I have sampled the inner bark of various pines and not been impressed. Is there a way to make this stuff decent to eat?

I am familiar with eating a bit raw, have eaten a some boiled - and don't think I could stomach much of either. I have heard frying or roasting recommended.

Any wood chefs out there?

don't count on it..from what i have read it's the last thing starving people are driven to eat and then it does not really work out very well.good article in the New Yorker in the last few weeks about what starving North Koreans ending up eating as told by a lady who was there.

Simmer pine bark 24 hours, then season with portions of braised tenderloin, roasted potatoes, spring carrots, and seasonings to suit - adapted from a traditional recipe for "nail soup".

Actually the best pine bark is harvested by virgins from trees growing on north facing slopes at an altitude between 7199 and 7329 feet in Shasta county, California, under an October full moon, with a wind of less than 10 mph. Get some of that stuff and it will come up a winner at your next bark tasting soiree...

As with many with wild foods, the best seasoning is hunger. Inner bark is a food of last resort.

-Blast

Give this a read:

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/edible-pine-bark/

Related pine topic:

Several online sources note that cattle and deer abort when they eat a lot of pine needles in the third trimester. Is this a concern for humans considering pine needle tea?

I've read that in the past and would like to try it some day. Down around me we mainly have loblolly pines. Sugar pines, white pines and others don't grow around Houston naturally/natively. The loblolly pine isn't considered a very good food/tea source due to certian chemicals they contain.

-Blast

Back in South Dakota I was told by Native Americans there that they would a very struff pine needle tea to induce abortions. This same warning is on many commercial packages of pine tea. However, I have not seen any scientific studies on this subject. I put it in the "procede with caution" catagory.

-Blast

Another vote for frying inner bark:

http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-eat-a-pine-tree.htm

I also read the link that dweste showed here - and I'm hoping to try it out. It does sound like the author roasted the inner pine bark and ate it quite happily.

I've seen a few comments along the lines that Sheriff Blast highighted - namely that some pine needle teas may induce abortions. It's not exactly confidence-inspiring .. I'll be a little more careful with pine needles until this is figured out. It would be nice to get a better understanding of what's going on there.

Ohh and by the way - I can't imagine you'd get a huge amount of nutrition from the bark. You could be pretty desperate if that was your only food source in a winter survival situation.

Pete
(the other Pete .. not Paramedic Pete)