Yes. It's totally worth it. I have personal experience with leeching the tannins out of HIGHLY tannic acorns nd even with the extra work of many, many water changes it's still worth it because de-tannin-fied acorns ground into flour are maple syrup level delicious in baked goods.

That said, if the oaks in your area have acorns with low tannin level, it's going to be a walk in the park compared to dealing with the high tannin level kinds of acorns. There's also a bunch of tricks you can learn as you process acorns (like choosing the ones with caps still on; using water so the "bad" acorns float to the top and reducing the number of nuts you have to crack unnecessarily, prying instead of scraping the nut outside of the shell; letting acorns you've cracked that are still in the shell soak before removing the shell as soaking makes them more pliable, etc.)

My best suggestion to you is to approach your acorns one of two ways:

1. Pick up a bunch of acorns from the ground, and learn through experimentation; ie "just do it"; don't overthink it.
2. Buy online some premade acorn flour

"Just do it" means you're learning technique and figuring out skill through practice. You can also look up one of the MANY sites/articles about suggestions and tips.

"Buy it premade" means you buy some that's made the right way, taste it/bake with it, learn how you like the flavor and what it's supposed to taste like when it's complete, and then decide whether it's worth it to you.

Here's a link to one of my favourite acorn-containing recipes.

Here's an article about how to make acorn flour.

Generally speaking, you can sub in acorn flour up to about 20% of the wheat flour listed in any given bakery recipe. Acorn is also really good in soups and stews and you can buy acorn bits instead of flour if you lean that way. Just do a web search for buying acorn flour near you and you'll likely find multiple vendors that will ship to your location.

You should keep in mind acorn flour should be stored in the fridge. I would say it's best consumed within about 6 months after being processed, but you'll know when it goes off, because it gets a turpentiney sort of odor. Some people keep their acorn flour in their freezer or say their acorn flour/bits have lasted a year or more.

Because there are SO MANY VARIETIES of acorn, know that while all acorns are edible, acorns with a lot of tannins MUST be leeched of their tannins before consuming. Eating a lot of tannins, regardless of the source, is really hard on your kidneys. Don't skip the steps necessary. If your acorns are bitter and not sweet then they need more processing regardless of how long they've already been leeched.

If you get really into picking acorns, you can also get a nut collecter machine. I don't recall the exact name as I've never invested in one, but it's basically like a push mower... except it doesn't mow. It picks up acorns from the ground as you push the machine forward, and leaves leaves and such behind. They're really nifty, save a ton of bending over, and... are rather expensive; probably the cheapest is around $50-ish. Before shipping.

But if you have amazing oaks with nice huge acorns that are mild and low in tannins it might be worth it to get one of those nut picker uppers.

Sometimes when you pick up acorns you'll find a white "grub" inside. These are called acorn weevils and despite the fact you often see them in acorns that have a hole in them, they do NOT burrow INTO acorns. Rather, before the acorn is formed, the insect that the grubs turn into pierced the not-yet-an-acorn and lays eggs inside. The grubs are completely clean and sterile (and, not to gross you out, but also one hundred percent edible for humans) and they actually don't infest acorns by drilling holes IN, they escape acorns by drilling holes from the inside, to get OUT. They are harmless and won't damage anything.

If you're into trying insects as food, acorn grubs are the cleanest to try. They have a sweet and not at all bitter flavor. Birds and chickens go insane over them, too. They can be used as fishing lure but are not as exciting as more wiggly prey when it comes to catching fish.

Basically, if you're willing to not give yourself a hard time if you get too bored cracking acorns to continue doing it more than as an experiment, you should absolutely give it a try. You'll learn a lot no matter what kind of acorn you get. The bigger the acorn, though, the less tannins it usually has, and the more nut meat you'll get out of the work of de-shelling. Tiny acorns are right on the edge of not being worth it.

Smaller acorns also have more of the skin to deal with, which you don't want because it's got a HIGH concentration of tannins in the skins. Leaving the skins on is like creating extra work for yourself.

Hope it helps.