At this time of year we often light our sitting room wood-burning stove with excess walnuts.
The new crop is already being gathered (and eaten), so any remaining nuts from last year make extremely good fire-lighting material.
This may seem like sacrilege to many, especially if you're paying ££££'s or $$$$'s per kilo, but with about 30 kilos from last year still in stock, the only alternative would be to dump them.
Waste not, want not; and those oil rich kernels burn really well.
5 Minutes later.....
5 Minutes later.....
Aaaaah........Walnut warmth!
21 comments:
Nothing like good firestarter materials to get a blaze going!
That looks so cosy. You can't beat a real fire.
Like minds - until recently I was using the last of the macadamias we brought from up north to light our fires.
Ah roasting your big nuts by the fire
Bliss
Thank you John.
i would never have thought to use walnuts in this way. I have used pine cones, now I wonder if conkers would serve as fire lighters?
Not sure if conkers have any oil in them... I think maybe not.
I bet you it smells good too!
Were they whole walnuts - if so wouldn't the oil from the nuts seep through to the ash pan?
I had never heard of using walnuts to start a fire. My fireplace is propane and although I do not have the wonderful aroma of a wood stove, it only takes a flip of a switch to get it going.
There's only ever ash in the ash pan!
Nut burning...always a lovely way to spend the evening, or so I've heard. Now tell us more about your lovely fireplace. Obviously very very old. In fact a photo tour of your cottage would be most wonderful.
What a great idea! We sometimes end up with a handful of nuts that are a bit past their prime. I've typically thrown them outside for the chipmunks or squirrels, but i don't like feeding them and they may not like nearly rancid nuts, either.
I never thought of using walnuts as fire starters.....makes good sense. I shall give it a try tonight as we have a ton left over from last year.
It's been pouring down most of the day here and your walnut fire does look very cosy and comforting
Thanks for the idea Cro. Here in the far North of England our walnut trees produce a very dodgy crop. At present they are drying in the sun on the South facing window sill but I don't hold out much hope of their being eatable. The one I tried had a shrivelled inside and was not even a tiny bit appetising, so some time soon they might save the farmer a couple of days of chopping sticks.
bloody hell look at them burn! Wow
Could you not get them pressed for Walnut oil. Good on salad and makes a great finish for wood - I've a little stool I made in my bedroom treated with walnut oil. I bet you could sell it quite easily
When I was young we had a walnut tree in our Surrey garden. We used them for pickling (in Goodwood week), otherwise the squirrels had them all.
I drink a spoonful of walnut oil every morning; but we leave the pressing etc to others.
Hmm... maybe I should try this with the black walnuts that litter our property!
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