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How
to Roast Pinon & Pine nuts in a Conventional Oven
The New
Mexico Pinon Nut Company offers fresh in shell (uncooked)
and roasted Pinon pine nuts and were first to offer them online.
We
would like to share some roasting tips with you
Remember
to rinse off the Pinon nuts (pine nuts) before you cook them.
Put them in a spaghetti colander and rinse them off while
stirring around for a minute. (Remember early season fresh
pinon nuts takes longer to roast because they have moisture
in them, and only trust taste testing because if you only
look at the clock - they are going to burn...)
1) Wash
them in a strainer. Preheat your oven to 350.
2) Spread
the wet pinon nuts out one layer deep on a baking pan.
3) Sprinkle
salt (optional) on top. I would not worry about too much salt
- extra salt falls off very easily after roasting.
4) Start
taste testing after 10 minutes. Some ovens can finish in 10
on the top rack and some take up to 30 minutes. The aroma
will tell you when to taste test as this is the only way know.
While tast testing watch to see that the color of the pinon
kernel meat inside the shell will change from white to translucent.
After this translucent phase, the kernal meat's color will
change back to off white (almost like it was never roasted)
then it will continue to change to a light creamy butterscotch.
KEEP TASTE - TESTING.
5) Consider
turning off the oven off at this time... they are minutes
away from being ready. Taste test one or two pinon nuts every
minute. Keep watching the color change of the kernel meat
inside the shell. Be prepared to take them out immediately...
when they hit that light creamy butterscotch color - take
them out of the oven.
Make sure
when they are cooling off you do not put them in a bowl -
because only the top nuts will cool off and the rest will
burn. Transfer them to another baking pan to stop the heat
transfer if you need too. Consider setting them outside
to cool in the breeze if you need to.
The nuts
will develop into a full manila envelop color while cooing
off - mm mm you did it!
A few
minutes more in the oven past this time will burn them.
Once you
get the hang of it you might take them out before they hit
the creamy butterscoch but keep them on the hot baking pan
and let them finish roasting on the stovetop out of the oven.
Just remember to tast test and they wont burn... otherwise
they will....
The roasting
time and temperature required will depend on how much moisture
is still in the nuts (more moisture when fresh picked, and
the altitude you are cooking in. In the high desert, it takes
us longer to cook everything. Fresh early season nuts: The
earlier in the season you buy, the more moisture. The more
moisture, the longer the pine nuts take to roast.
MICROWAVE
MICROWAVE:
After washing and salting the pine nuts (salt always optional)
place 1/4 cup of Pinon nuts in a paper bag with the end closed.
Cook one minute. When you take out a sample and it is translucent,
stop... and wait one minute - the nuts will continue cooking
after you remove them from the microwave from the inside out.
(If the nuts have not started to turn creamy - put them back
in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time. You can always
put them back in a little bit more if you are not satisfied...
but you can't do anything if you have already burned the pine
nuts). Times vary because of differing microwave strengths.The
main rule is "when the aroma starts, begin to taste and
color test" When the sample changes from white and begins
to become translucent, I cook for one minute more and take
then sit at the table and keep testing.
Practice
the small amount method until you understand the process enough
to be daring to roast more..
Excellent
Pinon Coffee: Pinon coffee is a staple in my area and demands
a premium price. Try this sometime if you over cook the pinon
nuts.
We
clean, roast and salt in a process that we have perfected.
We package and ship them and ship directly to you.
©
2007 Pinonnuts.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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