How should I crack upon nuts from Juglans nigra ?

My town have a plantation of Juglans nigra. These nut trees don't grow usually in France yet when I decided to have a taste of them, I thought I would handle it like another nut. But they are different.

I try to have the green shell to dry completely before peeling them off. But I couldn't so I went with a knive to get ride of it before they turn bad. The nuts are smaller than the one that grows here but so hard I can't crack them with a nutcraker.

Should I have wait longer before picking them up ? What is right to great ride of the green skin ? How could I crack them ?

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I think their explanation is really comprehensive: Unruly gardening - Black Walnut
- Thank you !
  
  I'll admit to you that I found this article because I have about 1ha of the stuff on my farm (owners planted it for wood) with nuts all over the floor and felt a little bad about them going to waste. After reading the article I happily leave them on the floor - they give so much work and taste rather 'meh', and I have plenty of food that actually tastes good, plus I can buy really nice European walnut, already washed, at the local market. The pigs really like them though. Maybe you find a taste for them, it probably depends on really knowing how to use them in food and I don't.

It's called "black walnut" in most places where it grows natively. You can find some good resources on it if you Google that. The main thing is if they are super hard, just wait for the green part to soften a bit; a few days should be good enough. People have made a bunch of mechanisms to get rid of the husk, but the simplest way I think is to just put them on the ground somewhere concrete or stone, and stomp on them with heavy boots. I suppose it would probably be better for your ankles to use a heavy log or something like that like a giant mortar and pestle. You then want to rinse them with water by soaking them in a bucket. Some will float, and those are apparently empty nuts (the actual seed was aborted). After, you dry them out on a screen for a few weeks. To crack the nuts open, they are much stronger than European walnuts, so most people use a bench vise
- I crack them into halves outside in 5 pound batches, then pick out the meats indoors while watching tv or whatever.

I have not figured it out yet, but I can tell you that bashing it on an IKEA coffee table does not work.
- I hope for you that you have found this image on the internet !
  
  Unfortunately this is my own doing. It made me laugh so it's ok.

Some folks will lay them out on a piece of driveway or similar vehicle-accessible bit of pavement and drive over them a few times with a small vehicle to crack the green husk, then place them in a barrel with water and agitate with a paddle attachment for a sturdy drill. Something like a paint stirring paddle or similar will cause the shells containing the meat to run against each other and abrade the remaining husk. Then you'll want to dry them thoroughly.
My experiences with black walnut are limited but the few times I've tried cracking them with a hinged nutcracker were difficult. Our friend has a cracker that sits on a counter or table and screws a plate against the nut until it cracks and that's much easier.
- This is the way to remove the husk; I do a few hundred pounds like this each year.
  Store them indefinitely in the shell, but at least for a few months to cure for best flavor.
  For cracking, whop them a couple times on the point of the shell with a hammer on concrete, then flip them upside down and whop once. They usually split in half. Then get a pair of wire clippers and clip the shell diagonally from the bottom to remove the meat. There might be a better way to do this part, but I haven't found it yet.

Only thing that worked for me was hammer on concrete or some other surface you don't mind being damaged. And then learn to use the exact right amount of force. If you overdo it and smash the meat it's tough to remove the shell shards. It's very labor intensive.
Personally I don't like the taste so I never really perfected my technique, but that got the job done. Taste and see what you think but in my opinion they are only suitable for baking, not for eating fresh as with other walnuts. The flavor is very strong.

11 comments