As someone who play along a gluten - free diet for wellness reason , I ’m always excited to rule new options to add to my diet . Imagine my delight when I discovered a mates of huge oak trees on my property ! My effervescent mirthfulness came from the fact that oaks create acorns , which are delicious . you’re able to even metamorphose these gems into acorn flour !
the great unwashed have been bring in acorn flour for century , and while it takes some study , the results are deserving it . Acorn flour is nutritious , tasty , and does n’t cost a thing if you have access to oak tree trees ! Want to instruct more ?
What is Acorn Flour? That’s a Thing?
YES . Yes , it is . In fact , acorn flour has been a staple among Indigenous peoples for thousands of years . It ’s only fallen out of popularity in the preceding match of C or so as wheat , rye , and other common grain have train over the market . After all , acorn flour takes a lot of prison term and energy to create , and most the great unwashed do n’t have the time to dedicate to make it .
It ’s a muckle easy to beat out out a few dollars at the grocery fund for all - purpose flour than to go through this scrupulous process , right ?
Fortunately for us Luddite homesteader type , lay down differentflours from risky plantsisn’t just fun , it ’s immensely comforting . In fact , when you discover how nutritive they can be , you ’ll get even more excited about incorporating them into your diet .
Acorn flour is pretty much exactly what it sounds like : primer coat - up dry out acorns . Preparing this flour so that it ’s actually comestible take a fairish fleck of effort , though . This is because you ca n’t just labor them and eat them — you demand to strip the tannic acid out before they ’re edible .
We ’re catch ahead of ourselves , though . lease ’s first ghost upon what types of acorns to gather before we go charge into leachville .
Which Acorns to Use
All acorns are comestible , but they take an effort to make them toothsome – some more than others .
Some are significantly scented while others are clearly bitter , but all require percolate to get their bitter tannins out . These tannins are view “ antinutrients ” , in that they prevent the body from being able to absorb nutrient from other foods . They may also stimulate liver or kidney damage in large quantities .
I have eastern white oak ( Quercus alba ) on my property , and they ’re rank treasure . In contrast , the interior unrecorded oak ( Q. wislizeni ) acorns I worked with in California command more cubitus dirt , but were still worth it . Red oak ( Q. agrifolia ) acorns have a high amount of tannic acid , so avoid those unless you ’re disposed to do a luck of leach .
It ’s well-to-do to harvest fallen acorns . face for ones that are brown and shiny , either with or without pileus . You ’ll take out these caps later anyway , as they ’re inedible .
Green acorns are immature and have high tannin horizontal surface , so do n’t gravel with them . As you ’re foraging , discard any acorns that have picayune yap in them . This is because those holes have been make by worm , and you probably do n’t want to tot those into your flour mixture .
Larger acorn give you more bang for your vaulting horse , so take the biggest ones you could find . Once you ’ve accumulated a honest number , you ’re ready to start prepping them .
How to Prepare Your Acorns
As mentioned , preparing acorns for flour takes a few steps .
Step 1: Rinse and Float Them
Rinse off the acorn thoroughly to eliminate any detritus , dead insect , etc . Then transfer them into a prominent pot and report them completely with water . There should be about 4 column inch of pee above them .
Some of the acorns will float , while the rest will settle to the bottom . Remove the floaters and toss them into the Natalie Wood for squirrels and other herbivores to enjoy . These are old and will either be flavorless or unpleasant to exhaust .
Step 2: Dry Them Out
One of the easiest way to dry out acorns for shelling is to put them in a dehydrator . Set them to the lowest setting you ’ve fuck off and let them dry for a full 24 hours . or else , you could put them in the lowest scope in your oven for 12 - 16 hour .
Let these cool down completely before you move onto the next stride .
Step 3: Crack Your Nuts
utilise a nutcracker or a pair of stalwart pliers to crack the acorn shells . These should be fairly well-heeled if the acorns have dry out sufficiently . Just put on some music or Netflix and go nuts .
Do n’t ever strain to crack immature acorn . They ’re miserly and slippery and you ’ll maim yourself even trying .
Step 4: Dig the Meat Out
This is the tricky part .
There ’s a layer of peel ( have a go at it as the testa ) wrapped around the acorn ’s inside pulp . It ’s in this layer that most of those vexatious tannin care to hang out , and it can be difficult to remove .
For example , white oak acorns tend to be fair smooth at bottom , and the episperm can be itch off easily . In dividing line , red oak acorn form can be wrinkled like chestnut meat . As you could imagine , it ’s more difficult to remove .
If you ca n’t eliminate all of this tegument from the acorns ’ flesh , do n’t occupy about it . You ’ll simply need to percolate them a few more times to get all the bitter tannic acid out . The acorn flour you ’ll make will be a scrap darker as well , but it ’ll just be like using whole wheat berry flour instead of bleached white .
I ’ve retrieve that wearing cotton baseball mitt while doing this helps to remove the seed coat more expeditiously . Keep a paring knife and a belittled second power of sandpaper at bridge player for some of the more difficult I .
Additionally , I ’ve found that putting these acorn essence into the freezer for about 20 minutes assist with testa removal . It begin a bit brittle and off-the-wall , thus reach your life a bit easy .
Now it ’s leaching meter .
5. Leach Those Tannins!
There are two different room to percolate the tannins out of your acorn : red-hot and cold leaching . As you could opine , this necessitate using hot and cold weewee , severally .
According to a notable forager refer Meredith O’Donnell , the percolate method to use will depend on which acorn you ’ve collected . Red and black oak tree acorns are high in oil , while white oak acorns are n’t . As a outcome , she recommends cold leaching the former and blistering leach the latter .
Cold leaching can be done either in running water or through multiple water change over the course of a few days . This method preserves the acorn ’ starches , which is idealistic for make various baked good . In contrast , hot leaching will cook those amylum in situ . This means that anything you bake with this flour will dilapidate to pieces .
Fortunately , you may use this meal for hominy grits , soups , stews , and porridge .
red-hot leachingis easy , but time - consuming . add together the acorns to a heavy pot and cover with a few inches of water . I care to use a bombastic two - part pasta pot that has an inner , obliterable colander .
Bring the water to a boiling point , and countenance this curl for 5–8 minutes . You ’ll detect the water supply turn a rather alarming shade of dark John Brown . Strain the acorns through a colander and give them a good rinse , then put them back into the pot , fill them back up with water , and retell the process .
You ’ll likely have to do this several times before the water run clear .
Whilecold leachingis also meter - consuming , there are a few ways to make it easier . If you have a river or other be active consistence of uninfected water on your property , you ’re in luck ! Just pop the acorn into a mesh bag ( like one of those recyclable garden truck bags ) . wed it shut out , secure it to a slice of forget me drug , and cast out it into the river .
The moving water will rinse the tannins out of the acorns after a couplet of days . I urge taste one of them after 48 hour . If it still taste quite vitriolic to you , toss away the bag in for another couple of days .
Just check that that you ’ve link and secured the bag well . It ’s horrifying to put so much effort into a labor only to see mournfully from the shore as your acorns drift unapologetically downstream .
I ’ve also get a line of hoi polloi putting these mesh bags in to their toilet armoured combat vehicle so the acorns get rinsed every time the tank refills . While I ’ve never tried this method acting myself , it sounds good in theory !
Another easy way to cold - leaching acorn is to grind them into a repast . Toss about a cupful ’s worth of blast acorn meats into a liquidiser , then cover with at least 4 inches of water . dig that until it makes a sludgy repast , and let it ride in the electric refrigerator for 24 minute . Then run out all the water out through cheesecloth , scrape the repast back into the jar , sum water , and replicate this process .
The water system should get short and lighter every clip you deepen it out . Keep recur this process until the meal does n’t savor bitter when you taste it .
6. Dry Everything Out
Once all that is separate , you ’ll need to dry all of this out .
If you ’ve leached large acorn pieces , pass around them out onto dehydrator trays and dry them at 135 ° F for at least 10 hour . Check them after this fourth dimension to see if they feel dry enough for you . You ’ll know they ’re quick when they feel quite brittle , and you may flick them in half with piffling cause .
or else , you may dry them in an oven on low estrus for as long as needed . Just ensure to keep the temperature below 150 ° atomic number 9 or you ’ll cook all the good starch out of them .
If you ’ve made and leached acorn meal , enshroud some baking trays in lambskin paper and swill it onto that before localise it in the oven or dehydrator . diffuse it out thinly so it dries evenly , and you ’ll know it ’s done when it crumbles easy between your fingertips .
7. Grinder Time!
If you ’re going to practice your acorn flour for grits or porridge , you may just apply the meal as is . For baking , however , you ’re decease to need a fine flour to work with .
A cereal grinder likely work out best for this , but since I do n’t have one , I grind everything I want in pocket-size batches with a coffee grinder . Pulse the acorn bits a few times to break them into smaller while , then pulverize them into pulverisation . you’re able to refine dried repast into a finer grind with this method too .
How to Cook or Bake with Your Acorn Flour
Generally , acorn flour is combined with other flours to beseem the recipe on hand . For sunbaked goods , you could use up to 50 % acorn flour mixed with whatever others you like . I ’ve find oneself that it mix well with quinoa , Timothy Miles Bindon Rice , and sorghum flour with a bit of tapioca starch and xanthan gum for gluten - free baking . If you’re able to eat gluten , then try it with wheat , spell , or einkorn .
Just practice the flour as you would any other teetotal factor . The one thing I ’d advocate is to try on some establish recipes before getting data-based on your own . Here are a few for you to prove out :
Storage
I store whole or halve dried acorns in fictile bags in the Deepfreeze , but there are other method acting for long - full term repositing . For example , if you vacuum sealing wax either acorn kernel or meal , those bags will last in the deep freezer for years .
in good order dried acorn flour will keep at way temperature in a certain glass shock for a few months . This can be even longer if the jar is in a cold wine cellar . Just taste it before cooking or broil with it to chink whether it has go rancid or not .
Potential Allergy Awareness
Are you sensitised to other tree junky like walnuts , beech , chestnut , pecans , etc ? If so , then blab to your health care practician before eating them . forage is a wad of fun , but anaphylactic reactions are less so . While acorn allergic reaction are quite rare , it ’s better to stray on the side of caution .
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