You may also wish to wear a helmet to protect your head from falling nuts.
Once the nuts are in season, they’ll begin falling off the trees.
The nuts will have a yellowish-green color when they’re mature. [5] X Research source Don’t wait until they turn brown or become mottled.
You can also gather mature nuts from the tree by shaking the tree or knocking the nuts down with a pole. [9] X Research source
Nuts that are allowed to remain in the hulls too long will turn black and develop a rancid taste.
You can also try rolling the nut under a heavy board or boot to get the hull off.
This method should cause the hulls to come off but leave the hard, inner shells intact.
To find a hulling station near you, try doing a search with terms like “black walnut hulling stations in Missouri. ” Most hulling stations are owned by a parent company that will purchase nuts from local harvesters. Harvesting nuts and selling them to hulling stations is a good way to earn a side income if there are lots of black walnut trees in your area.
Discard any nuts that float to the surface. The good nuts should sink in water.
Alternatively, you can spread the nuts out in a thin layer on the ground to dry. [16] X Research source However, you’ll need to keep them someplace where they’ll be protected from animals and the elements, such as a screened-in porch. You can tell when the nuts are dry enough by shaking the shells. You should hear the nutmeat rattling inside. [17] X Research source
You probably won’t be able to crack black walnuts with a regular hand-held nutcracker. To crack multiple nuts at once, place up to 100 of them in a burlap bag and hit the bag with a mallet several times to crack the shells. You’ll need to separate the nut fragments from the cracked shells by hand. If you don’t want to crack the nuts right away, put them in a bag and store them at 32–40 °F (0–4 °C). [20] X Research source
Healthy black walnut kernels should range from light to dark brown on the outside, and off-white or cream colored on the inside.
If you store the nuts in your freezer, place them in jars or freezer bags labeled with the date. You can also use the nuts immediately after you crack them, if you prefer.
