Acorns, though often not considered or even disdained as a food source, can in many situations be an abundant, dependable survival food. Many people give an acorn a curious nibble and shy away from the bitter taste, not knowing their wonderful taste once processed. Others look at the miniscule acorns provided by small-acorn bearing trees and laugh at the effort it would take to make a meal. However, for thousands of years, indians gathered acorns to process into a flour for bread, and depended on them as a main food source. Acorns have a very high nutritional content and were once a valuable source of carbs, fat and protein, especially in highly demanding situations when there is little food to be found. The bitter, sour taste that puts off many people is a mere aftertaste of tannic acid, a easily removable chemical present in acorns. The removal of tannic acid is an essential process, not only to enjoy acorn's wonderful taste but because it is poisonous to humans in large quantities. Another concern, the size of the acorn, is a drawback in some areas because of the specific species present in the area that bear small, extremely tannic acorns. However, with some effort and attention to your surrounding trees, you can find the best oak trees and produce your own delicious acorn bread.
The first step to making acorn bread is, of course, getting acorns. It's best to use the largest acorns you can find, including Chestnut Oak and White Oak acorns. Generally, Red Oak, Black Oak and other oaks have acorns too small and bitter to be worth dealing with, unless you can find one that bears large acorns. It is best to do some searching before you begin collecting, to find the biggest and easiest to shell acorns. Try slicing a few acorns in half and popping out the meat, searching for the most lenient variety. In the past I have went out and collected as many acorns as possible, but only a fraction of what I could have gathered was needed. In my area the slopes of the mountains are littered with acorns without number. Depending on the size of the acorns, a half to a quarter gallon of acorns is needed for a decent loaf of bread.
After collecting the acorns, shell them out. I like to take a knife, slice them in half and pop out both sides of the nut meat. You can also crush the acorns with a rock and pick out the meat. This job can be tedious, unless you get lucky by finding acorns that are naturally easy to shell. Use the method you think is most convenient to shell them. You should end up with a few cups of nutmeat, and that should be all that is needed.
Next, the tannin within the acorns has to be removed. This is a chemical that makes most raw acorns too bitter to eat, and in very large amounts is poisonous to humans. To remove the tannins, you can use two different methods. The first, recommended by the site I obtained my recipe, is to crush the acorns even further, but not too small to be able to go through a strainer. Next, get a pot of water to boiling and dump the acorns in. Wait until the water turns brown, strain the water and repeat with new water. It will take about 3-4 changes of water. The method I have used is to put the acorns in a food processor/blender and get them chopped as small as possible. Then, put the nut meat in a pitcher of water. Change the water several times a day, or whenever it turns brown. This will take several days, depending on how small the acorns are chopped. Continue until their are barely any tannins remaining to continue discoloring the water. Exactness is not essential, and simply try to remove the majority of the tannin to make sweet, not bitter, bread. The tannin remaining can be determined by a taste test, being complete when the acorn meat is neutral (not exceedingly obvious) in bitterness.
My acorn meal was grated small enough from the food processor, so it didn't need to be grinded any more, but grinding in the same way flour is done may be required. The resulting ''flour'' may be very moist or large-grained, and is acceptable and desirable for the unique texture of the bread. The next step is to follow the recipe below, which I obtained and used from http://www.jackmtn.com/acornbread.html. The end result is a extremely dense, moist and nutty bread, with a flavor I have not tasted in any other bread. I absolutely loved it, but be warned that I am not picky about anything, so try it with a open perspective to a new flavor. Enjoy!
Recipe:
-2 cups acorn flour
-2 cups cattail* or white flour
-3 teaspoons baking powder
-1/3 cup maple syrup or sugar**
-1 egg
-1/2 cup milk
-3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
Bake in pan for 30 minutes or until done at 400 degrees
* Possible subject of another article- an interesting proposition I have yet to try.
** I also recommend adding a little more syrup/sugar, or substituting honey for syrup.
Nutritional Information can be found at: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3083/1
Other articles on wild edibles, survival skills, outdoor activities and other outdoor-related topics can be found at my site at: dawapple.wix.com/thecritterkid
