chinkapin acorns edible?

15 years ago

I was reading that the chinkapin acorns are edible. Is there anyone out there that eats these and likes them. Also do they need to be roasted first to be edible?

Featured Answer

lucky_p

15 years ago

Edible yes, and some years on some trees, you might be able to eat them straight from the tree without the astringent tannins 'drawing your mouth awrie with much torment', as John Smith wrote about unripe persimmons, but most of the time, they'll need to be leached before you can use them.
For the white oak group, that will entail removing the shell and pellicle(the thin brown skin that surrounds the kernel), then running them in a blender of water until they're pulverized, allowing the chunks to settle, then pouring off the cloudy water, adding fresh clean water, repeating the blending until the water comes off clear - then you'll know that you've leached out the tannins.
If you roast them beforehand, it merely 'sets' the tannins and makes them unremovable.

Comments (10)

redneck_grower
15 years ago
I believe all acorns are edible. But, you will need to leach out the tannins to make them palatable.
l_james
Original Author
15 years ago
That is correct, but different types need to be processed in different ways. Some have way less tannins than others, and some may still taste foul.
What I read implied that they could be eaten without much preparation.
Also the swamp oak has less tannins and is call the sweet oak this is not the white swamp oak though.
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mts112262_juno_com
13 years ago
I grew up in Northern Louisiana and my grandparents had a chinkapin tree. We definitely ate the nuts without any preparation of any kind. The nuts are sweet and delicious. It's hard to get any to eat because the squirrels can get them all in two days. The land was sandy, about a mile from a swampy area. Wish they were more plentiful. I have not had any since I was a child. We did not even refer to these nuts as acorns tho they resemble them. They were Chinkapins! The nuts are more slender than most acorns and the shell is almost black and very shiny. The inner covering of the nut is fluffy and silky.
Bobby Easom
8 years ago
chinkapin taste like an almost ripe cantalope i like them
alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
8 years ago
I know this is an ancient thread, but there seems to be some confusion here. There is a Chinkapin tree (related to chestnuts), and there is a Chinkapin Oak... two totally different trees.
lucky_p
8 years ago
Yep.

Castanea pumila & C. pumila var. ozarkensis are the Allegheny & Ozark chinkapins - a member of the chestnut family... one tasty little nut per spiny bur.

Quercus muehlenbergii is the chinkapin oak, a member of the white oak group. Tables I've seen indicate that chinkapin oak acorns have the highest oil content of the white oak group acorns.
Lucas Machias
8 years ago
lucky_p

"If you roast them beforehand, it merely 'sets' the tannins and makes them unremovable."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XztP7XQUWro

They are in for a surprise at the 1:40 mark.
tjayars1
8 years ago
Those are not chinquapin acorns coming out of the oven. Look more like chestnuts.
lucky_p
8 years ago
Lucas - I saw that too!; and tjayars is right, those were not chinkapin oak acorns... those are little bitty fellers.

I'm a TWD fan, and was saddened - but not surprised - to see them treat acorns in that manner - hadn't even removed the shells! Guarantee you that Carol didn't make those cookies from THOSE acorns.