So, you know those oak trees are bursting with nutritious acorns. You want to gather them but you don't know what to do with them or how to make them edible. You can always throw them in a basket and tie them in a stream like the native Amercans did. Or you might be like me and want a simpler less overwhelming method.
I have more acorns then I could ever process all at once. If you gather them when they fall and don't do something with them then they will spoil before you get them done. Since I'm usually juggling many projects and life all at one time, I had to figure out the best way to handle all that free bounty in between everything else. I don't have hours and days just to process acorns. The way I do it is my own method. If you do a search you will find all kinds of directions for processing acorns. I think you will find that if you have alot of acorns you will like my process.
I take a bucket and a pecan picker in the woods and pick up acorns. You can always sit down and gather them or spread a tarp to catch them if you like. Gather brown and green ones because the green ones will ripen in a few days. When I get enough for the day I sit down at a table and remove the caps. As I sort through them I remove any acorns with cracks or worm holes for feeding to the pigs. The good acorns are spread on trays or cardboard box lids in a single layer. I sit the trays in the sun every day and bring them in every evening. Each day I shake the nuts around on the trays and look for any that may be moldy looking or that look like they have insect damage. I also gather more and start new trays of nuts as I gather them being sure to mark the day I gathered them on each tray. After a week of curing in the sun they are ready to begin processing.
If you are not ready to process them right away then you can throw them in ziplock bags and put them in the freezer until you have time. Then you can remove them and do them in batches which isn't as overwhelming. Easy, right?
If you are ready to process a batch of acorns you don't have to freeze them. Or if they're already in the freezer just take a bag out and begin cracking the shells with a nut cracker and peeling the shell off. A knife helps with this step. Be sure to inspect the nuts for any worm holes you may have missed. When all your acorns are shelled you will need to leach them. They have tannin in them and it needs to be removed. I gather white oak acorns which have less tannin. If you taste a nut from your trees and it is bitter and leaves your mouth feeling dry and cottony its very high in tannin. You will need to grind your high tannin nuts more to get it all out. The sweeter acorns can be done in bigger pieces which is easier and less messy.
Place your acorns in a food processor, meat grinder or coffee grinder to chop them up. For lower tannin nuts they can be chopped less. High tannin nuts need to be ground to about the consistency of grits. I chop the nuts and place them in a clean pillow case and tie them closed. . Then I fill a bucket with water and submerge the nuts. Some people boil the acorn meal but I find that its hard to work with because it turns into a gelatinous mush with boiling water. Let the acorns soak for a day and then pour off the water which will be brown. You can save the acorn tea for medicinal uses. Rinse the bag of nuts under running water then submerge them in a fresh bucket of water. Do this every day until the water no longer turns brown. This part of the processing only takes about ten minutes a day. Open the bag and taste a piece of acorn. It should be sweet to the taste and the tannin should be gone.
The finished nuts will mold if they are not dried. Spread them on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven on the lowest setting for about an hour to dry them out. Stir them every 15 minutes or so and inspect them. When they are dry then you can remove them. They are now ready to use or to store them. Let them cool down and make sure they are completely dry. You can now put them in jars and vacuum seal them for storage. You can do your acorns in batches like this only removing as many as you can get done at one time.
The ways they can be eaten are only limited by your imagination. You can use them in things like cakes, cookies and brownies just like other nuts. Peanut butter acorn cookies are very good. Oatmeal acorn raisin cookies are good too. Add them to pancakes or waffles. Add them to any bread recipe by just throwing some in. You can also add them to soups and casseroles. They can even be added to meat loaves or patties.
If you want to use them as a flour or a meal in breads, muffins, cakes then you will reduce the amount of flour you use and add the ground acorn flour. You may want to reduce the oil too because the nuts have their own oil which will effect the recipe. You will need to experiment.
Here are two very basic recipes for using acorn flour:
Acorn cakes
1 cup finely ground acorn flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup honey
1/8 tsp salt
Warm water
Mix all ingredients with just enough warm water to moisten. Mixture should not be sticky. If you find you added a bit too much water then add a tablespoon of corn meal. Form a dozen balls of dough. Place on a cookie sheet, cover with a cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Pat the balls into thick round cakes with your hands. Bake them on a hot ungreased cast iron griddle or skillet until browned on each side flipping once.
Pemmican- Native American
1/2 cup acorn meal
1 lb meat cut into strips
Boil the meat until tender. Drain and grind with acorn meal. Mix well and regrind like you are making a sausage. Cook adding seasoning if you like. Serve wrapped in a tortilla with fresh vegetables like tomatoes, onions and greens.
Acorns have been eaten for thousands of years. It has only been recently in modern times that they have fallen out of favor. They do require more work then most nuts but they are packed full of nutrition and plentiful. Gather them this fall and give them a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Southern Wood Elf