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Eating acorns

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stixnstones

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Has anyone here made 'acorn flour' from local acorns? I made a small batch recently to see if I could use the process described in most books & websites. It worked for me.

It's not hard: gather and sort the good acorns from those with bugs or the rotten ones. Then shell the nuts, leech out the 'tannins,' roast them to dry and grind into meal. It took over a week to leech the tannic acid from the nuts. The tannins cause the bitter taste in raw nut meats and can be harmful to you if not removed.

Tannic acid is also found in tree bark and can be used to tan leather. But tannins are water soluble, so soaking the acorns in running water removes the tannins. Boiling the acorns in frequent water changes is faster. When boiling, it is important that the replacement water already boiling.

Acorns were considered a staple in many native american cultures and are available today in some asian food stores. They're high and vitamin A & C and in fat, which is important. As a survival food, they store well and are easily gathered in the fall. And they're an overlooked resource. Some species like white oaks have lower amounts of tannic acid, so are easier to process.

The acorns I processed tasted good with a light nut taste.
 
I haven't done that. But there is fat in acorns and if you where to cut them up, boil them, you could drink the water for nutrients. Great for us in NE because these things are everywhere.
 
You'd be drinking the tannic acid, too. I'm no MD but in general, I'd think you would want to avoid consuming the tannins in quantity.
 
stixnstones said:
You'd be drinking the tannic acid, too. I'm no MD but in general, I'd think you would want to avoid consuming the tannins in quantity.
Click to expand...

Yea, I was thinking the same thing. A google search got me this:

Harmful Side Effects
Heart burn, indigestion, and acid reflux is caused by TANNIC ACID
Ulcers are caused by TANNIC ACID.
TANNIC ACID is large doses can cause cancer in animals.
TANNIC ACID interferes with human nutrition.
TANNIC ACID can cause growth and intestinal damage, stain teeth, and it interacts with a wide range of medications, reducing their effectiness.
TANNIC ACID is harmful to body tissues.
TANNIC ACID is known to combine with proteins and make them less available to the body and they inhibit the absorbtion of calcium and the B vitamins.
 
It's also in wine.

Marcus5aurelius said:
Yea, I was thinking the same thing. A google search got me this:

Harmful Side Effects
Heart burn, indigestion, and acid reflux is caused by TANNIC ACID
Ulcers are caused by TANNIC ACID.
TANNIC ACID is large doses can cause cancer in animals.
TANNIC ACID interferes with human nutrition.
TANNIC ACID can cause growth and intestinal damage, stain teeth, and it interacts with a wide range of medications, reducing their effectiness.
TANNIC ACID is harmful to body tissues.
TANNIC ACID is known to combine with proteins and make them less available to the body and they inhibit the absorbtion of calcium and the B vitamins.
Click to expand...
 
Mike-Mike said:
I haven't done that. But there is fat in acorns and if you where to cut them up, boil them, you could drink the water for nutrients. Great for us in NE because these things are everywhere.
Click to expand...

Gotta disagree with ya on this one.
Everything I have ever read has said that is incorrect. I always head you toss the water because it is the bitterness and tannins you are boiling out. In Boy Scouts we smashed them up, boiled them to remove the bitterness, then ate them. Some other sites say you can use cold water.. I never tried that one.

The following sites seem to concur:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/clay79.html
http://www.relocalize.net/node/5288
 
Mike-Mike said:
It's also in wine.
Click to expand...

I'de be curious to see how concentrated it is in each, I remember trying to boil it out once when I was camping and it still tasted extremely bitter. Granted I didn't leech it for weeks, but it must have a higher concentration than wine. For wilderness survival purposes though, it may be helpful to know. I still haven't found any negative side effects of wine yet, but I'll keep researching [wink]
 
You need to boil them in several changes of water to remove the tannin. I tried them once, years ago, after boiling them through several changes of water-they were palatable, but I never made flour out of them. Perhaps something to try his spring!
 
Ummmm, Mike-Mike...me and the Mrs. have to cancel dinner plans with you for this weekend. Ahhh, we were really looking forward to what you were going to cook, but....umm....something suddenly came up.
 
salesman said:
Ummmm, Mike-Mike...me and the Mrs. have to cancel dinner plans with you for this weekend. Ahhh, we were really looking forward to what you were going to cook, but....umm....something suddenly came up.
Click to expand...

OK thats fine. we can do it another time, Maybe when crab apples are in season?
 
White acorns have less tannin than red. I have made it in the past and it is good. This would be a good way to stretch your wheat and flour stores and also be a food that not a lot of folks would recognize.
 
coastie said:
White acorns have less tannin than red. I have made it in the past and it is good. This would be a good way to stretch your wheat and flour stores and also be a food that not a lot of folks would recognize.
Click to expand...

I've heard that the acorns of the white oak are preferred. I got a lot of red oak around here, so I've never tried.
 
White acorns are preferred by Deer and other creatures too and are the first to be consumed.
They do cycle too, usually every third year, there is no or a reduced crop, followed by a couple years of Acorn crazy..
 
I've eaten them, both white oak and red oak. The whites were definitely better. Boiled in four changes of water and dipped in maple syrup.
 
Acorns

I have two giant Oaks in my yard. Every year I toss out literally 1000's of them thinking to myself what a waste of energy.
I was thinking I could maby at least use them for kindling or heat in a wood or pellet stove.
Do they throw off good heat? Or are they bad for a chimney? Or is this just a stupid idea.
 
Thanks for the links Gadsden. Some of my scouts tried this last fall on a campout, but in hind sight they harvested bitter ones and just didn't leach long enough. Pretty nasty. Will try it again following some better methods.
 
Acorns also store very well.
Remove the cap, make sure they are clean and dry and store in a cool place.
Ask any squirrel.

No large oaks here . All we have is scrub oak that produces small acorns and Ive never noticed the deer eating them or seen them in their stomach contents.
May have to give them a try next fall .
 
Good to know. My house is surrounded by gigantic Red and White oak. I have found some acorns that were the size of golf balls, probably came from the trees with leaves the size of a sheet of paper.
 
50/50 with corn meal, shaped into lumps and fried in oil. The acorns didn't have much taste, so after adding salt they tasted like corn chips.

I still have a small amount left. Perhaps a simple stew is in order.
 
Back to the top. This is good info and acorns are one of the few wild foods that are very plentiful and high in calories. If TSHTF acorns could keep a lot of people alive.
 

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