Chicory Root Decaf “Coffee”

This was really fun to try but if you live in a rocky landscape like Cape Breton, it can be lots of work! Digging the chicory root out of the ground is a task on its own but I enjoyed this process and recommend trying it.

Once the root was dug, I cleaned off dirt and wash and dried them. I then cut them up into pretty small chunks to prepare them for roasting. After digging them out of the ground and then washing them, they were pretty moist. I dehydrated them slightly in an airfryer while I got the oven ready (about 30 mins). This step was taken to avoid having to roast them for hours and it worked.

I got the heads up on the dehydrating step from this video on youtube.

I baked on a low temp of 200 degrees for about 1.5 hours. You may be surprised how little you come out with once the root has been dehydrated! So make sure you grab enough root to make it worth your while.

The root has a bitter taste and is supposed to be a close second to coffee when you are in a pinch (and don’t care about the caffeine, haha). I brewed it in a percolating coffee maker liek I would coffe grinds. It turned out lovely!