Acorn Workshop

For a couple of years I have been interested in the various wild plants that can be used for food and/or other purposes.  Last year, I wrote an article about wild oyster mushrooms, as well as one on using soapberries as a substitute for laundry detergent.

Oyster Mushrooms  and  Soapberries

To learn more about finding and using wild foods, I recently attended an Acorn Workshop hosted by Oklahoma Wildcrafting.  They have a Facebook group with members from all over the state who share information on foraging and using wild plants.  The workshop was well attended.  The first activity was to go on a short field-trip to learn about the different kinds of acorns.   Here we are gathering acorns.

The best acorns to use are those that are low in a substance called "tannin".  Below is a picture of acorns from a Burr Oak (on the left) and a Sawtooth Oak.  These are large acorns and generally lower in tannin.

After gathering acorns, we went back to the classroom and learned about how to prepare them.  Before using them for cooking, they must be peeled.

Then, they must be leached to remove the tannin.  This can be done by soaking them in water for several days, changing the water several times a day.  

They turn brown during the leaching process, but this is nothing to worry about.

Once the water stays mostly clear for a day, you are ready to use them for cooking.  In the workshop, we used the wet acorns to make an acorn hummus that was excellent.  Basically, the acorns were used in place of garbanzo beans in a normal hummus recipe.  We also used them to make black bean burgers by replacing some of the beans with acorns that had  been put through a food processor.

I took my acorns home and made flour from them.  After leaching, I put them on a baking sheet to dry overnight.

 

They were still a little damp at this point and I processed them in the food processor in batches in order to break them into smaller pieces and speed up the drying process.

 

Next, I spread these on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at the lowest setting, making sure to stir them every 15 minutes for about 2 hours.  They should not be heated above 150 degrees.  Drying can also be done in a food dehydrator set for several hours.  Afterward they finished drying, they looked like this.

At this point, the acorns can be ground into flour.  This should be done using a grain mill or a coffee grinder.  Because I only had a few acorns, I used a coffee mill and ground them in small batches.

Afterwards, I sifted the powder to remove the larger pieces.

As you can see, there were still some larger pieces left.  I put these through the coffee grinder again and re-sifted.  However, in the end, I ended up with some that was about the texture of cornmeal (on the left below) and a very fine flour shown on the right.

I've found quite a few recipes on the internet for using acorn flour, but have not decided what to make yet.  That may be the subject of another blog article.