This year we had a great walnut harvest! In a recent post we describe the details of collecting and removing the hulls.
The nuts were stored in a paper bag in the basement for four months before the nutmeats were removed. Black walnuts have a very hard shell. Without spending money on a nut cruncher, we found the best way to remove the shell is to crush them in a vice. Placing a cloth around the nut prevents the shells and nutmeats from shattering everywhere. Note: the cloth you use will get torn up in the process so choose an old rag.
After cracking you can see the four chambers of the nutmeat.
We don't have a nut pick set so I used a large sewing needle to pick out the smaller pieces inside the shell.
A paper grocery sack about 2/3 full gave us 1 pound, 7.6 ounces of ready to eat nuts! The nuts are stored in the freezer.
After all the cracking, I was ready to toss the shells in the woods when I read online to burn them in a fire because they make hot coals. They were used this year for making maple syrup.
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