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Showing posts from January, 2017

ACORN LEVAIN - CHANNELING MY INNER SQUIRREL

Hier geht's zur deutschen Version dieses Posts Last September, William Rubel challenged Facebook group members of "Bread History & Practice" to gather acorns, and use them for bread baking. I was intrigued - the huge European oaks in our neighborhood had produced a bumper crop of acorns this year. Shelling acorns - as easy as cracking nuts Squirrels and pigs love the fat kernels, but acorns are too bitter for human consumption, unless the tannins are leached out of them. This process, as described in "Acorns: The Inside Story" , is easy. Soaking ground acorns in cold water (instead of boiling them) works best for bread making, since the meal retains it binding qualities. I gathered a bag full of acorns, and left them for several weeks on our porch to dry - the kernels shrink a bit, and are easier to remove from the shells. With a nutcracker, the acorns could be cracked like hazelnuts, and I ended up with about half a pound of kernels. The acorn are gro