Leaching acorns

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StJoeBlues

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I could use some advice from anyone who has leached acorns before. I have a couple bushels of acorns from red oaks. This is my 2nd attempt at cold-water leaching. I'm a month in to this batch, changing the water at least once a day, sometimes two or three times. They've been kept in the garage with temps ranging from the 30s-50s. This picture is about 12 hours after draining and replacing the water. They started out an off white color and gradually turned brown. I read elsewhere that's due to oxidation. How do you tell when the leaching is done? Is this water brown because of tannin or because of oxidation? When I test some of the larger pieces, they still have an astringency to them but the water and smaller pieces are fine.
Acorns.jpg
 
StJoeBlues said:
I could use some advice from anyone who has leached acorns before. I have a couple bushels of acorns from red oaks. This is my 2nd attempt at cold-water leaching. I'm a month in to this batch, changing the water at least once a day, sometimes two or three times. They've been kept in the garage with temps ranging from the 30s-50s. This picture is about 12 hours after draining and replacing the water. They started out an off white color and gradually turned brown. I read elsewhere that's due to oxidation. How do you tell when the leaching is done? Is this water brown because of tannin or because of oxidation? When I test some of the larger pieces, they still have an astringency to them but the water and smaller pieces are fine.
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I don’t know but will be curious to see what others say.
 
Full disclosure- I'm not much into baking so I generally stick to hot leaching.

What I've been told is that the jar method is done by taste morso than sight. You ought fully wring the water out before tasting too btw.

Just keep going till the big ones aren't bitter and you're good- trust the process. Red oaks take more than white oaks- that's why deer feed on whites early season and reds late season once they been rained on for weeks and months.

I figure one of these days I'll try the toilet method...
 
Northern red oak or southern red oak? They are different, southern red oak is much higher in tannic acid content. Acorns will kill cattle which is my concern. I went searching for info and found this chart, link below.

After losing a cow to acorns I fenced off about 12 acres of the farm to keep the rest of the cows away from them. Most cows eat an acorn here or there, not a problem. But for some cows acorns are like crack cocaine. They'll park themselves under an oak and commit suicide. Even if it doesn't kill them it'll wreck the health of their calf. Short answer - tannic acid eats away the lining of their stomach, can't absorb nutrients so they starve with full bellies.

Tannic acid is a wonderful medicine in tiny doses... too much is not a good thing.

This chart includes an edibility rating for different oak species. 1=bad, 5=good

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/oak-tree-information.14519/
There's another thread on acorns, might be useful.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/acorns.6672/
 
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I did this a couple years ago, just to prove I could. Tasted it, maybe sprinkled some on my eggs (I will sprinkle anything on my eggs.. lol) Still have a little jar of powder/flour in the pantry. Never used it, really. Our acorns are so small here and it was so labor intensive that, unless I have to, I probably won't do it again. But I know that I CAN!
 
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