My town have a plantation of Juglans nigra. These nut trees don’t grow usually in France yet when I decided to have a taste of them, I thought I would handle it like another nut. But they are different.
I try to have the green shell to dry completely before peeling them off. But I couldn’t so I went with a knive to get ride of it before they turn bad. The nuts are smaller than the one that grows here but so hard I can’t crack them with a nutcraker.
Should I have wait longer before picking them up ? What is right to great ride of the green skin ? How could I crack them ?
Some folks will lay them out on a piece of driveway or similar vehicle-accessible bit of pavement and drive over them a few times with a small vehicle to crack the green husk, then place them in a barrel with water and agitate with a paddle attachment for a sturdy drill. Something like a paint stirring paddle or similar will cause the shells containing the meat to run against each other and abrade the remaining husk. Then you’ll want to dry them thoroughly.
My experiences with black walnut are limited but the few times I’ve tried cracking them with a hinged nutcracker were difficult. Our friend has a cracker that sits on a counter or table and screws a plate against the nut until it cracks and that’s much easier.
This is the way to remove the husk; I do a few hundred pounds like this each year.
Store them indefinitely in the shell, but at least for a few months to cure for best flavor.
For cracking, whop them a couple times on the point of the shell with a hammer on concrete, then flip them upside down and whop once. They usually split in half. Then get a pair of wire clippers and clip the shell diagonally from the bottom to remove the meat. There might be a better way to do this part, but I haven’t found it yet.