Drying Birch polypore (Piptoporus betulinus)?

[Hartung]

I found this very large birch polypore two weeks ago in the woods and went to collect it today. It is the largest birch polypore I’ve ever seen and I would like to preserve it by drying the entire mushroom.

Who has experience with drying large birch polypore and could help me with advice. I know that drying large tinder fungus is no problem but have never done it with birch polypore. And this one is so nice I don’t want to loose it. I don’t want it to rot away on me.

For the moment I suspended it on the balcony. How about that?

Your advice is welcome.

Thanks!

On the tree, two weeks ago

 

[Hartung]

Collected today

 

[Toddy]

That one looks like it has gotten so huge so quickly it has little fissures underneath.
Might mean it's very wet and might take a while to dry out properly.

They don't really rot when left somewhere airy to dry, but they're all too often infested with tiny wee maggots and they eat it from the inside out, and do so mostly un-noticed until the whole thing crumples to a shell filled with dust

If there aren't any maggots in it now, then I would suggest finding a large paper bag, so that moisture can still escape, and putting the fungi inside it and tieing it securely. That way you won't get it seeded with any eggs from flies around now.
It will slow down the drying a bit, but it'll also mean you can bring it into the house and dry it next to the boiler, or on a radiator, without infesting the place with maggots or flies if it does have them.

Otherwise, it should dry out fine Maggots apart, they usually do

Nice find though

cheers,
Toddy

 

[The Big Lebowski]

I just leave mine on the side for a few weeks to air dry at room temp... Not had a problem, but I have heard critters love them.

al.

 

[Shewie]

I've heard a night in the freezer helps to kill the little beasties

 

[Hartung]

Thanks a lot for that very helpful information. I a bit more confident now .

Toddy, I think I will put it in a plastic bag tomorrow and spray insecticide in it, close it and open it an hour later. With a bit of luck the insects should be dead by than. You are right the mushroom is quite heavy and must have grown very quickly.

 

[Toddy]

I like Shewie's idea about the freezer, but there's never room in mine

Check your fly spray stuff..........I came out in an awful rash on my hands when using wool that had been sprayed with and insecticide. It can be horrible stuff. Useful though

cheers,
M

 

[VANDEEN]

I use old pairs of my lasses tights for drying out bunches of, thistle heads, birch bark, pine cones etc lets them breathe but hopefully stops the beasties running ammock in the airing cupboard. That's only the beasties that survived the biscuit tin in the oven treatment first though. Forkytails love burying into thistle down.

 

[mrcairney]

Big un's

Here's some I found the other week (10cm scale in shot)

Why do you want to preserve them out of interest? Because they're big?

 

[Chiseller]

beltas them. if you dry them....would you still be able to use them for plasters ?

 

[Hartung]

Mrcairney, I’m doing demos at museums. They would be very decorative and excellent for showing the difference to the normal sized ones. I’d use the smaller ones for cutting them up into plasters.

 

[mrcairney]

They would be very good specimens. Let me know how it goes. I've often wanted to dry fungi that I find interesting but have never looked into how.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

beltas them. if you dry them....would you still be able to use them for plasters ?

This is something I've been curious about for a while... In dry sections, they slice up really well. I wonder what would happen if you dipped a section in clean water to rehydrate it and use for a small finger cut.

Even dry, they still smell of antiseptic.

 

[Thenihilist]

How is it used as a strop?

 

[tomongoose]

I use it as a strop. I cut it into strips and glue it to a piece of board I find it also dries better when cut into strips

 

[Chiseller]

cheers Big L, guess we'll have to try it.....once ive found my first one !!!

 

[Kepis]

Monkey Boy and i collected a nice size Polypore at the Sussex meet this weekend, think he is going to make a strop from it.

All ive done to dry mine in the past was to leave them on a sunny window sill or in a warm room and just wait, the ones ive used as strops ive cut slightly oversize to what i need to allow for shrinkage as it droes and just left them on a window sill, doesnt take long to do, i have a couple of fresh one's here that i collected today, i might whack the smaller one in the dehydrator and see what happens

 

[Kepis]

oh yes, dont throw the offcuts away, it makes an excellent ember extender when it's totally dry

 

[Hartung]

I collected more of Birch polypore yesterday to do some experimentation with.

Pores on the underside of the polypore infected by a maggot

Topside of a polypore infected

 

[Hartung]

Maggot
All of the infected polypores I saw had the same characteristics. That means that infection might quite easily be detected which is good news. No – at least at first sight – tiny holes that are undetectable.