Acorns can be eaten with proper preparation

reply to post by tinker9917


Growing up in the south we had acorns everywhere. As kids my friends and I were really big into camping and survival and even as a child I always wanted to go into the Navy and sign up for Special Forces so I was always trying to learn all I could about survival and living off the land.

We used to collect acorns by the 5 gallon bucket and after shelling them we would boil them for about 20 mins then would put them on a rack made of hardware cloth over coals from a fire and slow roast them over night. Once roasted until good and dry we would grind them in a mortar into flour and make a kind of flatbread out of them. It was really quite tasty and depending on which species of acorns we used it would have varying flavor.

I have always considered acorns to be a staple of survival food along with pinecones, cat tails, dandelions, insects and wild berries. As I have often said, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to go hungry, we are after all animals and when in a survival situation we must rely on our animal instinct to survive.

reply to post by jiggerj


LOL!!!
I fixded it.
I must have been thrilled as the guys has got a bunch of good vids and I just realized I could go through some serious looking.

Originally posted by triplereiki
I am currently drying venison to make into peemican, and I think crushed white oak acorns would also be a great addition to the pemmican. .....I have a question, though in regards to pemmican if anyone would know at all. Does the meat HAVE to be dried (like in the sun method) or can I bake a nice large chunk of meat, slice it, and let it dry then crush it for the pemmican? With the cooked meat, will the nutritional value be reduced? Really need to know. Thanks so much anyone who can help. PLEASE U2U me if you know.

To OP, fantaastic thread by the way. it is funny thing that comes to my mind that if our gardens will be destroyed by TPTB, then it would be hilarious if they have to resort to stripping every wild plant and tree to ensure we are starved or under control....shoot, I got acres of weeds if they want to clear my land for me LOL Oh and those pesky blackberries that go out of control. Just remember, that we really are surrounded by food even at the edges of freeways, there are edible plants. Just takes time, effort and knowledge.

I think that the drying method might be better as far as a workable texture for making pemmican. But not absolutely necessary as far as nutrition as long as you don't cook it at too high of a temperature. Here is what my research uncovered:


www.fao.org...

Effect of Cooking on Protein Quality

Apart from the inherent quality of the various proteins a reduction in quality takes place if there is damage to amino acids when the food is cooked. At a temperature below 100°C when proteins are coagulated, there is no change in nutritional quality.

The first changes take place when food is heated to temperatures around 100°C in the presence of moisture and reducing sugars, present naturally or added to the food. There is a chemical reaction between part of one essential amino acid, lysine and a sugar to form a bond that cannot be broken during digestion, and so part of the lysine is rendered unavailable.

When proteins are analysed in order to determine their amino acid composition the procedure involves a preliminary hydrolysis with strong acid which does break the lysinesugar bond, so chemical analysis does not reveal this type of damage and special methods are needed. At a higher temperature or with more prolonged heating, the lysine in the food protein can react with other chemical groupings within the protein itself and more becomes unavailable. In addition the sulphur amino acids (cystine which is not essential and methionine which is) are rendered partly unavailable.

The lysine-sugar reaction results in a brown-coloured compound (the so-called browning or Maillard reaction) which produces an attractive flavour in food and is the main cause of the colour of bread crust and roast meat. While such severe heating reduces the amount of lysine available in these foods the loss is nutritionally insignificant since it affects only a very small fraction of the total amount present.

At the temperature needed to cook meat there is little loss of available lysine or the sulphur amino acids but there can be some loss if the meat is heated together with reducing substances, as may be present when meat is canned with the addition of starch-containing gravy or other ingredients.

Originally posted by g146541
reply to post by jiggerj

 

FOUND IT!!!!
@ the 3:35 mark of this video, and I thought this was friggin a remarkable comment.
Then I looked into it and it seems very plausible.
(Edit)
Ummm... LOL sorry, here it is.

That was excellent! I never knew anything about cattails.

reply to post by jiggerj


Same here although I have yet to try cattails.
Speaking of edible things, you may like this guy.
Eattheweeds he has alot of very common plants identified and even gives commentary on them.
It would seem there is waaaay more than enough food out there, even in the sidewalk!

How to eat RAW acorns.
1: pick acorn
2: leave on ground
3: wait for hungry squirrel
4: when squirrel eats acorn shoot squirrel
5: Prepare squirrel; over hot fire and enjoy meat with a nutty tang.

reply to post by tinker9917


No, you won't starve first.

The will to survive is incredibly strong in humans and you WILL eat bugs if needed. You just never have been truly starving before. Come back when you have not had anything, zero, zilch to eat for 2-3 weeks and let me know how that bug looks.
Anyone who says or thinks they couldn't do it has never even been out of their comfort zone.

Throughout history where there have been cases of cannibalism do you think those people were crazy BEFORE the event that turned them? They were just like you and me and probably always said "I would never eat bugs....yuck!"
Then the time comes and they are really starving (not like when you think "man, I shoulda stopped at that last McDonald's cuz I'm really starving!) and they not only wish they had bugs to eat they ate their friends!

I am not saying I know everything but I will say that I have been around long enough and in some extreme circumstances enough times to say without a doubt that you WILL do things you never thought you could.

This I promise you.