Cob Nuts!

System

I have a large tree which generally produces well, have found the gathered ones have lasted months & months just sat in a bowl in the kitchen (still in their shells). Which is handy as there is enough to be doing this time of year. Sometimes you get a few blanks but I have seen this with fresh ones too. Maybe eat any you have picked off the trees sooner, mine is too tall for that which is why I wait for them to drop. When I need them out comes the small hammer then I toast the nuts using a heavy frying pan on low heat, giving them a shake. It's a fun this to do if you having a fire/burn up outside.

henbane

Hi
I pick them green (squirrels!) and as the dehydrator is always at full use this time of year - apples, beans, tomatoes etc I then shell and put them in the dehydrator till completely dry -very tasty. Any not scoffed straight away go in the freezer for winter so I can try to avoid using imported nuts.

If I have the spare cash I buy more from the farmer's market and when a good film comes up sit and watch while I'm shelling nuts. As a bonus you end up with a nice mulch for the garden from all the casings and shells. I also got three extra nut trees that grew from weeviled nuts in the mulch. I potted these frail little seedlings on and they're growing into nice little trees now.
love Henbane

jennyjelly

We're not lucky enough to have any nut trees near us, but does anyone know if I could grow walnut and hazlenut trees from the nuts the shops sell or do you need special 'seed' nuts?

Angelina-M

Well I can't wait any longer, the squirrels are taking them all so in the next few days i'm going to try and gather a pound or so of them.

I toasted a couple in a cast iron pan today and they were delicious.

I shall try the dehydrator trick as well as i'd love to store some away for Christmas.

catherinevegh

Wow... all you busy people.
We have 2 cob nut bushes in the garden....they were full of nuts in August but within a week the squirrels had all of them!!!!
I think I have seen a couple of baby trees growing elsewhere in the garden...may have to dig up and pot on to see what happens!
Sounds good putting them in honey, I suppose you could use a cheap supermarket brand honey and this would make it scrummy!
I have seen storage jars in ASDA for £1 a jar! cheaper than Ikea.

DdraigGoch

Just for anyone who might still be interested, you can preserve cob/hazel nuts for winter by putting up layers of nuts [I've only ever used brown/ripe ones] in layers of salt. Seems to work, apparently. I usually just keep them out on the side in a bowl, with a cloth over to stop the dust!

An easy way to open them is to put them "upside down", ie flat "top" down against a piece of wood/stone and then firmly tap the pointy end. It's a nice, satisfying crack and they open without all that faff of picking bits of shell out of the nut if you've used the nut crackers too hard! Apparently it's how our hunter gatherer ancestors opened them - 'learn something new every day'

ginnyknit

Oh you lucky people, I have only seen them on sale in Manchester at one shop several years ago and I love them. I might just invest in a tree for next year

Ladyhawk

I have a haul of cobnuts that were given to me on Friday. They are still fairly green and I was wonering if anyone had tried the honey method of preserving? I thought that might make another interesting addition to the HM hamper I am making my DB and SIL for Christmas.

And does anyone know if the salt method is for shelled nuts?

niklepic

My 5 y/o son was playing out with one of his friends on the street and has just come home with a handful of hazelnuts that he's found on the edge of the field for me to open. Looks like he learned something from our foraging trip over the weekend :j

Fruball

Awwwwww lovely

and thats fab to have a hazlenut tree nearby! I'd give him a bucket and see how many he can get!!! LOL