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nafex - [NAFEX] Shelling butternuts

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  • From: "Jim Fruth" <jfruth@tds.net>
  • To: "NAFEX" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Shelling butternuts
  • Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 08:37:38 -0500

Deb S. wrote, "How do you tell the nuts are ready for harvest? Is there anything special
one needs to do to shell and use these?."

Once the squirrels start stealing them, or when the first fall off the tree, they are ready for harvesting. I spread mine out on a tarp with netting over the top to keep the critters from carrying them off. Some people I know, who don't have a squirrel problem, cover their driveway with the nuts to remove the husk by driving over them. I wait until the husks are dry to the touch, then bag them up to shell them during the Winter months. I remove the husks before cracking the nuts.
When I shell them, I get 90% perfect whole halves. I have two shallow holes drilled in each end of my vise jaws so that when I tighten them together with the points of the nut, each in a hole, the nut is perpendicular to the jaws. Drilling the holes isn't totally necessary if your fingers are strong enough to hold the nut in place while you tighten the vise but if you fail to hold the nut, end to end, perpendicular to the jaws, you won't get halves and, more often than not, you'll get mush.
I tried this method with black walnuts and hickory nuts with limited success.


Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN 56472
For jams, jellies & syrups:
www.bberryfarm.com
(877)265-6856 [Store]
(218)831-7018 [My Cell]




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