Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I've been working on this for awhile. The following has been gettin' pretty good reviews from the peanut gallery...

Roasting pecans, walnuts and/or almonds

Place large cookie sheets covered with chosen nuts (or mixture) no deeper than one layer. Place in cold oven, middle shelf, and heat to 305F or 290F on convection. Start timer for 20 minutes from the cold beginning. Shut off oven at the completion of 20 minutes, do not open door, & allow to cool for 2 hours minimum before opening. This last step allows more moisture to be removed from the nuts without burning them. The result is a slight roasted flavor with an extra snap upon biting!!

Ill have to try that. I've been toasting them on the toaster setting in my Breville in a lined quarter sheet pan. Setting 4 or 5 for darkness depending on the nut, and I let them sit in there for several minutes past the cycle too for a while. Gets them to the edge of being burnt without going over, and vigilance is not required. (Which is my downfall with these things).

I use that method, too, except for leaving them in the oven afterwards. I figured turning the oven to 280-290, they couldn't burn, since the main components burning at low temperatures are the sugars, and this is when they brown, but don't burn. I use a convection oven, and it dries out and browns the nuts in 20-25 min. I rarely roast whole almonds - just pieces - but those are one that would probably be dried out much better, using that method. I wil also try that with hazelnuts - my favorite nut, if I could pick one. They get far too dark using traditional methods of toasting and rubbing the skins off. Maybe I'll try leaving the convection oven on 200, and bake them another hour or so. I'll post it if I come up with a good method.

I don't dare try hazelnuts - I wouldn't be able to stop. On the other hand, what could possibly go wrong...
Thanks for the idea!

yummmm!

A trick I learned from Alice Medrich for hazelnuts is to blanch them for about three minutes in baking soda water (using a lot of baking soda) to loosen the skins. You then shock them in ice water and strain. The skins peel right off. Then you roast them. Works like a charm.

Amy

Thanks Amy, I'll try that. In the beginning I tried blanching hazelnuts, as almonds were done, and the skins simply would not come off. I'll try the baking soda water, and see if that makes the difference.

I have done the baking soda and it works like a charm. Another method that works like a charm is buying them already toasted from the Chaldean market.

Great...now I gotta buy a $@*)&*##@ convection oven...thanks alot ol' buddy!

I thought you'd be ecstatic over the energy savings..........