I usually shell the acorns soon after I’ve gathered them, and fill plastic sandwich bags and put them in the freezer, to leach later. I have two ways of using leached acorns. I either add them to a recipe that needs cooking, or I simmer the thoroughly leached acorns in water for about fifteen minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly, (they can stick to the pan and burn). After they cool, I freeze this water and meal. The freezing separates the mush from the water. Freezing in two-cup size portions, after thawing, (don’t thaw out in the microwave or using heat, you’ll get porridge,) I like to turn them into a kitchen strainer. You can also just squeeze the water out of the thawed acorns, and you now have a fabulous food to cook with.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
suellenocean 