# Anyone burning crushed acorn shells? Answer is Yes



## Don2222 (May 18, 2011)

Hello

  My neighbor gets tons of acorns every 2 years. I know if a whole acorn can contain moisture and if it was burned, then it would pop or explode. So if the acorns are crushed and dried, will they burn good? Would they still be too dirty?
If not, What is the best way to crush them and dry them?


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## kinsmanstoves (May 18, 2011)

Never heard of them being burned.  My lawnmower crushes them real good or is that chopped?  I will stick with pellets and corn.

Eric


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## Fsappo (May 18, 2011)

Why dont you try it and get back to us, Don?


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## Snowy Rivers (May 18, 2011)

Should work fine

I have been burning Hazelnut shells (Filberts) for 18 years now in my pellet stoves and they do fine.

Dry the acorn shells and crush them so the largest pieces are no bigger than your little finger nail and youm should do fine.

The Hazelnut shells I burn are crushed and they work wonderful
I would expect a little more ash than the pellets leave but otherwise they should do fine.

Just make sure that the shells are DRY

Snowy


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## SmokeyTheBear (May 18, 2011)

Don,

If the acorns are ripe you can crack them open and make flour out of the nut meat inside.

I'm sure you can dry and burn them, just remember you need an exhaust system that can handle corrosive combustion byproducts and be prepared for high ash and plenty of clinkers.

You might also want to be certain that there is no pesticide that was applied by air in the area.  Some of the pesticide residues if burned produce "bad stuff".

I once looked at making some acorn flour, as I have many oak trees and lots of acorns on the lot.

Let us know how things go with your experiment.


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## Delta-T (May 18, 2011)

SmokeyTheBear said:
			
		

> Don,
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do you not have to blanch the acorns in water a few times first? I vaguely remember reading something about that.


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## SmokeyTheBear (May 18, 2011)

Delta-T said:
			
		

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I can't remember much about the process as I quickly came to the conclusion that it was a lot of work.  One of these days when there is a bumper crop we might give it a whirl, likely there will be a reduction in the resident squirrel population.  Maybe I should harvest some of them as well.  

So here is one method: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Acorn-Flour

We use a lot of flour, there is always close to 100 pounds in the house.  We haven't bought any bread in the last four years.  Yeast, flour, and other ingredients make homemade bread both cheaper and a lot better.


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## heat seeker (May 18, 2011)

Our neighbor uses acorns for hog feed - they love it! It's very expensive to buy, so he's happy to rake under neighbors' oak trees. This year the crop was unbelievable! Under one tree, we must have gotten 4-500 pounds of acorns (big tree)! 
Burning them seems like a good idea to me - just have to figure out how to dry and crush them.


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## woodchip (May 18, 2011)

heat seeker said:
			
		

> Our neighbor uses acorns for hog feed - they love it! It's very expensive to buy, so he's happy to rake under neighbors' oak trees.



In the New Forest, they put pigs out every fall to eat the acorns (called pannage here) so they do not get eaten by the ponies, the pigs love them, they are poisonous to ponies. 

http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/pigs

Never knew about acorn flour, learn something every day here


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## Don2222 (May 18, 2011)

Snowy Rivers said:
			
		

> Should work fine
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> I have been burning Hazelnut shells (Filberts) for 18 years now in my pellet stoves and they do fine.
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Hi Snowy

Thanks so much for the info. Knowing what size to crush them to is half the battle!

Something like this Elite Nut Chopper should do the job!! *What do you think??*
from  http://www.thehomemarketplace.com/H...ferralID=e4299e03-8182-11e0-891e-001b2166c2c0

Product Detail
Prep foods fast with this electric chopper. Just press the button to chop, dice, mince, puree or grind up to 1Â½ cups of veggies, nuts, chocolate, or meat. Compact size stores easily. ETL listed. Dishwasher-safe plastic bowl/metal blade. 7Â¾â€Lx4Â¼â€Wx5Â¾â€H.


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## Fsappo (May 18, 2011)

That would be a lot of chopping for a little fuel looks like.  Should be a way to crush them by the bushel or something.


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## Delta-T (May 18, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

> That would be a lot of chopping for a little fuel looks like.  Should be a way to crush them by the bushel or something.



hammer mill? herd of buffalo? either/or.


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## summit (May 18, 2011)

I bet a multi fuel unit's burnpot could handle it, but the auger might not: either you get them crushed too small, and get a fines jam, or too large and hard jam it.


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## Fsappo (May 18, 2011)

Delta-T said:
			
		

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The cast of the view in clogs?


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## heat seeker (May 18, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

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Put them on the stage of Riverdance?


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## heat seeker (May 18, 2011)

woodchip said:
			
		

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That's interesting -  I enjoyed the read. Thanks!


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## Don2222 (May 19, 2011)

SmokeyTheBear said:
			
		

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Hello Smokey

Here are some flour and pancake videos from acorn meat!!

Cooking With Tam - Acorn Bread (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGjoTlzujYY

Cooking With Tam - Acorn Bread (Part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI8JN4_wKa4

Cooking With Tam - Acorn Bread (Pt 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X48zTVasE7o

Acorno Acorn Store in Burlington VT where you can buy Acorns and Acorn Flour. See pics below!!
http://www.acorno.com/acornflour/

Video to make Pancakes from Acorns using your blender!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efEBIK1CmfY


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## Don2222 (May 19, 2011)

summit said:
			
		

> I bet a multi fuel unit's burnpot could handle it, but the auger might not: either you get them crushed too small, and get a fines jam, or too large and hard jam it.



Hello Summit

If Snowy Rivers can burn his nut shells in a Whitfield with no issues, then we can burn acorns with no problems!
They just have to be prepared properly as Snowy says!


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## Fsappo (May 19, 2011)

Jeeze, for that money I'll start collecting acorns.


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## SmokeyTheBear (May 19, 2011)

Don2222 said:
			
		

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Hello Don,

I believe that Snowy actually had to make a spreader and add a plate to her Whitfield's burn pots because the shells are smaller then the pellets and had a tendency to fall through.  However I'm sure she will tell you all about it if you ask her.

As for the acorn flour recipes I think with the hundreds of thousands of old recipes I might have that ground well covered.   Heck, I even managed to do pioneer pickles just from a list of ingredients on the inside of the back cover of my Grandmother's cook book.  There was no information on the process at all.  The interwebby and Google soon led to uncovering the process.  I'll be doing some more of them provided I get plenty of cucumbers this year.

Delta-T,

Was the information at the acorn flour page about what you were thinking.   It isn't exactly something that is quick, but then a lot of things aren't.   I do a pickle that takes seven days from start to putting them in the jar.    I've even been known to have two batches of them in the works at a time while making other things.  Last year I even canned tomato sauce, normally I would freeze it, had too many ripe tomatoes so did 39 pints in jars.  Wanted freezer space for other things.


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## SmokeyTheBear (May 19, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

> Jeeze, for that money I'll start collecting acorns.



It's a lot of work.


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## Fsappo (May 19, 2011)

Work?  fuggetaboutit.  I'm sure that if  I was so inclined I could devise a way to suck up the acorns and process them.


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## SmokeyTheBear (May 19, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

> Work?  fuggetaboutit.  I'm sure that if  I was so inclined I could devise a way to suck up the acorns and process them.



I believe that when nuts are commercially harvested they actually shake the nuts out of the trees onto a tarp or some such cover placed around the trees.  This makes the first step fairly fast.  Then the nuts get the automated shelling and separation treatment.  To do this by hand is quite slow, then you still have to process the nut meat to remove the tannin.

The really big problem with local acorns is that without proper attention to worm control you have to inspect the nuts before removing the meat to make into flour.   This also leads back to my remark about pesticides residue and "bad stuff".

Like I said lots of work.  Some of which must be done long before harvesting the acorns, easier to do the fuel part than the flour part.


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## Delta-T (May 19, 2011)

SMokey- neat stuff about acorn flour. I had taken a class in "Colonial Living" where we learned about a lot of these things, but it has somehow escaped from my brain trap. I even heard of burying acorns to leech the toxins our. Leave it to those indigenous people to figure this stuff out...smarter than the average bear...no pun intended, just pure coincidence. I like things that take time..like Amish Friendship Bread, yeah, its a funky mass of fermented gooo, but it makes very tasty bread. Never made pickles....hmmm.


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## harttj (May 19, 2011)

Don2222 said:
			
		

> Hello
> 
> My neighbor gets tons of acorns every 2 years. I know if a whole acorn can contain moisture and if it was burned, then it would pop or explode. So if the acorns are crushed and dried, will they burn good? Would they still be too dirty?
> If not, What is the best way to crush them and dry them?



I've burnt accorns.  Several bushels this year.  Augered fine, good heat.  Worst part is gathering them. 

Lay them out no more than 6 inches thick to dry or they started to mold.

Tim


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## SmokeyTheBear (May 19, 2011)

harttj said:
			
		

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Hi Tim,

Did you dry and burn the whole acorn?


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## harttj (May 19, 2011)

SmokeyTheBear said:
			
		

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Air dryer in a wagon.  No idea of the final moisture content.  Whole accorns hats and all.  The Maxim has large augers.


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## Don2222 (May 19, 2011)

harttj said:
			
		

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Hello Tim

Nice to know there is a wood pellet burner out there that can burn whole acorns! THANKS Tim

Maxim sales site
http://www.maximheat.com/models

From  http://woodpelletsreviews.com/Reviews/Boilers/Maxim-M175-Wood-Pellet-Corn-Boiler.html
Central Boiler manufacturers the Maxim outdoor wood pellet and corn furnace. The Maxim outdoor wood pellet and corn furnace can heat an entire home, multiple buildings along with domestic water. The Maxim doesn't take up valuable living space like indoor wood pellet stoves or corn stoves and is able to heat for days on a single fuel load. It is also efficient, saves as much as 75% on your heating costs and reduces your dependence on foreign oil by heating with renewable energy.

Maxim M175

$7,234 MSRP*

Door

13.5" x 15.5"

Weight

1,200 lbs.

Water Capacity

90 Gallons

Maximum Btu

175,000

Hopper Capacity

7 Bushel (360 lbs.)

Two 4-foot chimney sections are standard.

Optional transfer auger and optional

43-bushel hex hopper available.

Optional hopper extension kit available.


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## Don2222 (May 22, 2011)

Hello

Well, Burning Acorn Shells seem to be very plausible. Thanks to everyone's response!! If anyone knows of a better Nut Chopper please let us know.

From the answers above, here is the process:

*1. Gather the acorns and put them in a container not more than 6" deep to dry in the sun.
Thanks harttj for the above info

2. If you do not have a Maxim M175 with large augers then you must crush the acorns to the size of your smallest finger's fingernail.

3. Use an electric nut chopper such as the Elite Nut Chopper to grind up the shells.*
http://www.thehomemarketplace.com/H...ferralID=e4299e03-8182-11e0-891e-001b2166c2c0

Now there is one other change that depends upon your burn pot and feed rates.

*Thanks to Snowy River who burns Hazel Nut shells, this is what was done to the burn pot to keep the shells burning.*

Two changes to the pot on the Advantage 2T

I added a stainless filler plate with rows of small air holes to kep the shells from falling through the grate
Added a little steel bar in the pot that aligns with the center of the drop tube.

The bar scatters the shell pieces over the fire, otherwise the stuff just falls into a pile in the middle of the pot and builds up a little CONE.

Over a few hours the pile of shells will just char and continue to gather in size.

The â€œscatter barâ€ works fairly well to Help eliminate the issue.

Not perfect but quite workable.

(Two Piccys posted)
Since this piccy was taken I have replaced the little small square plate that the bar is bolted to, with a piece that goes the full width of the fire tray to stop shells from flying out into the surrounding part of the firebox.


During cleaning I found that there was more shells laying unburned in the front of the firebox than was acceptable.

Now with the new piece bolted in, this is eliminated.

The shells slide down the chute, hit the bar and scatter over the pot area. With the lengthened front â€œBackstopâ€ at times the material hits the plate, then falls back onto the fire.

Usually the Advantage can go all day without my having to stir the pot.

I keep the airflow cranked up a bit (draft rod pulled out about 1/2â€ from the stop)

I can only make this adjustment after the fire has burned for a hour or so and has established a good bed of coals.

A fresh clean fire pot will burn almost all the shell material between feed cycles on the low setting if I give it too much air right off.

After the hour run time, there is enough coals though to keep the fire active.

I only run the stove on the LOW setting with shells.

This is a 2 second feed and a 7 second burn cycle.
Number 2 setting is 2 on and 5 off and will build more fire than I want for long term burning.

The stove runs hot enough that even on low the stack stays plenty hot so as to not accumulate burnable condensate in the outer end of the pipe.

The little Prodigy is slightly different.

The burn pot is built a tad different and required a slightly different scatter bar to do the job.

A similar idea, but different shape is all.


The first Piccy is the Advantage 2T

The second Piccy is the Prodigy under fire

Snowy


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## stoveguy2esw (May 24, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

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OMFG!! (beer hurts in the nasal passages)  definate quote of the day!!


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## WoodPorn (May 24, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

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*******NEWS FLASH********

Star Jones is now part of the cast of River Dance!
She is said to be partnered up with Rosie O'Donell and practicing in the S. New Hampshire area wearing custom orthotic shoes designed by a new comer named "Don".
Don says "the Acorn inserts build balance and stamina"...nevermind the barrels of by-product....


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