# Hickory nuts



## Two Tracks (Jul 13, 2013)

Hello, we have several Shagbark Hickory trees that are loaded with nuts, my Daughter and I gathered several and placed them on a screen and while the fleshy green outer covering withers we then have the little hard nut. I'm not sure on what to do with them, I know they are edible but my books don't give details in preparations beyond saying good for flour, candy ect.. Have you experience with Shagbark Hickory nuts in processing? Thanks ~Chris


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## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

we used to place them and also walnuts in driveway and drive over them to remove hulls. use a hammer to break shells they are very hard. then use as you would pecans or peanuts in cooking. i have used them in cakes and fudge


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## HerseyMI (Jul 22, 2012)

Eat them plain.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Not a lot of meat, but a tasty treat. Like HerseyMI said, crack and eat.

Matt


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

They're very good, but it's a lot of work for little reward.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

They are great as a replacement for walnuts or pecans in just about anything. Cracking them is a great project for kids.  Although my kids seem to eat at least half!

If you look carefully at the nuts, and at the trees, you may be able to find a tree or two that seems to have larger nuts than the others. The last time we had a great harvest year (I think 3 years ago when trees were loaded, then a heavy rain at the end of September and it just "rained" nuts on us while we collected) we found that one particular tree was just much better than the others. It is definitely worth collecting the bigger nuts, but the smallest ones are barely worth cracking.

I have heard (anecdotally, and have not attempted) that if you crush the nuts and put in water, the shells (or nuts?) will float and you can skim off either the shelled nuts, or the nut shells and lessen the work. Might be worth trying!


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

offthegrid said:


> They are great as a replacement for walnuts or pecans in just about anything. Cracking them is a great project for kids.  Although my kids seem to eat at least half!
> 
> If you look carefully at the nuts, and at the trees, you may be able to find a tree or two that seems to have larger nuts than the others. The last time we had a great harvest year (I think 3 years ago when trees were loaded, then a heavy rain at the end of September and it just "rained" nuts on us while we collected) we found that one particular tree was just much better than the others. It is definitely worth collecting the bigger nuts, but the smallest ones are barely worth cracking.
> 
> I have heard (anecdotally, and have not attempted) that if you crush the nuts and put in water, the shells (or nuts?) will float and you can skim off either the shelled nuts, or the nut shells and lessen the work. Might be worth trying!


I believe this to be true , but have not proven it. 
I had these nuts stored in pickle jars for 4 or 5 years and they hadn't turned rancid. I kept them for an emergency and dumped them out 4 weeks ago when I started tripping over this years bounty.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

I actually grind up the hulls in a grain mill and used them for sand blasting...better than corn cob medium.

Matt


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## Barn Yarns (Oct 7, 2012)

us kids always went to help gather hickory nuts. man i miss that! my folks would spread them out and let them dry then start cracking them. yup..... had a big nut cracker and would just crack them. put them into icecream buckets and then start shelling. when my step grandparents would visit, Grandpa would spend most of his time shelling them (he loved putzy intracaite work!) 
where i live now, we dont have any..... i have to beg, borrow and steal the nuts that i do get.... then hoard them for special meals.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

The hickory nuts here are regular not the shagbark. My favorites are ice cream and pemmican. I use the ground nuts as the "fat" to bind the rest, they don't go rancid quickly. Really, the best use is to fatten the grey squirrels and use a few hickory nuts in the dressing....James


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## DarleneJ (Jan 29, 2012)

For long term storage keep them in the shells and store in plastic containers. For shorter-term use keep the meats in jars like you would walnuts. They are better than walnuts or pecans in chocolate-chip cookies with a much more buttery flavor.

They don't form in halves like walnuts, more like thirds or something like that. That is why they're more difficult to get sizable pieces out of the shells. I have heard that if meats are placed in water the shell bits will float. I bet an internet search/youtube search will give you a definitive answer. I have three baby shagbark trees I need to get planted. What I would give for mature hickories.

We bought this https://www.lehmans.com/p-437-steel-nutcracker.aspx to help with cracking hickory and black walnut shells open. It does work good. Takes much longer to get the meats out than to crack it open. We used those metal pick you get for picking your teeth to pick the nutmeat out. Traditional nutmeat picks were too bulky for getting inside the smaller hickory nuts.

Enjoy!!


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## Badger (Jun 11, 2010)

I found that if you float the whole, hulled nut in a bucket of water the bad ones and wormy ones will float. The good ones sink. You can save alot of time shelling if you're not shelling wormy ones. I use the grubs for winter bluegill - they stay on a 1/80th oz jig very well. You can sometimes catch several bluegill on one grub.


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## Two Tracks (Jul 13, 2013)

Thank You Homesteaders, will enjoy these Hicory Nuts for sure! ~Chris


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