From : Jerry VanSambeek [email protected]
Sent : Monday, October 17, 2005 11:27 AM
To : "DJ Vail" [email protected]
CC : [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Subject : Re: Black Walnuts
DJV - First I will share the long email reply I have developed over the
years in response to inquires on how to harvest, husk, clean, and crack
black walnuts for eating. I am "replying to all" because I don't believe I
shared my response with them in the past and at least they will know what I
told you.
Black walnut nuts are ripe when the husk turns greenish-yellow in the fall
(usually after most of leaves on the tree have fallen), when you can dent
the husk on the nut with your thumb, or when nuts naturally start falling
from the tree. As soon as you collect the mature, ripe nuts, you need to
husk them (remove the soft green portion). If there are tiny worms in the
husk, these worms will not harm the edible part of the nut. Wear gloves
when handling the nuts because the stain from the juices can blister your
skin and will not disappear for several weeks. The husk will eventually
turn black and become soft; however, it will result in darkening of skin on
the edible part inside the nut and produce stronger tasting nutmeats
(usually not desired). When the husk is still moist, one recommendation
for husking is to place nuts on the driveway and drive over them. Unless
you have a thin shelled variety, this should not crack the nut. You can
also place the nuts on a rough surface like the driveway and roll them
under the heel of your shoe to break most of the husk off. A more
dangerous approach is to set the drive wheels of a car on blocks so the
wheels are slightly off a concrete driveway. When the car is in gear, nuts
are rolled under the wheels. I have also put freshly collected nuts into a
portable cement mixer with water and some small rocks. You may have to
change the water after turning for 15 minutes or more. Another method is
to drill a hole about 1.5 inches in diameter in a heavy piece of wood (2 x
4 or 2 x 6) and pound each nut through the hole with a rubber mallet. The
hole should be just large enough to allow a nut without husk to pass
through. At a Northern Nut Growers Association meeting, I saw one
exhibitor who had air-dried his walnuts with the husk on and then placed
them in a hardware cloth basket connected to an 8 rpm electric motor.
After about 30 minutes of turning, most of the husk had broken off. I
don't recommend this method because this method would certain darken the
nutmeat skins and may intensify the strong walnut flavor. If you expect to
have lots of nuts over many years, there are two designs for small huskers
that can be made by a local metal worker. I believe the one using a metal
cylinder (propane tank) has been published in either The Nutshell or the
Annual Report of the Northern Nut Growers Association.
After the husk has been removed, you need to clean the remaining husk from
the nuts. Some people use water and a wire brush; however, I prefer to
either place the nuts in a cement mixer with water or place the husked nuts
in a large bucket with water. Use of hoe or some other long handled tool
you can use like a potato masher to agitate and knock off any remaining
husk. A paint stirrer for 5 gallon cans of paint attached to an electric
drill also works well. You may need to do this several times until the
nuts look reasonable clean. The black concoction of husks and water has a
high level of juglone which is toxic to earthworms, so be careful where you
dump the husk water. If you have not allowed the nuts to air dry and some
float, it is best to discard these nuts as they may be immature, hollow or
have some decay on the nutmeats. Another suggestion for final cleaning is
the use of a wire brush; however, this is probably only necessary if your
submitting a sample to be judged at a local fair or event sponsored by one
of the nut grower organizations.
The nutmeat inside freshly husked nuts will have a weak walnut flavor. You
need to air dry the nuts to develop the rich nut flavor; however, once air
dried, the nuts can no longer be used for seed and you do not have to worry
about molds either on the inside or outside of the nuts. You can dry the
nuts by placing the cleaned nuts on a wire frame or the garage floor
(somewhere where they can air dry and are protected from squirrels). You
can also place the clean nuts in an onion sack and hang in the garage or
dry basement. The nuts will slowly air dry and in about 2 weeks I think
you can start cracking them. I do not recommend drying in an oven because
the heat destroys the chemicals that give nuts their flavor (when use for
baking, the chemicals that give black walnut its unique flavor are trapped
inside cookies and cakes).
There are better ways to crack walnuts than using a hammer on a rock hard
surface, since this tends to mash shell into the nutmeat. One inexpensive
option is to use a bench-mounted shop vise. Wrap your thumb and first
finger around the middle of the nut and place ends of nut against jaws.
Crank the vise until you feel the nut fall apart between your fingers. I
place broken nuts on 1/8" or 1/4" hardware cloth and feed the small pieces
that fall through to the squirrels and birds. The larger pieces of nutmeat
and shell are dumped on a light colored table. I drag a 6" long wooden
ruler along the edge of the pile separating nutmeat from the shell. I
double check the nutmeat pile. The nutmeats should be stored in the
refrigerator or they will become rancid. Uncracked nuts can be stored in a
dry place for at least two years if protected from squirrels and other
rodents. There are several nut crackers available for about $50 to $70
that are designed to crack hard shelled nuts with a high percentage of
quarters. I prefer nut crackers that have a rod that can only move a fixed
distance. The end of the rod should be dished so that pressure is applied
to the outside of the shell rather than the ends of hard shelled nuts. If
you find the shell is very dry and shatters when cracking, one suggestion
is to place the nuts you intend to crack the next day in water and soak for
a few hours. Remove from the water and let the absorbed water soften the
shell a little bit.
Black walnut nut meats can be eaten raw or cooked like Persian (or
California) walnuts. The Northern Nut Growers Association has produced
several recipe books for nuts over the years; however, if your looking
specifically for black walnut recipes, I would suggest the cookbook sold by
Missouri Dandy Pantry or consult past issues of the Walnut Council
Bulletin. Black walnut nutmeats can be use in nearly any recipe calling
for nuts; however, you may need to reduce the amount because of the more
intense flavor. Black walnut has all the health benefits that research has
shown for Persian walnuts. I hope you enjoy black walnut nutmeats as much
as I do - it is a lot of work, but worth it.
Now to your questions about the value of the trees. My understanding is
the walnut trees are yard trees. Most lumber companies are not interested
for two reasons - you don't have a truck load and there is too high a risk
of metal in the tree. My advise if you want to sell these trees or if you
want the wood from these trees is to contract with someone locally who owns
a portable bandsaw. Bandsaw blades can be purchased for $50 so they are
easily replaced if there is metal in the tree. You'll have lots of people
telling you your trees are valuable; however, reality says you should
expect on average to receive $1000 for the butt log of a veneer tree 20
inches in diameter measured 10 feet off the ground. There are lots of
factors including being a yard tree that make a veneer tree just a lumber
tree worth only 25 percent that of a veneer tree. There will also be the
exceptional tree such as the $30,000 harvested in Ohio in the 1960's. I
don't know how big your trees are now, but on average growth of black
walnut is only 0.25 to 0.33 inches per year. If you plant your own
seedlings, about all you will have in 15 to 30 years is lots of nuts and
trees that still sell for firewood. I can give you suggestions on how to
make the trees grow faster however this requires intensive management. If
you do want to try to start trees from your own nuts, I have another long
email message that says how I would suggest doing it.
Your email does say were you live. Hammons Products Company in Stockton,
MO is the only company that purchases large quantities of nuts. In recent
years, they have concentrated their buying stations in Missouri and
surrounding states. Gary Naughton did an economic analyses of the costs
associated with picking up and transporting nuts to a buying station when
green husked nuts are purchased for $0.08 per pound. It is hard to make
money from the nuts unless your willing to market clean hulled nuts ready
for cracking or cracked nuts.
My final comment will be to suggest joining the Northern Nut Growers
Association (www.nutgrowing.org) because The Nutshell does a nice job of
answering questions similar to yours on nuts. You could also consider the
Walnut Council (www.walnutcouncil.org) because the Walnut Council Bulletin
frequently has articles that help you determine the timber value of your
trees.
J. W. "Jerry" Van Sambeek, Research Plant Physiologist
North Central Research Station, USDA Forest Service
202 Natural Resources Bldg., UMC, Columbia, MO 65211-7260
573-875-5341 Extension 233, FAX 573-882-1977
...............
This is John Gordon using this great message from Jerry Van Sambeek as my reply.
John H. Gordon Jr.
1385 Campbell Blvd.
Amherst, NY 14228-1403
(716)691-9371 fax (801)881-8842
www.geocities.com/nuttreegordon/0maiLst5.htm Catalog as by Mail
www.geocities.com/nuttreegordon/0Kitems5.htm Order Form- Plant List
www.geocities.com/nuttreegordon/0Kgordon.htm Nursery & Descriptions
Grower of nut, pawpaw & persimmon
trees for Western NY climates
Located on NY Rte. 270
4 mi. north of Rte. 263
midway between Buffalo & Lockport