Harvesting acorns!!

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So I am working on a job site that has a few acorn tress. The nuts are starting to fall off the tree this week so I am collecting the acorns to make acorn flour.

The only thing I know about the tree is it is a white oak tree so there are less tannins to leach out of the nuts...it’s a labour intensive job but I’m hoping it will be worth it!!

Anyone ever try this? And success?
 
Never made acorn flour. But I know from experience acorns are some of the most bitter nuts that exist.
I’m just wondering why?
Why would you want to spend the time and effort?
Is it just for the experience or something else?
 
Never made acorn flour. But I know from experience acorns are some of the most bitter nuts that exist.
I’m just wondering why?
Why would you want to spend the time and effort?
Is it just for the experience or something else?
Mainly for the experience and I enjoy using things local...there’s an acorn soup recipe I’d like to try as well!!! This year I have harvested beaked hazelnuts (they were a flop as I harvested too early) and I also harvested Saskatoon berries which I turned into tarts. Also it’s quite satisfying to say you made something from something almost considered unuseable, or too much effort.

From my understanding once the tannins are leached out of the nut they resemble hazelnuts and gain their nutty and sweet taste.
 
I read a book when I was young called my side of the mountain. If you havent read it then you should good book. Anyway in the book he harvests acorns and makes flour, and from the flour pancakes. BIG-G BIG-G is correct they are bitter....i probably didnt do it right, deffinately didnt leach tannins I didnt know about tannins at that age lol. I shouldnt have been out in the woods building fires and cooking stuff either but hey I survived.
 
Grinding acorns was a big deal for the local native population 200 years ago. I never considered acorns as food, until I saw this in the museum.
 
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I read a book when I was young called my side of the mountain. If you havent read it then you should good book. Anyway in the book he harvests acorns and makes flour, and from the flour pancakes. BIG-G BIG-G is correct they are bitter....i probably didnt do it right, deffinately didnt leach tannins I didnt know about tannins at that age lol. I shouldnt have been out in the woods building fires and cooking stuff either but hey I survived.
I will totally have a look for it next time I’m at the book store!!! Thanks for the suggestion.

What age were you when you did this? Sounds like a great experience.

Apparently the tannins can cause constipation and our kidneys doesn’t filter them out properly which can be harmful in the long term.

Pancakes is def on my list!
 
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Grinding acorns was a big deal for the local native population 200 years ago. I never considered acorns as food, until I saw this in the museum.
Yea it’s really neat to learn about history and put it to practice. I never would have know it was a starch substitute and was used in the way corn meal was used in other countries
 
Id say around 10 years old. I also caught and ate crawfish out of the creek near by. Just 1. But I'm surprised I have survived as long as I have. Lol.
 
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I've done it with white oak acorns years ago. I had also harvested local blackberries and raspberries and was planning on doing a local tart. It's hard to get the fine flour like consistency but in the end it's worth it. I believe I also made cookies in the same vein as peanut butter cookies but those were not received as well cause of the bitterness left over. What's nice is we have nutmeg trees all over where I live so I can harvest local nutmeg as well.
 
In the 70's I used to live in the country with a rototiller and a huge plot to grow veggies. There was also nuts and citrus and 100 acres of grapes around that house. I spent my spare time cultivating the soil.

But here in the SJV and surrounds they grow almost anything edible, so nowadays I don't bother to raise anything but fish.
 
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