pecan cracker

[ccr]

what's the best pecan cracker. i've looked at some and the electric look good, but not $300-$400. just have 11 trees but the hand cracker we used last year wasn't that great.

what do yall like?

this is a pic of the varieties we have here.

choctaw - biggest pecan, weak limb and harder to get good limb structure
pawnee - good pecan and tree structure
souix - small pecan, fine limb structure
kanja - small pecan, good taste, and excellent limb structure

 

[Hippie Rancher]

this one:

https://www.pecans.com/texan-nut-sheller/

 

[ccr]

this one:

https://www.pecans.com/texan-nut-sheller/

thanks hr, think i'll give it a try. looks like what we used when i was a kid.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I took the guard off. it takes a little while to get the hang of it but once you do it is perfect halves all day long. nip the ends then use the outer tip of the blade to nip the shell down the sides.

 

[hurleyjd]

There is a pecan cracking company in my area that you can take them to and they will run them through the cracker and all you have to do is pick the halfs out of the hulls. Might check and see if any one in your area has that service. The place is in Mineola Texas and is called the pecan house.

 

[ccr]

There is a pecan cracking company in my area that you can take them to and they will run them through the cracker and all you have to do is pick the halfs out of the hulls. Might check and see if any one in your area has that service. The place is in Mineola Texas and is called the pecan house.

thanks hurley that would be the best. hadn't as of yet found a place around weatherford that will run them through a cracker.

 

[hurleyjd]

https://mineolapecanhouse.com/

Might be a pretty good side line business for your area for people wanting to crack and sell their pecans shelled.

 

[hurleyjd]

Check these people there in Parker county. They show that they will crack for the public. http://www.savagepecans.com/

 

[ga.prime]

Submitted for your approval, The Black Brute

 

[ccr]

Submitted for your approval, The Black Brute

Approved. looks like it's been around a while.

 

[ccr]

Check these people there in Parker county. They show that they will crack for the public. http://www.savagepecans.com/

thanks hurley. your a better looker upper than i am.

i called and left a message and drove by the tree farm (15 minutes from here), but no sign their still in business.

 

[hurleyjd]

Check these people there in Parker county. They show that they will crack for the public. http://www.savagepecans.com/

thanks hurley. your a better looker upper than i am.

i called and left a message and drove by the tree farm (15 minutes from here), but no sign their still in business.

Could be seasonal as the Mineola Pecan House.

 

[jschoolcraft86]

The texan cracker that hippierancher linked to is a good one. I use that as well as an electric cracker that just does one at a time. The texan cracker does take a little while to get used to but it's worth it.

I generally take larger loads to Goldthwaite (Highway 84 Pecans or Pecans.com) and they do a great job of cracking and shelling, not sure how much your trees are producing. Both places in Goldthwaite charge about 1.00 per pound inshell weight and you can assume you'll get about 50% kernel back after shelling. The pawnee might come back closer to 60% and some of the others may be upper 40s if you're interested in trying to forecast what your shelled yield would be before you make the drive.

Of the four varieties you have which is your favorite? I think the choctaw have the best taste, but when I plant another 10 acres starting this winter I think it is going to be a mix of Pawnee and Kanza. We have some trees from each of the varieties you listed other than Kanza, but I hear really good things about it (The grand champion nut in our county pecan show for the last several years has been Kanza).

 

[greybeard]

I used to work in a machine shop in San Angelo and one of our contracted products was the replacement cutter knives for the Texan Nut Shellers for that company.
A2 steel.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

jschoolcraft86, or anybody: would you know variety on sight? we have a few trees that were planted long before I was born and I have no idea what they are. one must be a wild type for pollination or it was a watersprout that took over - it has tiny thick hard shells with a small kernel - not worth shelling, really. The other two are better. one is quire thin shelled and oblong, the other is rounder and the shell is a little thicker and harder, but not bad. I will get some pictures eventually. Trees were probably planted in the 40s or early 50s

 

[jschoolcraft86]

i know some but i have a guy who can identify any tree i've pointed him at so far. Here's what I think so far:

1.) tiny thick hard shells sound like "native" pecans. good for squirrel food.

2.) oblong and thin shelled sounds like Shawnee. I have some of these and like them pretty well, the long skinny kernel is definitely different and easily spotted.

3.) the final one sounds tricky but if you can get a pic of the nut i'll take a crack at it. Pics of leaves and limb structure would be good too. when you crack them does the shell come off pretty easily or does it crack up the kernel some when you try to pull it all apart? I know that may be subjective or tough to nail down. I ask because Cheyenne are a smaller and rounder than Shawnee but they shell out really easily. When I take Cheyenne to the sheller they're always happy because they don't take much to get clean. Also, do they seem like the shucks split earlier, later, or about the same time what I think are the Shawnee?

I'm pretty confident on the first two but I'm happy to look at anything you send over and run it by my guy.

 

[ccr]

Of the four varieties you have which is your favorite? I think the choctaw have the best taste, but when I plant another 10 acres starting this winter I think it is going to be a mix of Pawnee and Kanza. We have some trees from each of the varieties you listed other than Kanza, but I hear really good things about it (The grand champion nut in our county pecan show for the last several years has been Kanza).

if i had it to over again i would not plant choctaw. george ray mceachern recommended the choctaw over thirty years ago and i think in later years he changed his mind because of the limb structure (weak) and harder to train when young. this year the choctaw has so many big pecans on them, some of the limbs have broken off. none of the other varieties have broken limbs.

as for as limb structure and growth the kanza is the best we got, but the pecans are small. the pawnee seems to be the best reliable producer around here and the limb structure is fine.

i picked up the texan "york" nut sheller (made in china). i've used it a little, but need to get my technique better. i watched the company's utube video on how to do it.

 

[jschoolcraft86]

I totally agree with you on the Choctaw. It looks like a huge year for mine also, but that does mean I've spent a ton of time dragging limbs out of the orchard.

Pawnee are probably my favorite, the only downside is they are more scab susceptible than the other varieties I have (except Wichita and I'm cutting those out of the orchard this winter). I enjoyed visiting with Dr. McEachern at the pecan short course a couple years back, it would be interesting to hear what varieties he would recommend these days.

I'm definitely curious to get some kanza in the ground, then it's just a nice little 5-7 year wait to see how they produce.

I need to check out that youtube video because I've mangled more than my fair share them with that cracker, but I know it works well if the technique is right.

 

[ccr]

I'm definitely curious to get some kanza in the ground, then it's just a nice little 5-7 year wait to see how they produce.

the kanza seem to have a harder shell than the pawnee.

a couple of years ago i had a question about a particular source of zinc sulfate and the amount to use, and thru the county agent was put in contact with monte nesbitt, with agrilife. he was very knowledgeable and helped with the amount of zinc sulfate and nitrogen to use.

he may be a good source for kanza info. it takes so long to learn the in and outs of these different varieties.

 

[hurleyjd]

Do either of you pecan growers do grafting to improve your trees or graft a good pecan to a native tree. Many years ago a man in my community had great success grafting pecans to hickory trees.