Smoked nuts help.

[Polarbear777]

I’ve tried several of Meathead 's smoked nuts recipes and in each case the bits ended up chewy not crispy. Chewy like I can’t eat this chewy.

All his recipies call for raw unsalted nuts and a ten minute water soak drain and smoke for 30 minutes at 225.

Something’s up with this method. I just tried cashews, soaked for 7 minutes and run through a salad spinner to remove excess water. Smoked for 35 minutes (mixing occasionally) and let cool for 4 hours. They still ended up chewy not crispy.

Do I need to cook them hotter? Even less soaking? There’s a bunch of them I want to try, but not until I can get them to come out good.

Thanks for any help.


https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...atic-smoky-and

[Polarbear777]

Meathead

[MBMorgan]

One of meathead's cashew recipes suggests just wetting the nuts under running water ... not soaking. Might try that ...

[Polarbear777]

You are right. The two out of four cashew ones have the ten minute soak. The other two only running water wetting.
I wonder why the difference. Is there a cut/paste error in these recipies?

Though I did do almonds soaked for 10 min.They came out better than the cashews but still not very crunchy.

Most indoor nut roasting calls for 350-425F for 8-12 minutes

[Polarbear777]

I "fixed" my finished batch of curry-lime cashews by roasting them in the oven for 12 minutes at 350F. That was sufficient to drive off the moisture and crisp them up.

Meathead

Clint Cantwell

Seems to me there must be an error in some of these. A ten minute soak for cashews and half hour at 225 creates a chewy/gummy texture. Either the temp needs to be higher to drive off moisture and roast them sufficiently or the initial water content is incorrect. I’m guessing the latter since two of the four cashew recipies only require a water rinse.

Cut and paste error across the nut recipes? Almonds seem okay with a soak though still not as crispy as I’d expect. What about the others? I’ve got pecans to try next but if anyone has tried these, feedback ahead of time would help so I don’t ruin a whole batch.
Thanks.

[Catmandu]

I've done almonds. I wet them down with worcestshire sauce, cold smoke them for a couple hours then pop them in the oven @ 250 for about 45 minutes. I usually glaze them with a mixture of honey, brown sugar, and a rub before popping them in the oven.

[Polarbear777]

Did another batch of the curry cashews this time just rinsing under water.

30 minutes at 250 and after two hours drying they are still "gummy".

Not it sure what to try next at this point.
Meathead
Clint Cantwell

[Polarbear777]

Fixed my gummy cashews with a 12 minute roast at 350F. I have to wonder if there is still an error in these recipies or if the non-crisp texture is just not obtained by anyone else.

[Scott H]

I do Amonds - after smoking I put in a 400 degree oven for 11 to 12 minutes. Let cool - come out crunchy!

[Polarbear777]

After several rounds I’m coming to the conclusion that a post-smoke roast to crisp is necessary also. Thanks for giving me another data point.

[Polarbear777]

Soaking cashews or just putting them under running water for a few seconds didn’t make a significant difference in the post smoke and post two hour texture.

Looks to me like cashews need a finishing roast of 8-12 minutes at 350F after they have cooked completely from smoking. I did try a batch direct after smoking but they burned to easily.

[Polarbear777]

Did the cashews a couple more times. Requires 40 total minutes at 225F in smoke, then allow to cool thouroughly. Then re-roast for 12.5 minutes at 350F.

Good taste and nice and crispy.

modified the almond recipe with a post-cool roast at 350F for 12.5 minutes and helps that one as well though not as sure of it will be consistent.

[Lock Stock and Barrel]

As a professional nut eater I can vouch for the oven treatment. After smoking at Meatheads low temp you must bring the nuts up to 325 to 350 for a time to convert the sugars in the nuts and crunch up. Nuts are extremely sensitive to being over or under cooked. I would suggest 10 to 15 minutes if they just came off the smoker and no longer than 30 minutes at 325 to 350. It really is a trial and error with each type of nut. You kind of have to get the hang of it. Cashews and peanuts have a lot more sugars, i.e. carbohydrates than other nuts. Almonds, walnuts, and pecans are much lower and can burn easier. Times and temps for each nut varies and has a very small window on how long.

[tbob4]

Spot on! Also, do not use a water pan in the smoker. Great advice.

[Attjack]

I just wet them briefly. I recommend not soaking them.

[Polarbear777]

As a professional nut eater...

Wait. How do I sign up for that?

Your advice is spot on, I wish you had posted a few batches ago :-)

Anyway I found that for the cashews letting them cool off the smoker before hitting at 350 was essential or they just burn too easily. 12-13 minutes was the limit in the oven before some started turning dark brown.

[Spinaker]

Great to hear you got it figured out! I will pass this on too Meathead he may want to jump in on this discussion.

[Meathead]

It has been a while since I wrote these recipes so I need to revisit them. But I recall that I got varying degrees of crunch. The 10 minute soak was for almonds only. The rest need only wetting. That is because smoke sticks better to wet surfaces. I would think that if they are still soft, leaving them in longer or raisin the temp would help and your fellow members seem to have had lick with that. I have continued to play with nuts and I am currenlty experimenting with an eggwhite wash to make them extra crunchy.

[Polarbear777]

2 of the 4 cashew recipes call for a soak. Seems like a cut/paste holdover or something.

Even with a quick rinse, 30 minutes at 225F is not enough to get them crunchy. I’m thinking maybe it’s supposed to be 325F ? Haven’t tried that but have had success roasting again after smoke as shown above.

[Meathead]

We just did some cut and paste on these in order to make each one a separate recipe/page, something Google requires. Grrrrr. I'll dive in.

[HawkerXP]

None of yous is gonna lick my nuts! HouseHomey

[HawkerXP]

I use a little Gold Bond. Makes my nuts happy.

[HouseHomey]

I can’t I read that. Was wondering who would be the first but reference. You didn’t disappoint. I’m dying here with my morning coffee. Did you catch meatheads but reference above? Bwahahaha