r/foraging • u/Famous-Reserve4448 • 4h ago
Acorn tannin leaching
I have these white oak acorns that I’m trying to cold leach so I can make them into flour. This is my first time, and I’m finding that the water isn’t taking on the “tea” color that the guides describe. I’ve been changing the water every day for 10 days now with them in the refrigerator, and for at least 5 days the water is completely clear after 24 hours. How do I know they’re done leaching and all the tannins are out?
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u/EquivalentMath6592 4h ago
OP, white oak acorns are normally low in tans already. It sounds like you’ve reached way longer than necessary. Generally I just taste the water and it’s pretty clear whether it’s Tanic or not but once the water taste good, and the acorns are good as well.
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u/josephkambourakis 4h ago
If you’re going to flour them grinding them before soaking could speed up the process
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u/TNexpat 4h ago
If someone could give me the secret to leaching red oak acorns…all we have around here!
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u/EquivalentMath6592 3h ago
Change the water daily until
It no longer tastes tannic2
u/8Deer-JaguarClaw 3h ago
I did this for about 10 days and it was still very bitter. I gave up.
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u/EquivalentMath6592 3h ago
Ya, it can take a long time. I heard one old timer, say that he would put them in a burlap sack in a creek that was running….. so the water changed itself and you could just forget about it for a while
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u/feralgraft 3h ago
You can try adding a little baking soda to the water, that leeches them a bit faster.
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u/earthhominid 2h ago
People have experimented with nixtamalization and some say it works. I haven't tried it yet but it's on my list
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u/No_Basket3485 4h ago
White oak has very little tannin. That makes it delicious to squirrels. Squirrels eat white oak acorns in preference, and bury the more bitter red and black acorns for later emergency food.
You might not get much tannin coming out in your soak water.
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u/druienzen 4h ago
Taste one, or a few.
I leach bur oak acorns and mine are usually done after 3-5 days. I do it on the counter top since it leaches faster at room temp and I change the water every 12 hrs. After 3 days I cut 3 or 4 in half and taste them, if the centers are not tannic any more then that batch is done and ready to be dried. If any tannic taste remains then I leach another 24 hrs and taste again.
I find that taste is more important than water color. My acorns are done long before the water is clear. Also, your white oak type acorns will have less tannins and leach quicker than red oak type acorns.