easier hickory nut procesing

[swamp monkey]

Hickory nuts are hard to pick out of the shell.  You can work up quite an appetite getting the "goodie" out.  I tried a Native American method for processing hickory nuts and I have to say it speeds things up and is EASY.

The steps are:

1 collect nuts
2 place nuts in bucket full of water.  Cull the floaters.  (I opened about 25 floaters and every one was a dud.)
3 crack the nuts open.  make sure the shells are in small pieces.
4 place in a pot with water.  nut shells sink, nut meat floats.  Skim the nut meat off and let dry. 

I did this while boiling and found two things.  First, the boiling is only needed to get nut milk.  If you don't want that then skip the boiling.  Second, I needed to make the shells smaller.  I crushed them into smaller pieces and got better results. 

[swamp monkey]

I got about two cups from that small basket of nuts.  The process cracking to final pan of meat was roughly 1.5 hours.  I drained the water off the shells at the bottom (see picture below) and thought I had some nut meat worth picking out.   No.  No, I didn't.  The remaining parts were painfully thin and small.  This process worked very well.  I was able to remove about 85-90% of the nut meat without picking. 

I am ready for my hickory nut pie!

Yum yum!

[bubby]

 No hickory to speak of out here, I'd love to try some though, might have to try and trade for some

[swamp monkey]

And the prize  . . .  a hickory nut pie.  I used a few pecan halves for decoration.    mmmmm.  mmmmmmm!

I hunted this weekend and am thinking about cutting my bitternut hickories for bow wood and planting shellbark hickories as replacement.  Funny how my stomach influenced my hunt. 

[Danzn Bar]

Hickory nut pie is becoming a favorite at our Thanksgiving dinner..........
DBar

[turtle]

Thanks for posting this. I usualy dont fool with hickory nuts because its to much work. Will definately give this a try.

[burchett.donald]

 Thanks swamp monkey...I love the taste of hickory meat but have no patience with them...Now I can whack the crap out of them and eat them. Used them when I was young for sling shot. Meat floats , I would never have known.
                                                                   Don

[burchett.donald]

 Would love the recipe of that hickory pie...
                                                                   Don

[swamp monkey]

Would love the recipe of that hickory pie...
                                                                   Don

If you’d like to try your hand at making a hickory nut pie, try a pecan pie recipe and just substitute hickory nuts for the pecans. Or, if you’d like to try the same recipe my family enjoyed, here’s the one I retrieved from my father:
Hickory Nut Pie
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup Karo syrup
¾ cu sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1tsp vanilla extract
⅛  tsp salt
1 cup chopped hickory nuts
1 pie crust

Directions
In a small bowl, beat eggs just until blended but not frothy. Beat in the corn syrup, sugar, butter, vanilla and salt until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour into pie crust.
Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Remove foil; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Garnish with additional nuts if desired. Yield: 6-8 servings.

[Danzn Bar]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.............soooooooo....Good
DBar

[burchett.donald]

  Thank you, I will try your father's recipe
                                                                         Don