Processing English Walnuts

Linda Bittle

I was gifted a large bag of local grown English walnuts a while back, and I made such a mess when cracking the first quart jar of nut meats, that I had put off finishing the job. I like to sit on the couch and work while watching a movie, and I wound up with bits of shell all over the couch and the floor when I was done.

This morning, I figured out a hack for that! A large, empty envelope box fit nicely on my lap, held the nut cracker and the jar, and collected the shells! Easy clean up, and I have 3/4 of another jar of nut meats for my baking next week!

blevinandwomba

That's a spiffy idea! I like to have something to work on when I watch a movie as well.

merlin44

Love simple, creative solutions. I can make such a mess when shelling or peeling large quantities of anything.

Linda Bittle

I'm gonna save that box. It worked slick!

Merin Porter

Nice! A great solution using an item many folks will have on hand -- thanks for the tip! :)

Teresa Klepac

The first time I harvested walnuts the husks left my hands black for days! Don't forget to wear gloves!!

Linda Bittle

@Teresa Klepac We had black walnuts when I was a kid, and they are terrible to make your hands black. I've been lucky that the person who brings in a big bucket of the English walnuts to share with school staff had already done that work. All I have to do is crack them and get my goodies! I found this site with lots of helpful nut harvesting information.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-harvest-english-walnuts-1388177

solarnoon.aspen

There is another step that I've been made aware of for processing these nuts and other seeds. And the reason to do this is because there is something called phytic acid in them that makes the enzymes inaccessible that help us to digest them. Phytic acid also blocks our access to various minerals in the nuts.

So, after cracking them, one can leach out the phytic acid by soaking nuts in water and salt overnight (4 cups of nuts, 1tbsp salt and cover in water), then dehydrating them at a low temperature for 12-24 hours until they are really dry.

My friend couldn't digest walnuts for years until she began to use this method. Here's a link to great info about this aspect:

https://www.pureandsimplenourishment.com/why-you-should-soak-and-dehydrate-nuts-and-seeds/