My wife came home the other day with a huge bag of dandelion roots which she plonked in the middle of the kitchen floor, smiling a huge smile. Dandelion coffee anyone? And so the washing, grinding and roasting began.
Step 1
Dig up a large bunch of dandelion roots. You’re going to need far more dandelion root than the amount in the photo. Work on 15 times the amount you see above.
Step 2
Wash your dandelion roots as best as possible.
Step 3
Slice the dandelion roots into chip-like pieces.
Step 4
And then arrange the root pieces onto your dehydrator’s trays. Allow to dry for 60 minutes.
Step 5
Now chop the dried dandelion root into small pieces.
Step 6
Arrange the root pieces onto an oven tray.
Step 7
Roast the dandelion root for 30 minutes on 200°C. The roots need to be brown and dried right through.
Step 8
Allow the dandelion root to cool then finely grind, and roast a second time in an oven for 5 minutes on 180°C. Store in airtight container.
How To Make A Cup Of Dandelion Root Coffee
Put 6 tablespoons of dandelion coffee grinds into 500ml of boiling water and leave to steep for 30 minutes. Strain into a saucepan and reheat to desired temperature. Serve with milk and honey if so desired.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for featuring one of my favorite herbs!
Thanks for the recipe. What do you think about the risk or not of consuming such roasted stuff? As in, acrylamides???
Sally: There still isn’t enough research into any possible negative effects of acrylamides. One thing I try and drum into folk’s heads is that as foragers we eat “a little of a lot, rather than a lot of a little”. Most people approach foraging with a supermarket mindset.
Anyone who has actually gone out and foraged for more than a day soon realises that ones meal is made up of small amount of a wide variety of plants. Supermarket mindset says “Buy 2kg of kale”. Forager mindset says “Pick a few handfuls and move on”… big difference in how we consume food.
Side-effects/Toxicity of Dandelion
The acute toxicity of dandelion appears to be low, with LD50
values (mice, intraperitoneal injection) estimated at 36.8 g/kg and
28.8 g/kg for the root and herb, respectively. No visible signs of toxicity were observed in rabbits administered dandelion 3, 4, 5
and 6 g/kg body weight by mouth for up to seven days. In
addition, no behavioural changes were recorded.
Source: Herbal Medicines – Pharmaceutical Press
It looks like a lot of effort. Is the taste/nutritional value really worth it? it’s so easy to just pop a rosemary twig or a few sage leaves in boiling water for 2-3 mins to get a really nice drink. You must really like it to do so much hard work.
Suzy: That depends how lazy you are
any suggestions if you dont have a dehydrator? Id love to make our own dandelion coffee
Lucie: You don’t have to use a dehydrator, you can simply put the dandelion roots in a low temperature oven, with the door slightly ajar, to dry them.
I made dandelion root powder a month or so ago putting washed, chopped roots in a low temp oven with the door open, for up to 4 hrs. Then crushed to powder with a mortar and pestle. Haven’t used any yet but 6 tbl sp for what amounts to about 3 mugs worth would last very, very little time. Is it really necessary to use that amount to get the benefits??
i use my dandelion coffee as i use loose tea, stick 1 tea spoon in a 1 cup cafetiere ( plunger infuser) and leave for a few mins, no bits in the cup then.
Nice pics! Dandelion coffee is so wonderful, and dandelion loves us so much, that it is such a natural thing…
Like coffee dandelion root can be roasted to various levels. Make sure the roots are very dry before roasting, and you can use a lower temperature when roasting. Less roasted, the root is more bitter – more roasted, the complex starches become simpler, and the taste is a little sweeter. Here’s what I say about acrylamide in my new book, Food As Medicine:
“While baking and roasting are useful methods to enhance the flavor of food, the very production of these flavors through the Maillard reaction also produces a number of secondary compounds such as glycotoxins and acrylamide. Glycotoxins, or advanced glycosylation end-products (AGEs), have been linked to chronic inflammation, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration, and are a major mechanism of aging including wrinkled skin. (1, 2) Acrylamide is a suspected carcinogen that is produced exclusively from starchy foods such as cereal grains and potato during baking or deep-frying. The amount of glycotoxins and acrylamide increases with longer cooking times and higher temperatures, and so it is important not to cook food too long nor use too high a heat. A general rule of thumb is to avoid eating any cooked food that has a color beyond golden-brown, i.e. is dark brown, burnt or blackened. A craving for burned or blackened food is called ‘pica’ in the medical literature and could be a sign of a mineral deficiency such as iron.” p 121
References
1. Ramasamy R, Vannucci SJ, Yan SS, Herold K, Yan SF, Schmidt AM. 2005. Advanced glycation end products and RAGE: a common thread in aging, diabetes, neurodegeneration, and inflammation. Glycobiology. 15(7):16R-28R
2. Peppa M, Uribarri J, Vlassara H. 2003. Glucose, Advanced Glycation End Products, and Diabetes Complications: What Is New and What Works. Clinical Diabetes 21:186-187
Sorry, missing last reference!
Exon JH. 2006. A review of the toxicology of acrylamide. J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 9(5):397-412
I just tried to make this, but the dandelion roots ended up making white granuals, not brown? I tasted dandelion coffee on a food forrage trip recently, it was lovely, what I have made is not the same taste as I remember, I am wondering what I did wrong. I choped the roots & roasted for 3 hours on 100C with door shut, then tried to grind them in a pestle & mortar after. any ideas why it is white & not brown? many thanks.
The directions say to dry the root first, then roast for 30 mins at 200C. I’m betting the 100C wasn’t hot enough to actually “roast” the root. They probably just dried out at that temp.
When roasting the last time they were not dry and I had to roast for longer. Will this change the taste?
Can you sun dry the roots?
I like the idea and I will give it a try as a useful way to store the root, and a health alternative to coffee , thanks…but I would think roasting the root would loose a lot of the goodness of the herb.
Yes but is there any caffeine in this? No caffeine, what’s the point? Us caffeine addicts gotta have that to get the day started
kb asked my exact question!no caffeine whats the point?
Can you wash them in the washing machine?
http://wildcraftvita.blogspot.it/2013/01/things-to-do-with-dandelions.html
Linked to this-thanks
Can you use the roots after the dandelion has bloomed, or must they be dug before the blossoms appear?
Jamie: Its best to use first year roots dug up in the autumn of first year and spring of the second, although some folks for coffee say you can use any old roots.
You’ll only be able to tell if the dandelion is first year or second year after you have dug them up (with land owners permission naturally).
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