Beech-nut Flour

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Processing the pods is actually quite straightforward. The nuts are easily husked by hand simply by rubbing bunches of them between towels and then picking out the husks. The husks do have spikes, but unlike sweet chestnut husks, these are not particularly sharp. More like Velcro hooks than spikes.

After the outer husks are removed, allow the nuts to dry for about 2-3 weeks. Like most nuts, the interior nut meat is pretty wet right off the tree and the flavour improves with a bit of maturing. Simply remove the outer husk and then lay the nuts out in a single layer in a well-ventilated indoor space for a few weeks.

Once cured, beech nuts will keep for years provided the shell of the nut is fully intact (middle image). Unless you plan to use the nuts right away, store the nuts in their shells after curing.
When you do plan to use the beechnuts immediately, the next step is to remove the inner leathery shell. This, I’ll admit, is time-consuming if you’re harvesting beechnuts in quantity. The shell is thin, and you can easily peel it apart with your fingernails or quickly crack it between your teeth before pulling it apart.

The next part depends on whether you are collecting European beech nuts Fagus sylvatica or American beech Fagus grandifolia. European beech nuts are brown when they come out of the husk, and they’re coated by a secondary papery husk. This papery husk has tiny hairs that can cause throat irritation and should be removed. Simply rub the shelled nuts between two towels and then pick out the white nuts. American beech nuts emerge naked (white).

Once you have the nut meats, you need to toast them in a pan about 3-5 minutes until fragrant. The cooking neutralizes any toxins present in the nuts, and gives them a wonderful flavour. As with hazelnuts, roasting also makes them more digestible. If you roast them darker you can grind them in a coffee grinder and use as a coffee substitute (which really is one of the best you can forage). Though personally I like a blend of dark roasted beech nut and roasted dandelion roots for my wild food coffee.

In Europe beechnuts are still used for cooking. The French press out the rich oil for flavourful salad dressings at a rate of about 1l of oil to 5kg of nuts. In fact, it was the enticement of home-made beech oil that made me purchase a mini oil press.

Historically, in the US, beechnuts were ground into flour and cooked into cakes. Settlers extended the life of their wheat flour by replacing half of it with beech flour in cakes, and at the same time got a more flavourful and nutritious cake as a result. Beech flour, like many other types of flour adulterant was common in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Now that you know how to prepare beech nuts, it’s actually easy to make beech nut flour. In fact, the process is almost exactly the same as making ground hazelnuts. Simply extract the inner nut, remove its outer furry husk (for European beech) then roast the inner nut meat in an oven heated to 150C (300F) until dry (about 30-40 minutes). Allow to cool, then grind them into powder, and store the flour in the freezer (it won’t last long outside the freezer due to the high oil and protein content; it will go rancid). Use at about 20% beech nut flour to 80% wheat flour.

Beech nut flour can be used as an adulterant for wheat flour at a 1:4 ration and can be substituted in any recipe that calls for ground hazelnuts.

Beech-nut Flour

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