The Many Uses of Spruce Tips | First We Eat (2024)

FAQs

The Many Uses of Spruce Tips | First We Eat? ›

Dried spruce tips can be ground in a coffee grinder and make a great nutmeg like spice – check out the recipe for Moose Steak with Yukon Rub and for Northern Pumpkin Pie! They can also be used in teas. Candied spruce tips make a delicious snack and they store well in the fridge in a mason jar.

They are full of vitamin C for immune system strengthening, vitamin A for healthy organ function, magnesium and potassium, and have always been used by indigenous tribes for coughs, colds and sore throats. It's easily as good as any cough tincture from the pharmacy!!

Spruce tips have a range of flavors depending on their stage of maturity: herbal, fruity, citrus, resinous. They play well with both sweet and savory dishes. All spruce varieties (from the pine or Pinaceae family) are edible.

Spruce tips are in our opinion best fresh, soft and tasty. You can use them just like that in salads, or you can season foods with them, a little bit like rosemary. For example, big game meat such as elk benefits greatly from the fresh and foresty taste of spruce tips.

Common uses of spruce include paper pulp, furniture, construction, lumber, crates and boxes, millwork, and soundboards for musical instruments.

Spruces, used for pulp, paper and lumber, are the most important commercial conifers. Canada's tallest reported tree (95 m) is a Sitka spruce, the "Carmanah Giant," in the Carmanah Valley on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Spruce trees also provide foraging opportunity all year round. The needles are edible and most commonly used to make a hot tea, which is steeped (not boiled) to retain its nutritional quality. All parts of the tree are non-toxic.

Spruce tips are the new growth of the trees each year and are most notably antiseptic, antimicrobial and an incredible source of vitamin C. After a long winter, they offer an immune boost and a fresh, lemony flavor that wakes you up from your hibernation slumber.

Spruce tips are generally clean, but you can remove their party hats and give them a quick rinse to remove any dust and debris. They will last a few months in a paper bag in the fridge, if you can't use what you just harvested. They also freeze well, if you want to keep them even longer.

What does a spruce tip taste like? ›

When consumed, Spruce tips have a bright, citrus-like flavor mixed with herbal, resinous nuances. Depending on the specific spruce species, the tips may also have warm, fruity, earthy, piney, or bitter undertones.

A hint of citrus from the Sitka Spruce Tips makes for a sweet, fresh flavored jelly. Spread on toast, mix in a co*cktail, or pair with your favorite cheese.

To harvest spruce tips, pop the tips off the end of the bough as if you're picking berries. When you're done picking, remove and discard the papery casings, and discard any hard stem that may have broken off with the tip. The spruce tips are now ready to use.

In early spring, spruce trees produce feathery new growth covered in brown, papery sheaths. If you pull off one of the sheathes, you'll see young needles, just beginning to expand. Young spruce tips can be harvested from the time they emerge until they begin to stiffen.

Spruce tips can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried and powdered like a spice/flavoring. We add them raw to salads, use them to flavor desserts, and use the powder to bring unique color and flavor to dishes.

While all spruce tips are edible, I find blue spruce to be the most intense flavor. Spruce tips can be enjoyed raw, cooked into any dish and used as you might rosemary because their flavor profile is similar. I think that this flavor would pair well with white gamey meat and chicken.

Spruce tops (also called spruce tips) are the foot-long evergreen tops of a small spruce tree. You'll often see them used for outdoor decorating during the holiday season arranged in containers and window boxes.

The wood from spruce trees is known for being lightweight yet strong, so using it for flooring and furniture making is ideal. It's even been used in aircraft manufacturing! Spruce wood is also recognized for its stunning grain patterns.

Medicinal and nutritional qualities of the spruce include help with the respiratory system; active vitamin C, which fights against colds and infections; Spruce needles contain large amounts of shikimic acid, which is a flu-fighting compound and helps fight respiratory ailments. They also contain antioxidants.