Acorns can be eaten with proper preparation

The squirrels are dropping acorns out of the tree like crazy, and I began wondering about acorns for survival. The indians ate them, so can we (with proper preparation of boiling first).

The water used for boiling the acorns can then be used for laundry detergent or on the skin (for rashes, burns, and cuts) and even for tanning animal hides.

I found a website with lots of information on proper preparation, cooking recipes, and even nutritional value www.grandpappy.info...

Another site preparenownewsletter.blogspot.com...

Here are some interesting points about acorns...and stuff to get you to want to use them!...
1. They are probably the most easy foraging food to identify! You aren't going to make a mistake and poison yourself! Identifying oak tree's can be difficult...because of the hybridization between the species...but you will not mistake the acorn that drops from it.

2. In hard times...if you took the time to learn how to use acorn...you would probably be the only one within miles that would have any idea how to eat them.

3. All acorns are edible from all varieties of Oak. They have differing flavors....different amounts of oils...differing amounts of tannic acid...etc.

4. They can be dried and stored for a LONG time. The black oaks acorn can be dried and stored for upwards of 13 years!! Tannic acid is a natural preservative...the higher the tannic acid content...the longer it will store.

5. Once leeched of the tannic acid...the acorn can be made into a mush that is so mild an infant can eat it! It can be eaten without adding anything to it...or it can be mixed in with other foods to bulk them up. It is versatile! 6. ACORNS ARE A SURVIVAL FOOD OF THE HIGHEST DEGREE!! Acorns are extremely nutritious, containing up to 18 percent fat,

6 percent protein, and 68 percent carbohydrate as well as vitamins A and C and many amino acids. 100 grams of acorn flour (roughly one cup) contains a whopping 500 calories, 30 grams of fat, and 54 grams of carbohydrate.

7. Oak tree's are EVERYWHERE! Oak tree's are to be found all over the world...and across the US. While other wild foods are only regional...one can be assured that an Oak tree can be found most anywhere in the US. In the Sacramento valley they are especially plentiful. The food they drop is ready to be picked up by the barrel full!

8. You don't have to plant and tend the crop! In contrast to growing your own garden...which takes a lot of time and effort to get the fruit...acorns just fall from the trees without any thought of taking care of the tree! Oaks drop their acorns according to a cycle...weak years followed by a strong year...and the timeline is based largely on what variety Oak it is. Then there is also a phenomenon called "masting" where an Oak will drop an unreal amount of acorns (often really large)...like my friend experienced.

9. You can actually have a really long season of harvestable acorns! Many Oaks are dropping acorns back in October...November...and here it is mid-February and I am still collecting!

10. If things got really rough for our nation...and people came to you for help...if you knew how to process acorn...you could send them out to gather what they want to eat!

reply to post by tinker9917


Holy crap, I did not know this! Though I've never had a desire to, I thought acorns could be eaten right from the tree. Interesting stuff.


I used to watch Kung Fu with David Carridine. He was always eating things out of nature. Do you know of anything in the woods people can just pull and eat?

Chris eats Pinecones:


Also eats paint, crayons, caulking, wasabi, ghost pepper, socks, electrical tape, deodorant....
etc.

I have to give acorns and pine cones a try... I have acres of oak and pine trees as well as critters that wander up close enough to the house that can be trapped or shot that forage on them and other vegetation.

reply to post by CALGARIAN


I think the paint chip went to his brain

I'll pass on the pinecones

Originally posted by jiggerj
reply to post by tinker9917

 

Holy crap, I did not know this! Though I've never had a desire to, I thought acorns could be eaten right from the tree. Interesting stuff.

I used to watch Kung Fu with David Carridine. He was always eating things out of nature. Do you know of anything in the woods people can just pull and eat?

edit on 8/12/2012 by jiggerj because: (no reason given)

I''m just learning about survival, so hopefully someone else can answer this. I'm the one who would probably eat the poisonous berries

And i'll pass on the insects... I'll starve before I eat them.

If shtf I will leave the acorns from the trees in my yard for the animals. I'd rather eat meat myself

reply to post by tinker9917


Hazel nuts can be eaten raw in moderation. So can the nomadic squirrels that eat all the nuts as soon as they start to get ready to pick. I can't understand how those squirrels can strip the picky covering of those nuts. Seems those picks would be stuck in their tongue. I only get about a pound of the nuts out of all the bushes around here, the squirrels always wipe them out in a few days.

I have read boiling was bad!!
If you soak them for 3 days changing out the water every day they are just fine.
Acorn butter is the kitts mitts!

(Edit)
To add the way native Americans would prepare them was to put them in a creek iside of a sack for three days to wash away the tanin.

Originally posted by g146541
I have read boiling was bad!!
If you soak them for 3 days changing out the water every day they are just fine.
Acorn butter is the kitts mitts!

(Edit)
To add the way native Americans would prepare them was to put them in a creek iside of a sack for three days to wash away the tanin.

edit on 12-8-2012 by g146541 because: tanin

Can you give a link? I'm not finding any info on how boiling is bad.

Thanks for the info about the bag in the creek.

Originally posted by tinker9917

Originally posted by g146541
I have read boiling was bad!!
If you soak them for 3 days changing out the water every day they are just fine.
Acorn butter is the kitts mitts!

(Edit)
To add the way native Americans would prepare them was to put them in a creek iside of a sack for three days to wash away the tanin.

edit on 12-8-2012 by g146541 because: tanin

Can you give a link? I'm not finding any info on how boiling is bad.

Thanks for the info about the bag in the creek.

About midway down it says boiling stops the leaching process.
I found this page when I was first looking to make acorn butter and never considered boiling as it says it is counter to what you want to do.
You may not be eating enough to make you sick if you have been boiling, that may be why boiling has worked for you so far.
I dunno.
Hope this helps
(Edit)
Seventh paragraph down in the processing section.

They had a bit about the acorns on Man, Woman, Wild about a year ago. If you have the water and time to soak and process, and acorns were the ONLY thing to eat..... mehbe. It seems there is a lot of work to do before eating them, but it's good to know in any event. I think if I could, I'd just stick with cattails, grass, dandelions, earthworms, fish and any animals I am able to catch. I personally don't see oak trees that often, I did in some areas in OR but not that many. So far, none in MN, not that there aren't any. Also, just because a tree or plant grows in a specific area, doesn't mean there are any. Many trees that "grow" edible items seem to be disappearing because people don't want the mess that also ensues in their yards/public areas. I have often thought how funny it would be (in a sick sorta way) if in a SHTF scenario, the same people that were poisoning their lawns against dandelions were forced to search them out as an edible food source.

Originally posted by g146541
I have read boiling was bad!!
If you soak them for 3 days changing out the water every day they are just fine.
Acorn butter is the kitts mitts!

(Edit)
To add the way native Americans would prepare them was to put them in a creek iside of a sack for three days to wash away the tanin.

edit on 12-8-2012 by g146541 because: tanin

How did they know to do this? Simply amazing what people knew way back when.

reply to post by jiggerj


I have asked this question on more than one occasion.
I imagine maybe trial and error or maybe an indian was washing and forgot for a few days and he was the only one who did not get sick...
Could be a million different things, just amazing is all I know.

I found the idea to use acorns when I saw a video, I believe it was from Sustenancencovering on Youtube and he said that acorns had been eaten more than any other food item or crop in the world.
I found that a huge claim so I started looking and on a side tangent I got the idea for the acorn butter.
I'll see if I can find the vid.

If you want alot of the tannic acids, the black oaks are very high int this (but the acorn taste is still going to have a degree of bitterness in them). I am lucky, I have white oaks and they are theee sweetest of the oak acorns. Yes, letting them wash in moving water for several days will leach the tannins out of the acorns very well. But the boiling method is not ideal (in my opinion) because the acorns look not so appetising in color, plus the fuel and hassle of keep trying to dump the water and change it many times. If you are tanning hides, though, then the boiling method would be great as you can use the tannic water for your hide prep.

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.

stick with white oak varieties if you can as red oak varieties have far more tannins and are much harder to make reasonably edible. white oak varieties generally have rounded leaf edges and red oak varieties have pointed leaf edges.

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.

reply to post by triplereiki


I would go with the sun dry method over cooking as the heat just may remove nutrient value if cooked over 118 degrees.
I truly do not know but it seems like the way to go.
So take it or leave it, that's just my personal opinion.
But it may benefit any who look so no u2u.

On topic: Acorns taste great!!
Had to put that there for the mods.

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.

Hey, that's great! Ummm, did you forget sumthin'? Like maybe a link? lol

reply to post by tinker9917
Super great thread!!! Finally a positive and factual thread on ATS. This is not only positive but very useful stuff!!!!