in color and are long in shape with a heavy texture. Although they aren't very appealing by appearance, they make up for it by being so delicious. It is not hard to fetch these delicacies. All you need is a little time and a sharp eye.

Before you start to plan your own Morel hunt, you will need to check the frost zones in your area. I wait until early spring. The first day the temperature goes over or around 70 degrees in the daytime, I know the time is becoming optimal for mushroom hunting. The next thing to look for is a good hard rain at night. The temperature must not get under 50 degrees after the rain. It also has to be a hard enough rainfall to soak the area. The next morning is perfect to begin searching.

The best places to find Morels are on land that has some kind of spring of water source flowing through it. The next thing you want to look for is decaying, rotting trees that have fallen. The Morels grow a long side these trees. Usually nestled in decaying leaves. This makes it extremely difficult sometimes to see the actual Morels, because they are similar in color.

Patience is needed when hunting Morels. Allow yourself at least four or five hours to search an area completely. Let me assure you, that it is well worth the search, and the time it takes to find Morels. Not to mention the fact, that if you are lucky enough to find these mushrooms at farmers markets, or grocery stores you can pay as much as $40 a pound for them.

Once you have you have 15 or 20 Morels, you will need to soak them over night in the refrigerator in a salt water solution. This insures that all insects and bacteria are cleaned out of the mushroom before eating.

There are many ways to prepare Morels. My favorite is simply frying them.

Fried Morel Mushrooms

Morels

flour

oil

seasonings

After soaking the mushrooms over night, take out of solution and cut the Morel in half. Pour flour onto a plate and roll the mushrooms in the flour. Fry in hot oil until crunchy. Place on paper towels to blot off oil, and add your favorite seasonings.

From just a couple of hours of work your family can enjoy an otherwise unattainable delicacy. Morel Mushrooms have an unique, wild flavor and once you taste them it can be hard not to search every year for them. I have learned to make it a yearly event, with family and friends. It is a segue into summer, and gets the family off the couch and into the fresh air and outdoors.