I decided it's high time to make use of the abundant acorns here. Researching on the web basically gives two options, both of which appear to be traditional methods. Cold water tannin leaching, and hot water leaching. The purpose, as noted, is to remove the tannic acid. I went with boiling as it seems to be a faster method, and I don't have a stream to let the acorns wash out in.
My question is, will boiling also leach out the nutritional value of the acorn? Would cold water do the same, or is it a better, if not longer method?
For anyone interested, the taste of acorns is very similar to artichokes, while the texture, if left whole or coarsely chopped, is just like a nut.
Good Lord! I thought acorns were only ever processed during famines or WW2! I can remember my mother talking about a foul-tasting coffee substitute made during the war made from coarse-ground acorns and roasted dandelion root; real coffee was impossible to get in the UK. As far as I can remember from what she said, acorns were processed through as many boilings as needed to leach out tannins and they could then be ground into flour or roasted like peanuts and eaten as is.
No idea if boiling destroys nutrients, though.
Pigs love acorns ;)
Acorns were a staple for thousands of years for much of mankind, not just Native Americans. I believe it was pastoral living that put an end to it. They are still commonly eaten in Korea from what I understand. I'm rather surprised that they have fallen out of favor since they are abundant, and only take water to process the tannin out. I think with a little lemon aioli they'd be exactly like eating artichoke hearts. Oh well, if you won't eat them, I will!
I know you get a great brown natural dye out of acorns. It will stain wool (which I use for fly tying) nicely, and the tannins act to make it "colour fast".
I have a few questions about preparing them for eating though.
How much water do you use and how many acorns do you process at a time - or probably how much by weight/volume? How long do you boil them? And how many times do you refresh the water? Also, do you boil them in the shell or shell them first?
- Jeff
Acorns are THE best nuts for making traditional pesto.
How labor intenssive is harvesting them? We have lots of pins around.
I dont really taste artichoke in them, they taste like nuts to me.
I like toasting them to golden brown to get some crunch to them and more inense roasted flavours.
They are terrific like that on salads (with some blue cheese or blue cheese dressing) and did I mention pesto already? :)
Tomer, I believe you are talking about pine nuts...acorns are the nut produced by oak trees.
Ohhhh your right,
Who the hell eats Acords then and how?
I shelled them first. I cut them in half l length wise then worked them out of the shell. I just boiled them 5 times. Basically, just do it till the bitterness of the tannin is gone. I didn't measure water to acorns, just made sure they were covered. I also dried them in the oven for a little while. Don't worry, Tomer, pine nuts don't taste like artichokes to me either. ;)
Thanks.
So boil 5x or so, till tannins leached. Sort of cook until done. :) Oh yah, do you only pick the ones still on the tree or only the ones on the ground - or gather both?
- Jeff
Wow, Jeff, you must be REALLY tall! My oaks' branches don't start until at least 15 feet in the air...
Oh, ladder you say? I'm allergic, thank you very much!
Hi Karen,
LOL! Only average height, but most of the oaks I've been around have some branches that hang low. On my way home from work we walk past a few where the branches are easy reaching. Also, a long stick can be used to knock down a few more. But yes, I suppose upon further reflection, most of the nuts would be a bit out of reach if you didn't include the ones that had fallen.
- Jeff
I just gather the fallen. From what I read, the slightly green ones are what to go for, but I like to gather information, then try the things I'm told not to do. I gathered dark and green, and as long as there wasn't any decay, I used them. I have some cold water leaching some now, which I started on Friday, but they are still quite bitter. I'll keep going with them though for as long as it takes (or fails). Since I have an active family life, I don't get to change the water as often as suggested, which is once an hour, which likely is holding back the process. The first ones that I dried I ground into flour and have been using in pancakes and porridge. The flour is almost as dark as rye bread. The cold water ones are holding their cream color better so far. I'll try to post pics once I have the comparison.
If you make soap use the acorn caps. If you toast them and chop them in a food processor they are the best exfollient ingredient I ever found, much better than walnut shells.
Thanks for the suggestion, Francois. I do make soap! I haven't run out of the last batch yet, which was from a year ago! I guess it's high time to get cracking!
Well, the cold water leaching isn't working very well. I can taste that some has been removed, but they are still super bitter. I'll boil these and call it a lesson learned. Boiling is the way to go.
In my world Acorns have served two purposes.
Ages 6-16: Ammo for my slingshot
Ages 16-now: Deer Bait
:)
@ Wayne, Nice!