Pickled Walnuts

[The Sporting Bookshop]

Anyone on here make pickled walnuts? I've been making them for years with mixed success. I now have my own recipe but does anyone want to share some ideas? I have just picked 2 batches 1 for pickling the other to make Vin de Noix.

 

[enfieldspares]

We never had any success, Pricking, pre-brining, they never did come out like they did from a jar of Opies. We gave up in the end. I wonder if, at the old house, the walnut tree is still there.

 

[kes]

Keen to see any responses as I have just planted one and hope to live to try pickling. "A woman, a dog and a walnut tree; the harder they are beaten, the better they be"
Would this help ?

 

[User00035]

Hope someone can master it because I love em. But the supermarket ones are too sweet.

 

[Stalker62]

Keen to see any responses as I have just planted one and hope to live to try pickling. "A woman, a dog and a walnut tree; the harder they are beaten, the better they be"
Would this help ?

Whilst I cannot condone domestic violence or animal cruelty.....

‘The old custom of beating a walnut-tree was carried out firstly to fetch down the fruit and secondly to break the long shoots and so encourage the production of short fruiting spurs’

 

[kes]

Whilst I cannot condone domestic violence or animal cruelty.....

‘The old custom of beating a walnut-tree was carried out firstly to fetch down the fruit and secondly to break the long shoots and so encourage the production of short fruiting spurs’

I believe it was also, perhaps incidentally, to remove dead twigs/branches to reduce the risk of fungal attack.

 

[User00035]

Possibly it helped trees to pollinate as well. Walnut trees are self-fertile so they can pollinate themselves to produce fruit. But they're not very good at bringing both their male and female parts into receptivity at the same time so a lot of pollen goes to waste. Commercial growers plant different varieties that become receptive at different times together to maximise the chances of pollen finding a receptive stigma. They also plant in grids rather than lines so that whichever way the wind is blowing the pollen will find another tree.
Maybe beating the trees at the right time assisted the release of pollen which would increase the crop. Don't know.

 

[geoffw]

Yes, and vin de noix, and nocino. My understanding is that timing the picking is everything. I'm in the Chilterns and picked 2wks ago- depending on where you are I'd have thought you were cutting it a little fine on them having hardened- but would be v happy to hear otherwise? Can you run a pin through them? I like this recipe (Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw) and could be tempted to try his szechuan variant if I ever amassed a surfeit

 

[jubnut]

I have pickled walnuts for the last three seasons using a recipe from the field magazine. Seems to work pretty well. I'll see if I can photograph the recipe.

 

[jubnut]

Our tree aren't worth picking until October.

 

[jubnut]

Yes, and vin de noix, and nocino. My understanding is that timing the picking is everything. I'm in the Chilterns and picked 2wks ago- depending on where you are I'd have thought you were cutting it a little fine on them having hardened- but would be v happy to hear otherwise? Can you run a pin through them? I like this recipe (Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw) and could be tempted to try his szechuan variant if I ever amassed a surfeit

I do the pin thing.

Our walnuts aren't ready until October ish.

 

[The Sporting Bookshop]

Yes, and vin de noix, and nocino. My understanding is that timing the picking is everything. I'm in the Chilterns and picked 2wks ago- depending on where you are I'd have thought you were cutting it a little fine on them having hardened- but would be v happy to hear otherwise? Can you run a pin through them? I like this recipe (Pickled Walnuts Recipe - How to Make Pickled Walnuts | Hank Shaw) and could be tempted to try his szechuan variant if I ever amassed a surfeit

I Have used various recipes over the years and each year i refine them . It's a shame i hadn't seen this recipe before because it is almost identical to the one i'm going to use this year, I am happy with my pickle but i have made mistakes in the past by over brining them and over cooking, which makes them too soft. Yes I am cutting it fine but it's the earliest i have harvested them mainly due to their size, i think i am ok though; I have had a couple of years where they were a bit 'crispy' but still edible enough. I haven't made vin de noix for a few years now but i love it.

 

[Olaf]

I do the pin thing.

Our walnuts aren't ready until October ish.

Absolutely, it’s the key isn’t it. I think the main stumbling block for failure is picking them too late. As long as the shell hasn’t formed under that green outer casing they are no more problematic to pickle than a beetroot or onion etc.
i particularly like to eat our pickled walnuts on some homemade bread with some of my home made fallow venison and hazelnut salami noisette ( sounds pompous but it’s virtually free of cost food And is delicious)
pickled walnuts are a bit of a marmite type thing though arnt they. Thankfully I like them.
pickled walnut and tarragon butter melted over a seared fallow steak is also delicious!
kindest regards, Olaf

 

[The Sporting Bookshop]

As long as the shell hasn’t formed under that green outer casing they are no more problematic to pickle than a beetroot or onion etc.

Absolutely, it’s the key isn’t it. I think the main stumbling block for failure is picking them too late. As long as the shell hasn’t formed under that green outer casing they are no more problematic to pickle than a beetroot or onion etc.
i particularly like to eat our pickled walnuts on some homemade bread with some of my home made fallow venison and hazelnut salami noisette ( sounds pompous but it’s virtually free of cost food And is delicious)
pickled walnuts are a bit of a marmite type thing though arnt they. Thankfully I like them.
pickled walnut and tarragon butter melted over a seared fallow steak is also delicious!
kindest regards, Olaf

The pin test is not that reliable because even when the shell has started to form the pin will still pierce it- result crunchy walnuts and secondly pickling beetroot and onions is relatively straightforward compared to walnuts hence why it has taken me quite a few years to perfect the recipe. You will find plenty of recipes for pickled walnuts out there but all vary hugely. Some advocate brining for 2 weeks, some a strong solution others a medium one; some advocate cooking for 15 minutes others for lesser amounts. I'm not sure how long you have been making them but if you found a recipe that worked first time you are lucky.

 

[sh1kar]

On the one occasion I tried it the walnuts were perfect as cut one in half to test the shell. I brined for about 3 days I think then rinsed out, dried and put in the pickle mix. They were all crunchy. I suspect the shell keeps maturing in the brine and indeed the brine drying process may even induce hardening

Next time I have a go I am just going to bang them straight into the pickle mix

S

 

[The Sporting Bookshop]

On the one occasion I tried it the walnuts were perfect as cut one in half to test the shell. I brined for about 3 days I think then rinsed out, dried and put in the pickle mix. They were all crunchy. I suspect the shell keeps maturing in the brine and indeed the brine drying process may even induce hardening

Next time I have a go I am just going to bang them straight into the pickle mix

S

That's not a bad idea although i think the ones you are referring to were left a while before they were brined. Once in the brine they stop developing.

 

[martin_b]

I can stop the tree rats from pinching all of mine! The tree is now about 10 years old and Ive yet to have a nut from it. This year we appear to have quite a good crop but we'll see as they say.

 

[shakey jake]

I can stop the tree rats from pinching all of mine! The tree is now about 10 years old and Ive yet to have a nut from it. This year we appear to have quite a good crop but we'll see as they say.

cage traps baited with peanuts, save the squirrels you shoot and make rillet, pretty sure they will go well together on bread

 

[biffo]

Recipe for vin de noix ??

 

[Olaf]

The pin test is not that reliable because even when the shell has started to form the pin will still pierce it- result crunchy walnuts and secondly pickling beetroot and onions is relatively straightforward compared to walnuts hence why it has taken me quite a few years to perfect the recipe. You will find plenty of recipes for pickled walnuts out there but all vary hugely. Some advocate brining for 2 weeks, some a strong solution others a medium one; some advocate cooking for 15 minutes others for lesser amounts. I'm not sure how long you have been making them but if you found a recipe that worked first time you are lucky.

Hi, I’ve been making them most summers for the past 30 odd years. We had a few batches that were not that super early on owing to harvesting the walnuts too late but , since then , all batches have been lovely. Also, I don’t religiously stick to the same recipe every year, that would be boring. I think that people often overthink things like this, making things very complicated, to the point that they don’t even try, or just loose sight of the plain obvious.
Sorry to hear that you struggled with the humble art of walnut pickling. It sounds like you have got there in the end though.
i wish you many more jars of sweet success.

Kindest regards, Olaf