[joecool1029]

Fresh they taste almost like sweet corn, I got to try a few American chestnuts last year, they are sweeter (but smaller) than the chinese chestnuts. My landlord boils the chinese one and eats them like mashed potatos, I roast them in oven or air fry them. To me they are like bread from the trees.

The English ones are starchy I guess? These are common to see in grocery stores when in season.

Also handling changes how sweet they get, some say they must be chilled in fridge for some days to get starches to convert to sugar. For me the Americans are perfect no matter the treatment. Chinese chestnuts I'm fighting getting to them fast enough before any mold grows, processing them immediately to kill chestnut weevil (I use a sous vide and let them sit at whatever temp the rutgers publication suggested to kill potential eggs) then I dry and fridge them for a few days before putting them in oven/airfryer. It sounds like a pain in the ass but it's a lot easier and less foul than the year I gathered and processed gingko seeds (which smells like dogshit) or even black walnuts which will stain your hands for over a week if you don't know to wear gloves.

Another protip: Don't plant a chestnut tree near a swimming pool. Those spines are sharp enough to pop a bicycle tire and the catkins smell like a callery pear when it's dumping pollen which is pretty gross.

[Cupertino95014]

That does sound like a lot of trouble. Yeah, "starchy" does describe my experience of them.

I had to look up "callery pear"

https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/cal...