Approximately 10-15 % of all people have an allergy to Sulfur Shelf. In addition to this, many people have reported GI tract problems after eating Sulfur Shelf from Eucalyptus. The European species (whatever the Latin name may be now) is also not good to eat. However, the strain offered by
Fungi Perfecti is probably edible for about 85-90% of all people, as long as you don't grow it on eucalyptus. However, I've tried growing the Fungi Perfecti strain on Douglas-fir stumps with zero luck. In conversations with Fungi Perfecti staff years ago, they claimed that Paul collected his strain from Douglas-fir, although I thought this sounded odd because I've been picking and eating Sulfur Shelf in the Pacific Northwest for over 25 years and I've never once seen it growing on Douglas -fir (or any kind of pines). I've always seen it on either Western hemlock (L. conifercola) or oaks (L. "sulfureus' group). Did you buy plug spawn from Fungi Perfecti?
Have you ever tried this species before? If not, my advice would be to only eat a small amount the first time you try Sulfur Shelf and to cook the mushroom thoroughly. Do not eat older, tougher specimens- they taste lousy anyway. You want the young stuff.
That being said, Sulfur Shelf is one of my favorites and I love to collect and eat it every year! It is really delicious when dipped in egg/beer batter and fried up in a pan. I even
water a big old oak tree in my girlfriend's
yard with a hose with a mist nozzle every summer to get a crop of Sulfur Shelf every September. This is is the only "cultivation" success I've had with this one, however. I wish you the best of luck!
