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Thread: acorn flour?

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    Junior Member pugslee's Avatar
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    Default acorn flour?

    has anyone tried to make acorn flour? i tried it last year and it was not very tasty, actually it was nasty and had a after taste that was horrible. any suggestions would be appreciated.


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    I haven't done it myself, but I've read that the key is to soak the acorns repeated for several days to get some of the tannins out. Have you tried that?

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Describe the process you used. Ditto what PreppingToSurvive said - if you don't soak them to remove the tannins, they will remain bitter.
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    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    The species of oak makes a difference in the amount of tannins. How long they have been laying on the ground also can make a difference. The acorns are best when recently fallen. Boiling ground, shelled, acorns for several hours and changing the water until it stops turning brown will remove the tannins. The link below has a short description of the process.

    http://www.uark.edu/ua/arwia/arwomen...%20handout.pdf
    Karl

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    The red acorn also contains a lot more fat than white acorns. That's why squirrels eat mostly the white ones in the fall and bury the red ones. They need the fat during winter.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gryffynklm View Post
    The species of oak makes a difference in the amount of tannins. How long they have been laying on the ground also can make a difference. The acorns are best when recently fallen. Boiling ground, shelled, acorns for several hours and changing the water until it stops turning brown will remove the tannins. The link below has a short description of the process.

    http://www.uark.edu/ua/arwia/arwomen...%20handout.pdf
    Another method for removing tannins (have not tried it) that was explained when I took Green Dean's (Eat The Weeds Guy) class, was to put them in a mesh bag and place it in the toilet tank (not bowl). Every time you flush, you get a change of water. Kind of mirrors putting them in a running stream.
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    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    Not a bad idea, I would still clean the tank real good. Residue from the bowl cleaner and water deposits.
    Karl

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Yeah, probably a good idea to remove the bowl cleaning disc before you do that.
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    Senior Member SARKY's Avatar
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    I personally don't like the boiling method, prefering the cold soak and many changes of water.
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    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    Sarky, Have you tried both?? Did you notice a difference in taste? I have only tried the boil method, it was OK. I'll have to try the cold soak next fall.
    Karl

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    Junior Member pugslee's Avatar
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    Default My acorn flour recipe

    I used white oak acorns. I gathered several hundred in a short amount of time by using a wheel barrel to catch them, and a rope to throw over limbs and shake them down, i inspected each and every one, and cracked them to see if it was "buggie" when all was done i had, just short of a 5 gallon bucket full. We poured them into a burlap sack, put a big rock in the sack with them, then sunk it in Current River. They soaked for about 5 days, then i retrieved the sack, and layed them on a tarp in the hot sun to dry, after being dried we ground them with rocks into the finest powder possible. We tried just using water to make the dough, then we tried eggs, and milk. All the cooking was done in a dutch oven as the Ozark National Scenic River ways, will not let you dig, i wanted to build a clay oven. If worse came to worse i could eat what we made but it would have to be almost a last resort.

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    Was the flour still bitter? If so does anyone have other ideas on how to fix that? Mine, although soaked 40 miles away was still pretty bitter when I finished with it. Almost inedible.

    I also read a stream soak was the way to prepare, just doesnt seem to work very well.

  13. #13

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    Was the burlap sack a very open weave and were the acorns packed in there or very loose.
    The stream water has to be able to move freely through the bag.
    Maybe try a more open weave recepticle. A basket maybe. Or a mesh laundry bag.
    I have yet to make an edible acorn flour though....The red oak acorns around here are high in tannin and the squirrels don't let the white ones hit the ground from the few white oaks we have around here. Even the squirrels don't eat the red oak acorns, judging from the sprouts in my lawn.
    Rick, I don't think they bury the red ones cuz of the fat content. They probably bury them hoping they'll leach some before they HAVE to eat them. LOL.

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    Wanderer EdD270's Avatar
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    An idea is to try soaking them in water with wood ashes. The lye in the ashes will leach out the tannins better. It still takes a lot of soaking, and it will never be like wheat flour.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    You may be right. They might have a more delicate palate than I give them credit for. The white acorns sprout sooner than red acorns. Another reason squirrels grab them up quick. If they don't the white acorn will sprout. If they are eating the red ones they are probably just eating a wormy nut and eating only the worm. They will still leave the red acorn to be buried.
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    Wondering...besides acorns, what else could be used and ground down to make flour in the wilderness? Since it seems like acorn flour is still going to be nasty-tasting no matter what is done, could nuts be used? Or is there too much oil in them?

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    Senior Member gryffynklm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MJkatzTheWriter View Post
    Wondering...besides acorns, what else could be used and ground down to make flour in the wilderness? Since it seems like acorn flour is still going to be nasty-tasting no matter what is done, could nuts be used? Or is there too much oil in them?
    Big assumptions there MJ. If you read the entire thread you will see that the tannins in the acorn is what makes them unpalatable. There are methods of leaching the tannins from the acorns, this makes them palatable. There are many recipes and even suppliers of acorn flour. Deb's Pantry a place I have shopped on accession is one supplier that comes to mind. She also has Chestnut, Rice and Mustard.
    Deb's Pantry
    http://www.deborahspantry.com/flours.htm

    Other nuts can be used to make meal, think corn meal. Nut flour is the what remains of ground nut meal after the oil has been pressed out. The resulting dry cake of nut meal is then ground to a fine flour consistency. Nut flours should be used quickly as they will spoil. Freezing helps slow down the spoilage.

    If you are preparing nuts for baking you would end up with a meal, Walnut, hazelnut, almond, pecan and other nut can be used.

    The roots of some plants can be made into flour. I have no experience making flour but have read about arrowroot, burdock root , Taro root, and Cat tail ROOT (not the brown part) being made into a flour.
    Karl

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    Grubbin fer food Durtyoleman's Avatar
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    Another tip is to mix acorn flour 50/50 with white/wheat flour or corn meal for cooking. Then you still have a nutty flavor but not too strong. The same works for cattail flour.
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  19. #19

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    I have "read" that you can make a flour like substance from dried maple seeds, and if i get a chance before they all dry out and spin away I'm going to try it. Green maple seeds are quite tasty, as they age on the tree they become more astringent, but still nowhere near astringent as the finest white oak acorn, finest white acorn that I've found in my neck of the woods that is.

    Here's a little taste test I did on the green maple seeds of Box elder. http://youtu.be/K4xk1TB_YJ8 I've since tried Red and Sugar maple seeds, they're all great. One of the better tasting and more energy filled foods out there.

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    Senior Member r0ckhamm3r's Avatar
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    I have never made flower out of maple seeds, but I do like them boiled with a little butter and salt. They taste kind of like peas to me.

    Cattail rhizomes (roots) can be used to make flower, but they are not easy to harvest or prepare and the finished product has a marshy flavor to it.

    I have tried to make acorn flower twice and the results were pretty much inedible, so I gave up.
    Last edited by r0ckhamm3r; 06-03-2011 at 01:37 PM.

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