How to Leach Tannins from Acorns Without Boiling

Acorns were once a dietary staple among many cultures including Native Americans. Acorns continue to be a dietary staple in Korea today. Acorns are abundant and a valuable food source to anyone interested in foraging them. Tannins, used for tanning hides, make acorns bitter and difficult for humans to digest. To utilize acorns as food, these tannins must be leached out of the acorns.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Dry the Acorns
   
   The acorns were traditionally dried in the sun prior to preparing ground meal or flour from the acorns. This was done to preserve them and allow the acorns to be used when needed. Lay them in the sun, as Native Americans did or dehydrate them in your dehydrator to ensure they are dry.

2. Shell the Acorns
   
   When you are ready to prepare the acorns, shell them and strip the skin from the outside of the acorn meat using a knife.

3. Crush the Acorns
   
   The traditional method of crushing the acorns was to place them in a hole and use a mortar or specialized stick to crush them. A modern day substitute for the process would be to use a food processor or a grain mill to crush the acorns. This step can be skipped and the acorns can be leached whole, however leaching may be quicker and more effective if the acorns are ground first.

4. Leaching the Tannins
   
   The next step is to leach the tannins from the acorns. Native Americans used to wrap them in cloth and place them in a flowing stream. This cold water process was very effective as it provided a constant source of flowing water to completely remove the tannins. A modern day substitute for this process would be to soak the finely ground acorn meal in cool water. Drain it repeatedly until it stops changing color and leaves the meal sweet instead of bitter. Another way this could be accomplished would be to place the ground acorn under a faucet and allow water to trickle over it continuously. This would more closely resemble the stream method, but would consume much more water.

5. Drying the Leached Acorns
   
   Dry the ground acorn again in the sun or a dehydrator, so that it can be stored, or used to make flour for breads and muffins.

Tips & Warnings

• Native Americans stored dried acorns as preparation for winter and in case of shortage of other sources of food. Dried acorns stored suitably will last several years.

[ljstraight]

on 8/28/2009 Amazing article! 5 stars

[sallyemaycreate]

on 8/28/2009 Very interesting information... thanks for the awareness about acorns! 5*****

[rcryder]

on 8/28/2009 Great article. We have learned many things from Native Americans. 5*****/sub

[lighthouse1958]

on 8/28/2009 I didn't know acorns were good for anything but hitting you in the head. Ha! Great information. I learned a new one today. 5*

[jwvanno]

on 8/22/2009 Great article. Thanks.