Best Black Walnut Cracker?

[CathyA]

Anyone have a favorite tool for cracking a lot black walnuts?

[rodeosweetheart]

a pick-up truck?

[lessisbest]

When I was a kid in the 50's/60's, and families had 4-8 kids because they were cheap labor, we would harvest bushel baskets of black walnuts and sell the walnut meat for Christmas money. My father made a brick for each of us with a deep sponge glued to the top of the brick. He cut a walnut-size hole in each sponge to hold the walnut. We each used a hammer to crack the walnut and regular nut picks (or toothpicks) to dig out the nutmeat. You could also cut a cross (X) in the sponge instead of a hole, and the nut would fit in the "X" opening.

My sister had a "Worlds Best Nut Cracker" (hand crank) - http://www.photomagnets.com/theworldsbestnutcracker.html, but it was best used for pecans, English Walnuts, Almonds, etc., not black walnuts.

[Packy]

They make iron walnut splitters that hold the walnut, and have a lever that generates the force required to crack it. But, your best best is to gather and sell your whole walnuts, and then buy nutmeats that are already processed. A very small supply goes a long way with me, & you kids prolly wouldn't like 'em on your pizzas, anyway.

[frugal-one]

We just use a hammer but here is one other way that someone I know uses:

http://mylittlefarmintown.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/how-to-shell-black-walnuts-and-the-story-of-the-big-one/

[JaneV2.0]

Walnuts, garlic, and fresh spinach make excellent pesto--which probably would be pretty good on pizza.

[Packy]

Walnuts, garlic, and fresh spinach make excellent pesto--which probably would be pretty good on pizza. This sounds like the entree' in one of those $100 a meal restaurants!

[SteveinMN]

a pick-up truck?
A motor vehicle is our tool of choice, as well. Actually, we let the squirrels at the black walnuts; we don't care for the flavor. But for the mess they make and the quantity in which they can appear, driving over a few is an efficient way of cracking those tough shells.

[CathyA]

I'm ashamed to say I've never tried them. We must have hundreds, if not thousands of black walnut trees on our property. They grow like weeds. I think Santa is getting me a good black walnut cracker for christmas, and I'm going to try them.
They have made our property a destination place for many squirrels now. Is the flavor of yours, Steve, just very strong and maybe bitter? It's hard to believe that squirrels can open them. I'm always hearing them chewing on them in the woods.

[SteveinMN]

Cathy, I've never actually tried the black walnuts our tree sheds. But a friend of mine and I were in Stockton, Missouri, one year during their Black Walnut Festival and we tried black walnuts in cake, ice cream, cream cheese, pralines, etc. I just did not like the taste in any form. I figured that was as good as they would ever taste. So I leave ours for the squirrels.

[CathyA]

Yeah, I better not plan on a cottage industry just yet. haha But I am thinking, if the economy collapsed, we would at least have tons of awful, bitter-tasting (but protein/fat-filled) black walnuts to fall back on.
We have some hickory nuts too. Just cracked a couple open once, and found worms. It's really hard to believe that a little insect/worm can drill through those shells, but they can.
If black walnuts weren't so native, I'd have to call them invasive. They grow everywhere and start producing nuts very early.