# Pecans



## forty_caliber

The new property has 4 massive (75 - 100 ft tall)pecan trees on the grounds.  I've never seen so many pecans.  The outer husks are still green and just beginning to split. Harvest for zone 8 is said to be September/October.   

How does one go about harvesting this crop?  Any tricks of the trade to share?  How do you get the husks off?

The squirrels seem rather happy about the nuts too, but if they don't stop dropping them on the roof, I'm gonna need a recipe for fricassee. 

.40


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## CraigC

I can't answer your question, but make sure you prune them trees and season them trimmings! Can't get much better smoking wood than pecan. I bet pecan fattened squirrel might be tasty.


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## Mad Cook

forty_caliber said:


> The new property has 4 massive (75 - 100 ft tall)pecan trees on the grounds.  I've never seen so many pecans.  The outer husks are still green and just beginning to split. Harvest for zone 8 is said to be September/October.
> 
> How does one go about harvesting this crop?  Any tricks of the trade to share?  How do you get the husks off?
> 
> The squirrels seem rather happy about the nuts too, but if they don't stop dropping them on the roof, I'm gonna need a recipe for fricassee.
> 
> .40


Are they related to walnuts? There used to be an old English saying "A woman, a dog and a walnut tree - the more you beat 'em the better they be" I don't recommend the first two but beating the walnut tree to bring down the nuts was supposed to sort of prune it as well and encourage more sprouting. It might work with pecans.

Is it true that a Pecan tree can bear fruit for as long as 300 years? Can't remember where I read it as it was years ago.

[Incidentally, is it pee-cans (as we say it) or puca-a-rns as an American chef calls them on TV?]


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## CraigC

Mad Cook said:


> [Incidentally, is it pee-cans (as we say it) or puca-a-rns as an American chef calls them on TV?]



Six one way,1/2 a dozen the other. I call them puh caans.


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## Addie

CraigC said:


> Six one way,1/2 a dozen the other. I call them puh caans.



As a Bostonian, I pronounce the "a" as ah in pecan. Pa cahn How would Queen Elizabeth pronounce it?


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## forty_caliber

Addie said:


> As a Bostonian, I pronounce the "a" as ah in pecan. Pa cahn How would Queen Elizabeth pronounce it?



In native Texan it is pronounced puh-caan.  

.40


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## GotGarlic

There are quite a few pecan trees in my neighborhood. I don't have one, but walking around, I see pecans in the shells lying on the ground, so I think the husk just comes off when they're ready. Or maybe the husk becomes the shell as it dries. Here's an entertaining description I found: http://www.texaspecantrees.com/Harvesting_Pecans.html


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## bakechef

In this part of the country you hear it both ways, Puh-cahns, pee-cans etc..  

I just call them delicious!


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## Mad Cook

Addie said:


> As a Bostonian, I pronounce the "a" as ah in pecan. Pa cahn *How would Queen Elizabeth pronounce it? *


To be honest, the subject has never come up in our conversations when she's popped in for a cuppa

Seriously though, as the topic has arisen, here's a picture you might find interesting. The Queen made a visit to Marple while touring the north west of England in 1968 and visited a project that I had been involved in. The girl second from the left in the hat, next to the girl in uniform, is me aged 19. I have always thought I was probably chosen to be presented  because I was still at school so wouldn't lose a day's pay!  The woman facing the line up is HM - not a very flattering shot. She shook my hand - I didn't wash for a week.

http://visitmarple.co.uk/photos/albums/uploads/new/events/queen_visit_09.jpg

This is a better one of her on the same occasion:-

http://visitmarple.co.uk/photos/albums/uploads/new/events/queen_visit_11.jpg

(Photos courtesy of the "Manchester Evening News" and the Marple Website)

My parents were watching from the bridge above the canal bank where we were lined up. According to my mother, my dad, who always professed to be an anti-monarchist, was very taken with the Queen when he saw he in the flesh.


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## medtran49

I _think_ my grandmother used to put sheets around the tree and then they either beat on it with a stick or shook it depending on how big the tree was. The sheets made it easier to gather them up. As a kid I really didn't pay that much attention but I think I remember them talking about doing it. By the time I was old enough to pay attention to things like that, they had retired and sold the farm. 

FYI though, pecan trees tend to get brittle and shed their branches, as well as fall over in wind storms. Craig's last batch of smoking wood came from my cousin-in-law's property where a tree had fallen over several months previously in a wind storm.


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## Hoot

We have  and have had pecans here as long as I can remember.
The green husks will open up and the nut will fall to the ground. We generally let 'em sit for a week or two to finish drying, but you can use them as soon as you pick 'em up, if you want/need to. 
Here at Casa de Hoot, we pronounce it pee-can.
You will likely need one of these devices
Pecan Picker Upper
You can find this device at most hardware stores. Saves your back from a whole lot of bending over.
Better yet, if you got kids/grand kids, they can help a lot.


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## CWS4322

Covering my ears with my hands. I do NOT want to hear about your pecans. I am so jealous!!!!!!! Lucky you!


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## Addie

Mad Cook said:


> To be honest, the subject has never come up in our conversations when she's popped in for a cuppa
> 
> Seriously though, as the topic has arisen, here's a picture you might find interesting. The Queen made a visit to Marple while touring the north west of England in 1968 and visited a project that I had been involved in. The girl second from the left in the hat, next to the girl in uniform, is me aged 19. I have always thought I was probably chosen to be presented  because I was still at school so wouldn't lose a day's pay!  The woman facing the line up is HM - not a very flattering shot. She shook my hand - I didn't wash for a week.
> 
> http://visitmarple.co.uk/photos/albums/uploads/new/events/queen_visit_09.jpg
> 
> This is a better one of her on the same occasion:-
> 
> http://visitmarple.co.uk/photos/albums/uploads/new/events/queen_visit_11.jpg
> 
> (Photos courtesy of the "Manchester Evening News" and the Marple Website)
> 
> My parents were watching from the bridge above the canal bank where we were lined up. According to my mother, my dad, who always professed to be an anti-monarchist, was very taken with the Queen when he saw he in the flesh.



I must say I like your hat more than hers. And as pretty as she has always been, you are so sweet looking. She always though has had a beautiful smile.


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## CWS4322

Lee Valley. which I believe has outlets in the US, sells a nut and fruit gatherer. I gave one of these to a friend who had an acorn issue in CT.

Lee Valley Tools - Important Announcement


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## GLC

The commercial growers, when they become ready, when the hulls open and expose the nut shell, use mechanized shakers, heavy trucks with an arm that grabs the tree and shakes it, letting the nuts fall into tarps spread under it. 






But the rest of us pick them up as they drop or "thrash" for them. Thrashing is just throwing a stout stick into the tree repeatedly to knock the nuts loose. I know a number of Texas cities with ordinances criminalizing thrashing of trees not your own. 

The squirrels will do considerable damage, especially at times like this when the drought hasn't left them much else. They will take a bite out of a green pecan and drop it. They don't seem to know when they're ready, or they're just bored. Pecan pie makes a good dessert following fricassee of squirrel. 

The shell situation depends. There are native pecans that are small with tough shells. Very good meat, but hard to get at. Papershells and such are easier and can be done by hand. Or, you can find out where in the area someone has a machine for cracking pecans. The machine takes them all in and shatters the shells, making it easy to get the meats out. They normally work on a split. They get some percentage of the nuts. If they're not impossibly tough little natives, an impact cracker works well. Like this rubber band driven one:





You can get some folks to help, but you have to stuff them pretty good first, or they'll eat as they shell, and the pecan will end up in them instead of the bowl. Freeze the meats for future use. 

If they turn out to be good pecans, learn to take care of the tree, how to prune and fertilize. A pecan tree take a LOT of water to stay healthy. And be real alert for bag worms that will build a web nest and then hatch out to eat the leaves. 

A top producing variety of mature tree at peak productivity can produce up to 500 pounds under ideal conditions. Mostly, it's much less and quite variable from year to year. The good news is that a good tree can produce for 100 years, even 200 years if well pruned and cared for. Pecans were terribly expensive last year. The Chinese had discovered them, and they were the latest big thing there. A bit cheaper this year. But always enough to be worth gathering. 

If you have a dog, and the dog discovers the crop, they'll eat themselves full of pecans.


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## Zhizara

forty_caliber said:


> In native Texan it is pronounced puh-caan.
> 
> .40



It depends.  But it's either Pee-cans or Pucahns or puh-caans.  It doesn't really matter we all know what they mean - pie!!!!!

I spent some time in Louisiana  quite a few years ago during the season.  They waited for them to fall on the ground and grabbed them up.

You can gently use a pair of pliers to crack the hull, but I noticed some people used a vise type thing where you put the nut in place with both ends in this thingy and gradually screwed it until the shell cracks.

I'll look for a google image for you.

The most important thing to remember is _gently.   _A smashed pecan is not a pretty sight, nor is it really edible.

Once the hull is removed, there are often some debris between the convolutions of the meat.  This _must_ be removed.  It's bitter.

I go and look now for a picture for you.


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## Zhizara

Oh dear, there are so many types.  I googled pecan shellers, and found lots of types.
It sounds like a project.

From what I remember of the past encounter with pecans, the people used a mechanical device and  shelled pecans while watching TV in the evening.  Then they would sell the pecans.

Let us know when the pies are ready!  I loooovvvvve pecan pie!


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## Kayelle

I'm glad you're happy about the pecan trees .40, After reading all of this thread, I'm sitting here wondering if the sellers of your beautiful new place were sick of dealing with the work involved.  Since you hold down a full time paying job, you're sure going to need some help!


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## Dawgluver

No pecans grown here, but we have hickories.  I made some wonderful cakes years ago with our apples and hickory nuts, but oh good gravy, what a LOT of work.  I smashed the nuts with a hammer and picked the meats out with a nut pick.  Nowadays, I haven't bothered as the squirrels get most of them, and what they leave for us have nut weevils.


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## CWS4322

bakechef said:


> In this part of the country you hear it both ways, Puh-cahns, pee-cans etc..
> 
> I just call them delicious!


A pastry chef friend of mine corrected me and told me that a "pee can" is what you take in the boat. (I'm sure you can fill in the blank for which one would use that pee can...).


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## CWS4322

Dawgluver said:


> No pecans grown here, but we have hickories.  I made some wonderful cakes years ago with our apples and hickory nuts, but oh good gravy, what a LOT of work.  I smashed the nuts with a hammer and picked the meats out with a nut pick.  Nowadays, I haven't bothered as the squirrels get most of them, and what they leave for us have nut weevils.


Sounds like as much work as harvesting black walnuts (minus the stained hands). But, I must admit, I love the smell of green black walnuts...reminds me of visits to my grandma's.


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## Dawgluver

CWS4322 said:


> Sounds like as much work as harvesting black walnuts (minus the stained hands). But, I must admit, I love the smell of green black walnuts...reminds me of visits to my grandma's.




Ah, I've had the stained hands too, we had some walnut trees here as well.


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## bakechef

CWS4322 said:


> A pastry chef friend of mine corrected me and told me that a "pee can" is what you take in the boat. (I'm sure you can fill in the blank for which one would use that pee can...).



Lol, that's funny!

I say pee-can, but I also say car-mul instead of care-a-mel, my brain is just stuck when I say those words. 

Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app


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## Aunt Bea

If they grow pecans commercially in your area you might be able to find a farm that would crack them for you.  We used to buy net bags of them when we went through the south on vacation.. You could buy them whole or cracked.  To crack them they would dump them into a machine that cracked the shell with minimal damage to the nutmeats.  Then you could pick the nutmeats and use them immediately or dry can them in a low oven to kill any critters and keep them fresh.

This link shows similar equipment.  Eastern NC B&B talks pecan recipes, pecan harvest, pecan crackers | Chloe's Blog


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## buckytom

i just had my first slice of pecan pie a few weeks ago and holy moly, that's good stuff.

it was just one of those things that pecan pie and i never really crossed paths, and when it did, well, there was always another more tempting pie available. also, nuts on a pie? just seemed kinda weird.

but my first taste was heaven. the nuts were a perfect match both in taste and texture to the crust and "custard" underneath. they added just the right bite as well as another flavour dimension to go with the rest of the otherwise too sweet pie.

peekins, pee-cans, peh-cons,  puh-cans, or puh- cons; i'll whistle dixie all day long for a slice of that pie.


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## taxlady

BT, try it with sour cream or crème fraiche some time.


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## Dawgluver

One of my ex-SILs makes the world's best pee-cahn pie.  She got the recipe off the bottle of Karo syrup.  She uses whole nuts, and it is to die for.  She's also Southern.


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## Addie

buckytom said:


> i just had my first slice of pecan pie a few weeks ago and holy moly, that's good stuff.
> 
> it was just one of those things that pecan pie and i never really crossed paths, and when it did, well, there was always another more tempting pie available. also, nuts on a pie? just seemed kinda weird.
> 
> but my first taste was heaven. the nuts were a perfect match both in taste and texture to the crust and "custard" underneath. they added just the right bite as well as another flavour dimension to go with the rest of the otherwise too sweet pie.
> 
> peekins, pee-cans, peh-cons,  puh-cans, or puh- cons; i'll whistle dixie all day long for a slice of that pie.



Now try a chocolate pecan pie.


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## buckytom

you are alll evil, evil ladies. 

i don't know if i can handle too much more.


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## Cooking Goddess

CWS4322 said:


> Sounds like as much work as harvesting black walnuts (minus the stained hands). But, I must admit, I love the smell of green black walnuts...reminds me of visits to my grandma's.


When I was little (younger than 7) my folks would head to his sister's house. She and her DH lived near a ravine that had black walnut trees. We'd all hike down into the ravine and fill old pillow cases with as much as we could carry. Then Dad would take our share, head up to the 3rd floor attic in the house we lived in, and spread them out on an old sheet. When the outer husks were cured enough we'd go up there, sit on the wooden floor, and and work really hard at getting them off. Usually Dad headed down "for a minute" to get a beer, and I'd be happily dehusking away! Smart man! Mom made the best chocolate chip cookies with those black walnuts. *sigh*

My favorite ice cream is black walnut ice cream Probably a good think I can't buy it up here or I'd be in real trouble.


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## Roll_Bones

CraigC said:


> I can't answer your question, but make sure you prune them trees and season them trimmings! Can't get much better smoking wood than pecan. I bet pecan fattened squirrel might be tasty.



A fallen pecan tree around here does not last long.
In fact, people put ads in the paper to have these trees removed for a price!

In winter when we have ice, there is always a possible pecan wood harvest somewhere.
When i am driving, I am always on the look out.
I watched a power company trimming trees on my road and asked about the pecan trimmings.  The owner told the crew if they took any of the wood, he would call the cops and have them arrested for stealing.

We have pecan and hickory trees everywhere around here.
I once found a tree knocked over and harvested from that tree for two years.
We also have abundant apple and peach groves here.  After so many years of service they are all taken down with machines, (dozer) piled up and burned.
I hit these piles as often as I can.

I hate the thought of buying wood chunks.  I have and will again if I must.


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