The leaching process involves soaking the acorn meal in several changes of water. While acorns can be soaked in a creek or stream to remove tannins in the wild, I typically use large Ball jars for all my cold-water leaching at home. Every fall, I watch as they bury bitter Red Oak acorns in the ground to uncover weeks or even months later after the rain, snow and ground water has (at least I assume) leached them to a more palatable level. In fact, the squirrels in my yard prefer cold leaching as well. I prefer the passive and traditional method of cold-water leaching. While the tannins can be leached through boiling, I’ve never been a fan if it. Ground acorn meal, ready to be leached of its tannins! COLD-WATER LEACHING Using my hand grinder to process whole acorns. Not only does it feel “old-fashioned,” but it will come in handy if the grid were to ever go down and my electric appliances become useless. I use a manual, hand-crank grinder for this. GRINDINGĪfter your dried acorns have been shelled, it’s time to grind them into meal or flour. Acorns ready to be cracked and shelled.Īcorn in position on board modified specifically for acorn shelling. I even have a cutting board I’ve modified to make the process easier. But the payoff–being self-sufficient by creating delicious food from nature for FREE–is absolutely worth it! I go primitive with my shelling process, using a rock to crack the shells and extract the acorn nut meat. No matter what, shelling washed and dried acorns is a labor intensive process. Labeled tray of washed acorns drying in the sun. I also use a labeling system to help me manage them throughout the drying process. I tend to dry my acorns for a full month before storing them. Most indigenous cultures dried their acorns in the shell and stored them for later use. If they mold, you shouldn’t consume them. The drying process has to be done correctly, as acorns are highly susceptible to mold. At this time, the acorns can be prepared immediately or dried and stored for future use. There are a few telltale signs that make this separation process easy, one of which is consistent coloring throughout the body of the acorn.Īfter harvest, acorns should be washed thoroughly. Even so, great care still has to be taken to separate good acorns from bad acorns. HARVESTING ACORNSĪcorns ripen in late summer/early fall and drop to the ground to germinate. This typically happens in two phases, what I call the “light drop” and the “heavy drop.” Acorns gathered during the “heavy drop” phase tend to be best for consumption and storage. In the past, it sustained entire cultures because of its availability and long shelf-life (if properly dehydrated and stored). The acorn was and is a versatile survival food. Consumed in great quantities by indigenous cultures throughout North America, the acorn was eaten as a boiled gruel, a thickening agent for soups and stews, and was ground up to be utilized as flour for breads and other baked goods. Just as there are many varieties of Oak Trees, there are numerous types of acorns–all unique and varying in shape, size, and taste. Simply put, an acorn is the seed of the Oak Tree. This idea blew my mind! Acorns–harvested and set on a drying tray. Though acorns contain tannins–an acidic organic substance (they are a class of astringent) that can make one sick to their stomach if too much is consumed–through a specific process of harvesting, preparing, grinding and leeching out tannins, acorns become a nutrient-dense survival food! In fact, during a discussion about eating acorns with an Ethnobotanist/Anthropologist friend of mine, he indicated that some research and evidence suggests that more acorns have been consumed throughout human history than wheat, rice, and corn combined. This is one of the greatest falsehoods that exists in the world of wild edibles. I heard this a lot when I was growing up. You may have heard the myth that acorns are poisonous and should be avoided. How to Identify, Process, Prepare, and EAT Acorns! A familiar sight–acorns scattered in the moss at the foot of an Oak Tree.
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