Got walnuts?

[jmurray01]

Hmmm... wasn't me.

80,000 Pounds Of Walnuts Stolen In California

A chance would be a fine thing, eh Bill?

[AchingBack]

We have four wild black walnut trees on our property. This thread kicked off my interest in finally harvesting some of them. They key to removing most of the nutmeat intact is soaking them in hot tap water for 24 hours. Until I learned this tip I was very frustrated at the results.

Yesterday while cracking some, I got really excited when I managed to remove an entire nut intact. However, the excitement multiplied to the moon when a bit later I really hit the jackpot with an intact triplet.

My method for cracking is my 4" bench vice. One video I watched tells you to insert the nut lengthwise into the vice, with the seams running horizontally, the ends of the nut against the jaws. This didn't work so well for me, so I decided to insert the nut with the seams running vertically. As you can see from the picture, my results were stunning.

[JDgreen227]

OP here...got a query: "Soaking them in hot tap water for 24 hours....?" Tap water doesn't stay hot for long as it will cool to room temperature quickly. Does your method require you to keep running hot tap water over the nuts for 24 hours?

[AchingBack]

OP here...got a query: "Soaking them in hot tap water for 24 hours....?" Tap water doesn't stay hot for long as it will cool to room temperature quickly. Does your method require you to keep running hot tap water over the nuts for 24 hours?

I know I made it sound as if the water has to be constantly hot, but I found if I changed the water just three times it was sufficient. The nutmeat seems to shrivel just enough to enable you to slip it out of the shell.

[Larry Caldwell]

I don't have black walnuts, but have a generous supply of English walnuts. For Christmas I made a couple batches of candied walnuts, and they were very popular. Candied walnuts are simple to do, just sugar, milk and cinnamon to a soft ball stage, add vanilla when you take it off the heat, roast the walnuts for about 5 to 10 minutes (don't overdo it) mix the walnuts and sugar, let them cool and dust them with powdered sugar. Even after Christmas dinner, a bowl of them vanished in about 20 minutes. It's the kind of candy I like - mostly nut. Black walnuts would taste really good that way.

[AchingBack]

One more important trick I gleaned from the internet is the use of side cutter pliers. Most of the time you will need them to nibble away at the hard shells. Until I started using them I was very frustrated by the process.