How to eat acorns, but maybe don't 

A tip for acorn harvest if anyone attempts it: always collect the late season acorns and make sure to put the nuts in a bucket of water. Only bother with the acorns that sink as both the floating and early season acorns most likely contain a gross weevil larva that basically turns the inside of it into dirt. It may not work 100% of the time as I have found a weevil in an acorn that sunk, but it is better than finding a whole lot more of them and wasting time cracking them open. Hope this is helpful!

“You have to smash your nuts” Adam’s always happy to shell out new YTP material

It really does suck that acorns aren't better tasting. They're all over the place where I live and they look so darn good.

I love how we've found a way to eat pretty much anything, even the things that REALLY don't want to be eaten. Honestly this process seems convenient and pleasant compared to what we have to do to olives to make them edible.

It’s pretty normal in Korea to eat acorn jelly. My 93 years old grandma still climbs the mountain and comes back with a bag of them.

In Korea, we eat acorn in the form of 'mook,' which is a kind of jelly. It's a bit bitter, but it's pretty mild, and it's nice to have cold in the summer, with a little soy sauce. Here's a gross little story related to acorns: One summer when I was a kid, I saw a bunch of acorns on the ground and thought, 'Oh, I like mook, maybe I can get my mom to make mook out of these?' So I gathered them in a small backpack and brought them home. But being a child, I forgot about this backpack for several weeks. Then, one day, while I was hanging out with a friend in my room, I remembered the bag of acorns and wanted to show her, so I unzipped and poured them onto the carpet. There were SO MANY MAGGOTS. I was disgusted and scared but I didn't want to get in trouble so I cleaned it up by myself. I ended up smashing some of the maggots into the carpet in the process. I just avoided ever stepping on that patch of carpet for all the years I lived in that house. The end.

Korean grocery stores have acorn flour and acorn starch for those who want to try them out. The tannins have been leached out. They are used to make a jelly or noodles.

I'm my experience cold-leached properly-prepared acorn flour is actually pretty good, depending on how you present it. But yeah, don't eat an acorn straight up.

Acorns were the staple carbohydrate for many California tribes, enough such that despite proximity to corn growing regions, there wasn't need to cultivate corn in California. Because of how plentiful food was in the region, California had the highest density of native folks compared to other regions of the US north of Mexico. Certain species were preferred. Incidentally, tanoaks (Notholithocarpus) were preferred over actual oaks because their seeds had higher tannin content and thicker shells which helped ensure they didn't go bad or get infested with pests. The Rumsen folks would travel north into the territories of other native tribes because tanoaks were so highly valued. As for processing, the way California Natives would process them is to either put them into a porous bag and leave it in a cold running spring for a week or two, or to grind the kernels into a fine meal and then leach the tannins out until the meal tasted sweet and not bitter. This was often done in shallow sand pits lined with pine needles to act as a sieve. This method was so common that you can often run into acorn processing stations near all of the favored oak and tanoak groves in California. The bit of nutrients lost made leaching worth it.

In Spain we have an artificial landscape called "dehesa", dominated mainly by oak trees, in which pigs are bred. The pigs are fed exclusively acorns to produce what is considered the highest quality ham, which is a big deal in Spain. So not only squirrels are appreciating those acorns!

My grandfather was from the Extremadura region of Spain. There, oak trees are everywhere, and acorns are almost worshipped. He showed me how to find the good ones (stay away from the bitter ones!), and you can roast them the same way you would do with chestnuts. The flavor is similar, I loved them.

As a kid I always assumed acorns probably just tasted like peanuts or something

Living in California, I learned in elementary that acorns were the main staple food for the natives here, but they needed to process them first. The teachers were sure to tell us kids not to eat acorns straight off the ground!

when I was young, I noticed that crushed up acorns looked like tobacco. my dad smoked a pipe, so I asked him to try putting some of my "acorn tobacco" in his pipe to try out. He lasted about ten seconds. But, at least he humored me

Acorns were a staple on the island of Lesbos until about 70 years ago. The island used to have a booming tanning industry and lots of oak trees were cultivated because the acorns were used in the tanning process. In times of hunger, the acorns were ground into flour. They were also used as feed for the livestock. You can see lots of remaining oaks on the southeastern side of the island, though they are a bit unkempt nowadays.

Also, something to help make them taste better: Those papery skins on the outside of all nuts, acorns included? Those contain significant amounts of bitter compounds, including tannins in at least the case of acorns. If you do a cold leech of your acorns, take the time to peel off the skin between one soaking and the next, while the soaking has left them nice and loose. This will significantly improve the flavor of whatever end product you're working toward.

I don't know why but "acorns: maybe just leave them on the ground!" really got to me. I think I need that on a shirt

The Dutch word for squirrel is eekhorn, pronounced a lot like acorn. It's almost certainly pure coincidence, but I've always found this amusing.

Thanks Adam, this will be great for the coming depression.

My brother has been making acorn bread each fall for a few years now. It actually tastes pretty normal, which seems like high praise given Adam's experience.

Fun fact, the word “acorn” is related to the Germanic word for a squirrel. The presumed *aikwernô comes from presumed *aiks (oak) and *wer- (squirrel). So that “acorn”, “oak” and “squirrel” are often all fairly related in Germanic languages. In German: Eichel, Eiche, and Eichhorn (more often with diminutive Eichhörnchen); in Dutch: eikel, eik(enboom), eekhoorn. Even into the Scandanavian ones: Swedish: ekollon, ek(träd), ekorre, Danish: agern, eg(træ), egern. Even Icelandic: akarn, eik(itré), íkorni. Surprisingly, Bokmål and Nynorsk both share terms: eikenøtt (oak nut), eik(etre), and eikorn. English stands as the weird one of the family. 🙂

The age old question.

I'm from the Netherlands. Learned from my grandmother and mother that acorns are edible. BUT - according to your description - we only have WHITE oak here.. Rounded tips on the leaves. (Thanks for that distinction, by the way. I never knew the difference between red oak and white oak. ...always wonder about that type of stuff; never got around to really researching this. Too many interests + ADD ;))

In our neighbourhood, the bark of 15 year old oak trees was used by tanners. But the practice died out and we are left with oaks that have been pruned and regrown for hundreds of years.

I feel like this was a good video.

there's a really traditional korean dish that uses acorn called "muk", basically a korean jelly. i have fond memories of eating it growing up, but i imagine to most non-koreans it's a little weird and doesn't taste like much.

I love how Adam gives me tips on how to properly prepare acorns knowing full well almost none of this will give it a try. Keep being you Adam we love you ♥️

You have one of the best channels for food on youtube. I'm blown away at how you have videos on the most random and specific food questions I have. So in-depth, too. Thanks

There are stories of an occasional oak tree with no tannins in their acorns. The squirrels really love those!

Hey, Adam. Thanks for this video! I'm always excited to see acorn foraging content. I'm glad that you explained the nuance of tannin content which is often oversimplified. Two things I wanted to note were that although white oak acorns may have lower initial tannin content, as an acorn forager, there are many situations where I still prefer red oak acorns. In my area, they typically are infected with fewer acorn weevils and also dry, store, and keep much better than white oak acorns! They will just take slightly longer to leach. Additionally, cracking becomes much much easier if the nuts are first initially dried enough that the nut meat pulls back a bit from the shell! Thank you again for this acorn video. I hope it creates more curiosity in people who watch it. If anyone happens to be interested in more details on acorn processing and cooking, I do have a series on my page about it! Best wishes. Happy foraging!

I have a huge box of acorns (thankfully no horrible weevils so far). My plan is to use them for making dye. They produce a pretty steely grey-blue.

I love seeing these essay style videos on odd items we don't think about in the states or consider in the states! Thank you for another fantastic video!

I read an article on this subject ages ago in which some people swore the best way to leech out the tannins was to put them in a porous bag in your toilet cistern for a few days. Then every time you flush, the water the acorns are soaking in goes down the drain and is replaced. Makes the whole thing even more delicious.

Watching my childhood friend choke down an acorn while trying to convince me that they are great tasting is quite a priceless memory.

I found that by grinding acorns before roasting, you can achieve a food that can substitute for grape nuts. They have an amazing roasted nut taste and are really crunchy. Perfect addition to Greek yogurt with blueberries and banana.

After having moved to North America recently from Asia, I was really curious about these acorns. So thanks to you Adam and your host of followers' comments that has more than enlightened me !

Please do a video about Matcha. I've been drinking it for years and would love to hear your takes on the taste and, potentially overblown, health benefits. Your research deep-dive videos are some of my favorites. Thanks!

My question is: how does Adam know what drain cleaner tastes like lmao

Excellent video man,I live in south western Virginia and grew up amongst plenty of huge,healthy white and red oak tree's, I understand what you meant about tannins because if you've ever cut down and processed an oak tree as fire wood,you can smell it from a mile away! It's a strong,astringent smell and I cant imagine how eating one would taste

Very fun mix of content, appreciate the format!

you have to SMASH YOUR NUTS 1:52 made me laugh

Koreans also have acorn jelly (dotorimuk) that is usually served with seasoned soy sauce. The jelly itself tastes very mild and I personally don't find them offensive in flavor. If you've never had it, I think you might enjoy it in comparison to those pancakes!

Oh, Adam, I was laughing out loud during this video. I soooo appreciate all you do and especially right now. I went to the local emergency department and was admitted with a perforated bowel... This acorn video helped to brighten my day. Gonna miss Thanksgiving and my first OSU Michigan game, ugh. Keep doing what you do and wish me luck, buddie! Happy Thanksgiving.

The segue into that ad was flawless and it brings me joy.

Keep up the great work Adam! Thank you for your contribution to society. You are effectively one of my teachers, indirectly of Course.

Absolutely brilliant, as ever. Thanks so much for sharing, Adam.

This is really well made adam! I was unsure if the squirrel footage was stock or not, if you got it yourself that’s awesome! Proper wildlife stuff! Cool drone shot too! Color grade was tasteful and well balanced too, that main talking shot you did looked balanced throughout despite the lighting change!

Your coffee commercial is by far the best. I hate that I'm commenting on the commercial part of your wonderful video, but I feel that nobody else will. I would like to get the equipment you use in that commercial because it looks delicious like that and I've never tried it when it was done like that. Super video too! I'm going back to look at some of your older ones now. Cheers

Great video once again Adam. I love how this channel combines some of my biggest interests: food, history and biology.

Ragusea, you really have to look into Korean acorn jelly. They taste very bland by itself but certainly not bitter

You just nail it every time. Love the way its presented

Judging from the comments I believe Adam will soon try acorn jelly/dotori-muk soon, so here are some fun facts: 1. Acorn jelly is made from acorn starch, which in turn was quite a chore to produce in the home. Traditionally, water will be changed constantly throughout 3~4 days to get rid of the bitterness caused by tannin. 2. Although mostly utilized as famine relief, acorn jelly was also commonly used for packed lunches or travel food as it stays fresh for days. (I've never tried though, acorn jelly rarely survives that long in my family fridge because somebody's bound to gobble it up.) Currently, acorn jelly is considered a delicacy and at times recommended to people trying to lose weight as it's low in carbs and calories, although the tannin does cause constipation. 3. Legends say that when King Seonjo was fleeing from the Japanese army during the Imjin War of 1592, he was served acorn jelly and either liked it so much or wanted to remind himself of the hardships of war (or possibly a combination of both), that he ordered the royal kitchen to serve acorn jelly after peace was restored. 4. In Kochi prefecture, Japan, there's a type of acorn jelly called kashi dofuカシ豆腐 except it's garnished with yuzu and miso instead of soy sauce. (This is possibly because true soy sauce本格醤油 wasn't popularized in Japan until the 17th century.) It was created by Korean prisoners of war who were forcibly relocated to Japan following the Imjin War.

This video is beautifully shot and that jacket rocks. Great content as always.

God, those ad transitions come out of nowhere, I never know when to expect them, well played.

This video is incredibly well resourced. You have saved me days of looking up acorn and geography and recipes.

GREAT sponsor plug. First time I didn't instantly skip the commercial plug

I like acorn pancakes. The work foraging and processing makes it taste even better!

I've heard that grinding the acorns up and leaving them to soak in a stream for a day or two is pretty effective. It would be interesting to compare this to the boiling and changing water a few times method.

One of the best videos ever. Congratulations 👏🏾

1:50 Adam knows what he is doing

Honestly, as a crazy prepper, I really appreciate this video.

A traditional way to leech out the tannins in acorns was to put them in a large sack bag and let them sit in a running stream for days. I always somewhat liked the taste of acorns.

Adam, your segues into your ads are consistently unparalleled 😂. Great video!

I used to eat raw (white) acorns as a kid. There was an oak tree in my school yard in Spain and it was such a treat to sit underneath the tree during recess and munch on the acorns while playing with friends. I remember acorns as being really tasty.

You're a master at transitioning from the videos to the advertisements. Well done.

Last night I found an acorn that I had collected on a walk, and decided to search online to see if they were edible. I had wondered why we've never seen them in the bins of mixed nuts that show up in the grocery store before the holidays. Today this video shows up in my feed, spooky. Thanks Adam!

That ad transition tho! 👏🏾

Clever, witty, and informative. 👍

My cat likes to go on leashed walks, but sometimes, when we can't take her, I bring in an acron for her to play with - supervised only - and she loves it. I think the acorn brings in the smell of the outdoors for her.

Adam! Could you maybe make a video about some common, often-used herbs and spices? Like how to use them while cooking (using them early on or at the very end) but also how to decide what to use in certain dishes (food pairing of some sorts, and the science behind fat soluble or alcohol soluble flavor compounds)

I have recently become a little obsessed with foraging and processing acorns just for something fun and educational to do. It really is nice to know about different wild foods because it eases some anxiety to know that in the worst case scenarios I can at least not starve to death. Fully leached, I find the acorns kind of bland. They taste almost like bland walnuts after being roasted. I haven't made flour yet but that's my next experiment! Wish me luck! ^_^

My favorite seed-spreading strategy is the chili pepper's: evolve capsaicin, who's fiery disposition repels mammals, but birds are resistant to it. So your main seed-spreaders are flyers, who can travel farther before they poop out the seeds. Brilliant

One method of cold leaching I've heard of is to coarsely grind the deshelled acorns, stick em in a cheese bag, and leave it in the toilet tank for a few days. Flushing will replace the tannin rich water with fresh water, replicating leaching using a stream like certain peoples did.

That transition into the definition of "tanning" was mindblowing. So well taught.

Okay, THAT was an EXCELLENT ad transition. Almost didn't realize it was an ad

I could write a big long comment gushing about your content, but Adam I'll just say thank you once again for your stellar work 🙏✨

Adam’s sense of humor is amazing, his jokes always get me

@3:28 - I've always admired Adam's ad segues, but this one is absolutely MASTERFUL. 🤣

I recently tried processing some live oak acorns at home and making a few cookies out of them. It actually tasted very good and I would actually make them more often if it wasn't for the very long and tedious process of refining them.

here in Brazil, more common in the north of the country, the people of originari develop an immunity, or a high resistance, to hydrocyanic acid because the basis of their cuisine is mandoca, also known as Yuca or Manioca. As you say to do to the acorns, they put cassava roots in bags of palm leaves, at the bottom of small rivers for several days to eliminate part of the hydrocyanic acid. wonderful video

You can also use acorns to feed pigs, to produce excelent spanish style acorn ham (jamon de bellota).

Watching this now….already loving it👌🏾

Informative as always! Keep about your work man!

Honest, fun, and educational. Jolly good!

Just here to say, good job Adam getting that excellent squirrel eating acorn B-roll. It's very good footage and that must have taken some doing.

Huh, learned a lot about tannins in this video! I'm an aquarist/fishkeeper so tannins tend to be a pretty big source of discussion in our community. Things like driftwood and indian almond leaves are used to bring tannins out into the water. We _want_ the tannins in the water because they have beneficial uses in aquariums. Plus, some fish, like bettas, really enjoy tannins in their water. We call tanks that are incredibly heavy on tannins "blackwater" tanks because the water can get so absolutely dark.

GOD your content is so awesome. your research makes me appreciate food all the more

In the Netherlands, white oak acorns are a traditional food for pigs. Not super common anymore since there are now better food sources for them, but still occasionally done on small organic farms to mix things up in the fall

Sometimes I nearly let the intrusive thoughts win and eat them off the ground

Funny that I should come across this video after I made some acorn cookies for thanksgiving! I saw a video a couple months ago on how to process them and knew that my college campus was covered in oak trees. My family did not spit them out and they were actually quite sweet!

This is fairly serendipitous, as just on Saturday I had actually wondered if one could eat acorns. Now I know.

This was straight comedy. I'm sensing Adam doesn't like the taste of acorns.

I've never cared about acorns or nuts but you made it super fun and interesting! I feel like we just had a one on one chat! Love your approach and thanks for doing the leg work.. now I won't bother with acorn flour 🤣

I love content like this so much! Keep up the good work! :)

Exquisite level of sarcasm! I even happily swallowed the coffee advert even though I don't even drink coffee live in Europe. Nice 🎉

I dry the acorns, then crack them open and pull out the meat, coursley grind them in the food processor, then soak them in a gallon jar with cold filtered water, refrigerate and change the water twice daily for a week. Then you can dry and roast them. I substituted a bit in my coffee and it tasted really good

This video reminds me of a wilderness survival video I saw, where the guy would gather acorns, wrap them in a small cloth, and place them in a small flowing stream to cold leech. After a couple days he could come back and they would be edible. If you had a fire going at the time I'm sure he might roast or boil them as well

Love how the "most replayed" portion of the video, is right where the in-video ad ends.

been wanting to figure out our acorns, this video is awesome, thanks for everyones acorn stories

South Korean acorn jelly is one of my favourite ingredients (either as a side dish with a soy sauce based dressing) or in salad. I'd like to know how they process the acorns because they are indeed mass producing acorn starch for the jelly.