Giant ball mushrooms, also known as Calvatia gigantea, are edible and have a meaty texture that absorbs flavors quickly. They can be found in meadows, forests, and fields worldwide, and can weigh up to 40 pounds. It’s important to correctly identify them before eating, as some toadstools look similar.
The giant ball mushroom or Calvatia gigantea is an edible mushroom found abundantly in meadows, hardwood forests, and fields around the world. While the flavor of a giant ball mushroom is rather bland, the mushrooms have a thick, meaty texture and absorb flavors very quickly, making them a popular edible. Farmers’ markets may have giant puffball mushrooms in season, as do some specialty stores. If you are an expert mushroom hunter, you can also collect them.
The mushroom vaguely looks like a large ball of meringue that has been dropped on the ground. When it’s ready to eat, the giant puffball mushroom will begin to crack slightly, revealing a blindingly white interior. Within a few days, the spores inside will ripen and the mushroom will begin to rot, becoming inedible. If you allow the mushroom to dry out, a quick kick will release a copious cloud of dust, as many hikers have learned.
In many cases, a giant puffball mushroom can closely approximate a soccer ball in size and can weigh up to 40 pounds (20 kilograms). When opened, a giant puffball mushroom will be pure white, with no gill marks. Mushrooms should be trimmed to remove bad portions and brushed for dirt if they are going to be eaten. If you want to save giant puffball mushrooms for later, cook them before freezing, as they don’t freeze well when raw, and don’t bother trying to dry them.
The mushrooms can be cut and marinated like other meaty mushrooms and can also be added to soups, stews and sauces. When cooked, the texture closely resembles tofu, and the mushrooms tend to be very dense and satisfying. Many people like to add them to dishes they intend to freeze, as the cooked mushrooms will hold up well in the freezer for several months.
Many puffball mushrooms are edible when young, and some are quite tasty. However, many toadstools look very similar to ball mushrooms when young. Therefore, it is extremely important to correctly identify a puffball mushroom before picking and eating it. If your mushroom identification skills are weak, try taking a mushroom picking class or guided tour, and always check your finds with someone else. Even experienced mushroom pickers are known to misidentify balloons, so they require more caution than other edible mushroom species.
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