Is it safe to eat raw acorns?

Question

I saw one on my street, and thought, thats a good free snack. But i'd better check first, just to make sure...I'm not a nutter realy...No pun intended...

And if it's not safe to eat raw acorns after washing them, are there any ways that you can consume them. I have heard of acorn coffee a few times though...

Answer 1

You have come to the right place here. The only acorn that can be eaten raw without you spitting it out is the acorn of the white oak tree, otherwise the tannin in the acorn is too hard to digest. And it taste horrible. But since you are curious, here goes.
When you pick acorns you will notice that most of them will have a small black speck on them. Caution. There is a grub growing inside. It was an egg layed by a spieces of wasp. It is harmless, but not appealing to view.
When you gather enough acorns, remove that brown cap and discard. Next, with a knife you want to open up the green husk. What you now have is what is called the meat of that acorn. Its whiteish in apperance. This is where you might fine the grub. If you fine a grub, discard, go to the next acorn nut. When you fine a good one set aside. To be followed with a whole bunch of good ones. preferably about 2 cups worth of good acorn meat.
You will want to save one cup of acorn meat in the freezer of your fridge. The other cup of acorn you want to chop up into quarter sections or smaller. This you will boil in water until the water turns a brown color. drain the water add new hot water and repeat the steps of boiling. This process is long but worth the effort. It will take several hours of boiling and exchanging the water. What you are doing by this is removing the bitter tasting tannin in the nut. Once you start ending up with relatively clear water of boilling, sample a piece of the cooked acorn nut. It shouldn't be bitter.
Next: That cooked acorn can now be mixed with corn meal to make a acorn/cornbread. Mix with a little honey and it makes a good coffee break snack.
The acorn (cooked) can be used along with other recipes that require nuts. It makes for a good addition to any nut cake.

Answer 2

Raw acorn contain a lot of tannins which would make them very bitter.

What the Native Americans (in the USA) did was to grind the acorns and rinse in a lot of water. The rinsing washed away the tannins and you were left with an edible mash which I think they cooked on hot rocks.

Here's a recipe for preparing and using acorn: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/recipes/squirrel.html

Answer 3

It probably will not hurt you, but it may taste bitter. I understand that White Oak acorns are the best for eating and making acorn flour. You would have to look up the best method of preparation. Grandpa

Answer 4

http://www.grandpappy.info/racorns.htm
all you need to know about eating acorns

Answer 5

Only if you're a squirrel.

Answer 6

i would not take the chance NO!

YOU'LL get sick maybe and get run's or eck who knows