Anyone cook with Acorns?

jwal10 · #21 10/25/12, 09:38 AM

I have found if you roast them they do get hard, that is why we chop them and use in baking like other nuts. I like them cleaned up and put in salted water for the second hot water bath, dry and eat. It is very well worth the trouble for the white acorns we have. The red ones, not really. Too many walnuts and filberts here to spend that much time on red acorns. We do about 10 gallon bags in the freezer and 10 gallons fresh, eaten as we go for a month or so. Pancakes, biscuits, muffins and breads....James

Whisperwindkat · #22 10/25/12, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meanwhile

Whispterwindkat: How many times do you have to boil them? Can you give me more tips? I read the acorns must be boiled four to five times in lots of water, then roasted? Do you roast them or just use boiled? Thanks for suggestions.

I like your web site. Just took a quick look but did not see instructions about the acorns? If tips are there, can you point me to it? Thanks so much.

Thanks, I think there is an acorn post under the wild food category. I think I did one last year and I know I did one a couple of years ago. Anyway, there are no hard and fast rules. Depending on the species of oak your acorn comes from and the tannin content will determine how many times you change water. When the water stays clear you are done. White oak acorns will come clear within 3-4 washes, red varieties will take more water changes. My trees are mostly red oak, water oak and pin oak. All in the red variety and I changed water probably 6-7 times if I remember correctly. Then yes, roast/dry them in the oven. I would probably categorize ours as more dried than actually roasted. You don't have to boil them long with each water change, basically about a minute. Then change water and boil again about a minute, then change water. I would do a pot then drain them then stick in the oven on a cookie sheet and already have the second batch working on a boil. Assembly line style like this I spent an afternoon processing about 50 lbs. of acorns. I had my hubby shell them though so that cut down my time. Hope that helps. Blessings, Kat

am1too · #23 10/25/12, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willow_girl

I feed them to my goat!

It's amusing to watch a goat eating an acorn.

Perhaps I am easily amused.

My dogs sure like them. have to pull them away all the time. Last couple weeks it was sand plumbs. Their dung looked more like cow piles.

am1too · #24 10/25/12, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meanwhile

Thank you. I see now that we need to figure out which acorns are from the red oak and which ones are from white oaks. Good links. Thank you.

willow girl: no goats here but sometimes I wonder.....lots of boys around here.

Red oak will be the bigger acorns.

am1too · #25 10/25/12, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwal10

We have white oaks. If we are using them right away, wet, we remove the shell, cold rinse them and grind. We dry in a solar dryer, crack and store in freezer bags in the freezer. Then if using whole or chopped, add them to boiling water, let set 5 minutes, drain, put in another pan of boiling water with salt added for several minutes, drain and then dry, roast and/or chop, depending on use. Do not rinse or let them cool off between the 2 boilings as it locks in the tannins. For dry meal (flour) we don't add salt. You can dry and store them in the shell for 3-4 months but the flavor and moisture goes away pretty quickly. In the freezer they are good up to 9 months or so. I like to get them out of the shell as soon as possible, sort them, throw away the bad ones. I don't like having buggy food around but always dry the acorns in their shell because it keeps the moisture and flavor in the nut. Cracking and then drying will dry out the nut meat....James

Dump em in water. The bad ones float and the good ones sink.