I do the same for thing wrap dry Chaga in a towel and smash with a mallet. I do have an old commercial size meat grinder and am going to try putting small chunks through that.

My wife buys it. It is cut in chunks about 2" square or smaller. She boils the chunks in a gallon of water for four hours. The chunks are taken out and dried. Then frozen until next use. The chaga tea is strained and put in a gallon dispenser. She drinks about 8oz a day.

dux dang what do you do if it molds

Thanks. Interesting

It needs to be dried properly, then it will keep for a long time if kept in a dry place.

Also, to reap the full benefit from this super food, you need to consume the tincture made from Chaga. Just making tea will not get all benefits it contains.

There are risks and there can be some side affects to certain people, and I think people with diabetes should not consume it.

if it molds do you throw it out ?

I have never had problems with mold. But it is best most potent, if harvested in fall and winter.

Do you keep the black part or only the brown?

I grind it all up, together. The black crust and the yellow core, each have their benefits.
I've heard of chaga sellers saving the black crust for themselves and only shipping the
core material to unsuspecting buyers.

Native people in Siberia have been drinking it for thousands of years, its their daily drink
instead of coffee. They live alot longer than most other "civilized" cultures.

One thing is for sure, when the exterior is brewed, the tea is as black as my walnut trap
dye. Looks just like India ink. My wife cuts my brew with 3-4 parts water before she will
drink it.

-NC

Thanks Northcountry! When I make tea with chaga I try to only use a little bit of the black because of the strong flavour you get from it. I’ve read people don’t know exactly what part of the chaga the benefits come from, so I add a bit incase that’s where it is.

I find chaga to be very smooth and velvety.

The life expectancy of northern siberian people is less than the already short lifespan of other russians.

I smash with a hammer also. Chunks dice size and smaller are fine. I gathered about 40 lbs last winter. Still not through grinding it all. Keep the raw stuff frozen till i smash and dehydrate it

Thanks Hutchy, that sounds exactly like my situation. I dont gather more than we need to use as a family each year. I probably have at least 25 live chaga waypoints, collected over time as I find them, and I just make a trip to gather what we need in mid-winter. I usually only need to collect a couple large ones.

Some misc info from the web...

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Originating in Eastern European and Russian folklore, Chaga has been found in archaeological digs as far as 6,000 years ago. Ancient people used to drink it, to make broths out of it, rub it on their skin, and even smoke it. During menstruation and childbirth, the Khanty tribe of Siberia used Chaga mushroom to sterilize and protect the fetus and mother from infection, they inadvertently found that heating up Chaga and quenching it forms Potassium Permanganate (KMnO4) which is a known disinfectant (1).

The people of Siberia enjoyed this drink like we do our coffees and pumpkin spiced lattes. One early explorer observed the health and longevity of the Inuit tribes versus the Siberian people. While they had different diets, they generally consumed the same types of foods., except that the Inuit didn't drink Chaga. The Inuit would live to be on average about 50 years old, while the Siberian people lived well into their 80s. Chaga may be one reason for their enhanced longevity. Unfortunately the FDA was not around then to give their evaluation, but it appears to be more anecdotal evidence.

When World War 2 came around, Chaga had a taken a high seat among the Russian medical cabinet. In 1955, the Russian Medical Academy of Science approved Chaga as an immune booster. It later came out as a treatment for tumors and cancers where it still has a strong role in the Russian community. Today, Chaga is almost unknown in the Western world, its popularity lies in Europe, Asia, and the Far East.
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Here are a few of the chemicals produced by Chaga that are also biologically active in humans.

Melanin
Antioxidant enzymes
Triterpenoids
Ergosterols
Sesquiterpenes
Betulinic acid
Polysaccharides
Phytosterols

Multiple laboratory and animal studies have demonstrated the ability of these biologically active Chaga chemicals to exert a beneficial effect on mammalian physiology (1).

Published reports document the ability of Chaga mushrooms to:

kill cancer cells (Glamočlija, 2015; Ning, 2014; Lee 2009; Baek, 2018; Kang, 2015, Kim 2018)
reduce damaging inflammation (Mishra, 2012)
boost the immune system (Ko, 2011; Park, 2005)
relieve pain (Park, 2005)
increase stamina/reduce fatigue (Yue, 2015)
act as an antioxidant (Najafzadeh, 2007; Giridharan 2011)
It should be noted that none of the reports above were performed on human patients. These in vitro and animal studies are intriguing, however, clinical studies are needed to confirm their findings.

2020 update: In vitro research has been published demonstrating the ability of Chaga extract to interfere with cancer cells. A study in the Phytomedicine journal indicates that a chemical compound present in Chaga, called Inotodiol, possesses anti-cancer capacity. Using cell culture assays, the authors demonstrate Inotodiol can prevent malignant tumor migration and invasion. Further testing in human subjects could inform us whether Chaga extracts may act as a viable treatment for human cervical cancer.
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-NC

maybe bloodroot mixed with chaga could be the cure for cancer.

If I catch the mold quick, cut it off just like with hard cheeses. A that point it's usually short, white and just in a few spots. When the mold is tall, hairy, multiple colors, etc; then safe is better than sorry and toss.

Squash is correct, some of the beneficial compounds come out of chaga with water and others only with alcohol.

Squash, while some say it is best to harvest chaga during the winter, do we really think such an agonizingly slow growing fungus has any real change from season to season? Seems like a standard practice from harvesting plants ignorantly applied to fungi.

I brew all parts of the chaga in hot water. Unlike the majority of other teas, with which we take the water off the heat *before* adding the stuff we brew, I continuously simmer chaga at a low boil for hours. Usually in a Crock Pot on low overnight. I ought to start making alcohol based tincture with chaga, just never have.

Speaking of parts, the orange and yellow work best with F&S, the black won't catch a spark at all.

Duxdawg, all I know about harvesting it during colder months, is that is what the retailer I sell it to wants, and what he has told me. Birchboys.com

Ya, I figure I only need to collect once every three years or so. The stuff I got last winter came from about an acre sized area of my trapline. I see it all over here.

Or your war club

And good for the YANG..
I drink it often both water and alcohol extraction.

If I was 65 or had underlying health issues, I'd be buying and drinking Chaga alot. The most powerful chaga comes from the cold, polution free areas of Alaska.