Posted by John Dudenhoeffer on September 29, 19100 at 21:57:57:
In Reply to: Re: shelling walnuts posted by Pat on September 19, 19100 at 20:16:33:
: : please advise how to get the green shells off walnuts.
I'd also like to know how to shell. And why this year I don't have as many walnuts as last year?
I did this last year and it worked great. My kids also had a lot of fun doing it. I lifted the rear end of the riding lawn mower and blocked under the axle, but off-center so one rear wheel was on the concrete and the other wheel was about one inch off the pavement. Block the one tire so the tractor doesn't start rolling. I put a snow chain on the lifted tire, started the engine and engaged the transmission in a high gear. I would then throw the walnuts between the rotating tire and the pavement. The "hulled" walnuts come shooting out from under the tire. With the right tire speed and height adjustment, the walnut rolls farther away and the hull doesn't. This helps make it easy to pick out the nuts. It takes a little time to get the tire the right height to hull them easily. Once I got it working, I could hull a bushel in about 15 minutes. My kids loved helping me do it.
If you don't need to hull that many.....
Wait until the hull is about 50% green and 50% black. Step on the on the walnut on a hard surface with old shoes on. This will break the hull. Let them dry for a day or two and the hull will pull away from the nut. Then use a pair of ice tongs to pick the nut from the hull.
Once you get the green hulls off, wash the nuts and get as much of the black off as possible. If you leave too much black on the shells, it makes it hard to keep the meats clean and it also makes the walnuts have a strong flavor.