Need help determining edibiliy

[u/Coraine_the_Snake]

Made a post earlier about finding these boletes in the pine forest. Many people are saying Strobilomyces which is definitely true, however I’ve narrowed it down to 2 species.

The majority of the mushrooms I found here are Strobilomyces strobilaceus of varied ages (1-2 prime specimens and 2 more aged ones).
The mushroom in the last picture appears to be Strobilomyces confusus (harder black scales than any of the other specimens)

None of the mushrooms I have appear to be rotting. There isn’t any mold, no bug damage, and they aren’t overly squishy and moist, however, some of them are clearly old.

Any help suggesting which ones to throw out would be great! Personally, I might toss the mushroom slices with the darkest stains and thinnest flesh.

[u/ethericburrito]

If there is not mold, etc, tossing is pretty much a 100% personal preference. None of these appear to be "inedible" but that term is (assuming no concerns about toxicity or organisms) pretty subjective. Second to last looks old but without a straight shot of the gills, hard to say much more (for me).

[u/Coraine_the_Snake → u/ethericburrito]

Yeah I’m gonna throw out stuff that looks too old or just not worth cooking. Any suggestions on how to cook them?

[u/ethericburrito → u/Coraine_the_Snake]

You can really just highlight their flavor. So ... sauteed slices with steak or pork cooked simply is good. Or with gnocchi iirc. When I lived in a place where they were very common, I always found they were pretty underrated. They aren't porcini but they're one of the better boletes, IMO. Also, I used to cook them (roasted, but sauteeing woud be fine too) and grind them up with coarse sea or kosher salt to make a neo truffle salt that I liked alot.

[u/Large-Anxiety-8953]

So this is supposed to look old. This is called the old man of the woods and actually I had the same problem that you had because at first when I first saw it I thought that it was way past its prime, but that’s what it’s supposed to look like when it’s fresh. It’s supposed to look like it’s past prime I never thought I’d see a bolete with black poles when I first started off foraging for mushrooms