Methods for cracking hickory nuts?

[lhfarm]

Beat the squirrels to some hickory nuts this year and getting ready to process them. As a kid, my mom had me place the nuts in a sack and go at them with a hammer. Then a lot of time was spent picking out the small pieces of meat. Anyone have a better method or a recommendation for a really good nutcracker?

Thanks!

 

[SandburRanch]

Beat the squirrels to some hickory nuts this year and getting ready to process them. As a kid, my mom had me place the nuts in a sack and go at them with a hammer. Then a lot of time was spent picking out the small pieces of meat. Anyone have a better method or a recommendation for a really good nutcracker?

Thanks!

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This link from Mother Earth News says to use a hammer but I believe my thumb would be mighty sore in just a few minutes.
https://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1980-09-01/Hickory-Nuts-The-Inside-Story.aspx

 

[czechsonofagun]

are they edible?

 

[RTII]

are they edible?

Definitely edible. Good taste even. Just a lot of trouble to get to the meat as the thread would suggest. Hopefully I'll learn something from the thread but I suspect it'll just boil down to labor and patience. The up side is that they may be one of those foods that entail burning more calories than you're taking in! :thumbsup:

 

[jbooth]

I got my Dad one of those lever crackers for black walnuts and our native pecans. It was adjustable so the the complete mashing of the nuts was avoided. They work great and the purchase was made so he would quit using our rifle rloading press. Didn't hurt the rifle press, but the press always needed cleaning prior to reloading shells. I thought the cracker was a bit pricy but he used it for 20 yrs and now my sister is has used it for 10 more years. I'm still in the 50s and 60s so everything seems pricy to me.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Enter Tchaikovsky, the expert on nut cracking

 

[seymojo536]

Vise, just ease into the nut or at least wear a face shield, cause they will shoot out sometimes.

 

[beenthere]

I find the vise is the best tool, that gives a controlled break. Depending on how dry the nuts are, sometimes they crack best if squeezed end to end, and sometimes the longest side squeeze yields larger pieces - - often full halves.

I use the same vise method with walnuts as well.
My grandmother would always use a hammer and an anvil that had a slight depression. She was cracking black walnuts and hickory nuts until she was 95 years old. Lived to 99.

And as seymojo said, use eye protection.

 

[sixdogs]

Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, Ohio sells a good nut cracker for around $33 that works great.


Kitchen*|*Helpers and Accessories*|*Utensils and Tools*|*Our Best Nutcracker - Lehmans.com

The link is the cracker I mentioned. Life is too short to pick little pieces out of sharp-edged shells.
I tried to link to their whole page of nut crackers but it won't work. Just search nut crackers and leave a note with the milk and cookies for Santa.

 

[SARG]

This thread brings back lotsa memories .......... my Uncle Henry knew were every hickory tree was for miles and miles.

Towards the end of his life he would spend most of his free time going from tree to tree collecting 5 gallon pails full of nuts ............. and then spent a good part of the winter sitting with his favorite ironwood stump between his knees.