Cracking Pecans - the 2014 Crop

Sunday afternoon was one of those days that the weather was so spectacular there was no way that staying indoors was an option.  After church, we enjoyed some coffee and chicory and nice raspberry truffles and then I was out the door.  I knew exactly what I was going to do for a couple of hours.  We have 3 1/2 onion sacks full of pecans that Tricia and Benjamin picked from our pecan trees that needed cracking.

I poured a 5 gallon bucket full of pecans from one of the sacks and walked around in the backyard to find the perfect spot.  I wanted a spot that was not too shady since it was a little cool, but not in the full sun.  I found a nice place under the tangerine tree and I quickly set up my assembly line.  It involved the bucket of pecans to my right:

The raw product

On a picnic table bench, I fastened down the 'Reed's Rocket,' a pecan cracker that belonged to Bumby & Poppy (my grandparents), with a ratchet strap and a zip tie.  I positioned it an an angle since I'm right-handed, so that it would be ergonomically pleasing.

The tool of the trade

To my left, I positioned the bucket in which I'll toss the cracked pecans one by one as the process gets underway.  Then I got busy.  The bucket quickly began to fill up, but I wasn't in a rush.  It was so nice outside, I was just enjoying the day.  The cows came up to the fence in a curious manner. Anytime you have a bucket, that is going to spark their interest.  Once they became aware that there was no feed in the blue bucket, they meandered off.  Then I watched a hawk circling high overhead and looked out at the hens running for cover into the chicken tractor.

Pecans are cracked and ready for shelling

Last year I posted about the Reed's Rocket Here, but I'll explain how this contraption works again.  It has a threaded cradle on the end that can be adjusted to fit the size of your pecans.  You place the pecan in the cradle...

Ready to crack

And you push the 'piston' type mechanism forward with a lever against the cradle holding the pecan. You hear a sharp crack and will see that the shell has basically exploded. 

Craaaaaaacccccckkkkk!

Most of the time they will come out perfectly whole, but sometimes you have some breakage.  In that case, I'll adjust the threaded end of the Reed's Rocket so that it is backed off a little bit.  That will keep the next one from breaking.  Broken pecans eat just fine, though.  Once you get in a rhythm, you can get really fast, almost like a machine.  Crack, Crack, Crack.  It is mindless work that allows your mind to drift as you sit outside and enjoy Creation.

Fresh shelled pecans

Cracking the pecans isn't the end of the work.  Once the blue bucket is full, I'll bring it inside by the fireplace and at night, Benjamin and I will sit by the fireplace and shell pecans.  With two people shelling, it doesn't take long to knock a bunch of work out.  We've found that in just a short period of time we can shell about 10 cups of pecans each night.  That ain't too shabby!

An 8 cup measuring container overflowing with pecans

We'll eat on them and will also pack them into gallon freezer bags and put them in the freezer for storage until Tricia makes some good old pecan pies with Steen's Cane syrup.  After two night's work, our blue bucket is almost empty.  That means this weekend we can set up our assembly line and get the Reed's Rocket back cracking, if the weather allows.