General rules
Regardless of what type of nuts you bought or picked, they should be picked and dried. From the walnuts they remove the top peel, which initially has a green color, but after drying it turns brown-black. If the nuts were lifted from the ground, then they should be washed and dried. Those fruits that float on the surface of the water can be safely thrown away, as they are empty or damaged.
Encased and shelled nuts should not be stored in plastic bags at room temperature. There they choke, begin to mold.It is not recommended to store them for more than a year. The oils that are contained in the cores begin to taste bitter. Purified kernels can be stored for 2-3 months under normal conditions, and 6-12 months in a cold place or in a frozen state. The storage place must be protected from the sun, dry and, if possible, cool. Tare can serve as a cloth bag or any container with a lid.
How to dry
Before you learn how to store nuts in a peeled form, learn how to dry them and store in a shell. This will help you increase the amount of billets and prepare the cores.
The fruits in the shell are laid out in a thin layer on a flat surface, covered with newspaper or thick cloth, and dried for several days. The place should be dry and shaded. You can speed up the drying process by placing the nuts in a slightly warm oven for a few hours. It is important not to fry them in order to preserve the nutrients and taste.
Any dried nuts are kept in the shell the longest. You can pour them:
- into a canvas bag;
- jar;
- wooden case;
- cardboard box;
- cart.
Storage should be dry and cool.
If you bought peeled walnuts, rinse them first, and then dry them on a baking tray in the oven or on a preheated frying pan. It is not necessary to fry the kernels, just achieve removal of excess moisture, cool and spread on banks. But if you plan to cook in the coming days, baking or another tasty dish, then no one forbids to make a strong roast. It all depends on your preferences.
Those who are interested in how to store pine nuts, you can answer that the best place for this is the freezer. Similarly, walnuts, hazel or hazelnuts are placed in the freezer. And so that they take less meta, they are crushed, freed from the shell and placed in plastic containers or bags. The peeled fruit in the freezer will last the longest.
Peculiarities of storage of pine nuts
Pine nuts contain almost 65% of oils, therefore it is impossible to keep them for a long time at home. Buy pine nuts should be in September and October after harvest. In order not to be mistaken and not to take last year's product, we must try the core. It should be sweet, pleasant to the taste, without pests.
Peeled nuts are placed in a bag and sent to the shelves of the refrigerator. You can put them in a glass or tin can and put them on the shelf of the kitchen cabinet. It is important that the humidity in the storage place is no more than 60%, and that sunlight does not penetrate there.
The longer the cores are stored, the more they lose their useful qualities. Therefore, never make blanks for 1-2 years ahead. Eat nuts regularly raw, add to salads, pastries, to meat dishes.
Features hazelnuts
Properly dried in hazelnuts can be stored for 3-4 years. At the same time, the humidity in the storage place should be no more than 20%, and the temperature should not be above + 10 °. .. + 12 °.Peeled hazelnuts should be eaten after 3 months, otherwise it will start to taste bitter.
Specialists who know a lot about nuts recommend buying them in their shells, since the peeled hazelnuts often become infected with mold due to improper storage. If the kernels have a musty smell and are stained, then do not buy them. It is better to choose hazelnuts in an intact dense shell and split it at home.
When purchasing cores in sealed packages, check the date. If the packaging was more than six months ago, refrain from buying.
