How to crack open a butternut.

Question

Hi, I read in this article about butternuts that “And the nuts that grow on these wild trees are easy to process and delicious to eat.” EASY TO PROCESS?!

Unlike the black walnut which are easy to crack open and get the kernel out mostly intact,
I have tried almost every method to open a butternut. I have used hammer, pliers, and finally a bench vise. The bench vise seem to work but most of the time it cracks the nuts in small pieces. But I see the handy work of the squirrels and I really wonder how they open these nuts in 2 halves and take the kernel.

My question is:
If you know how to easily crack open these nuts without hammering your thumb or cutting your fingers please let me know. Thank you.

Answer 1

The key is a nut that was dried properly!
Only harvest fallen butternuts if you shook them from the tree yourself. Tree nuts allowed to sit on the ground for even a short amount of time may have already begun to rot. Remove the nuts from the hulls, rinse, then place in a cool, dark, dry area with good air circulation to cure. After a couple weeks, crack a nut and if the shell cracks easily then it has dried properly.