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Any nuts travel a long way from the point of collection to the store counter and the final consumer. Hygiene standards during their cleaning, storage and transportation are most often not observed. Therefore, experts recommend that you wash shelled walnuts before eating.
Do I need to wash walnuts?
Shelled walnuts are no fundamentally different from almonds, cashews or hazelnuts. And it is imperative to wash them before eating. This also applies to products sold in shells. The need to wash peeled kernels is due to the following points:
- When selling a product, it is constantly in the open air and remains unprotected from airborne dust and dirt particles.
- Not only bacteria or viruses, but also parasite eggs can get onto shelled nuts from people present in the immediate vicinity.
- To ensure long shelf life, nut tree fruits can be treated with special chemical compounds that prevent food moths and other pests from eating the product.
How to wash shelled walnuts
Typically, inshell nuts are not treated with chemicals. Therefore, everything is simple with them: just rinse them in running water, thus getting rid of dirt and dust that will settle on the kernels during the splitting process.
Therefore, it is worth washing walnut kernels more carefully if the product was sold peeled:
- poured into a colander;
- rinse thoroughly under running cold water;
- additionally rinse with bottled or cooled boiled water.
The described method is relevant for shelled walnuts purchased from a trustworthy seller. If the purchase was made at the market, you should scald the fruits with boiling water - this will kill most of the microbes.
It is important not only to properly wash walnuts before eating, but also to correctly remove them from the water. So, if the water is drained only by holding the kernels with your hands, the dirt particles that have settled on the bottom of the dish will most likely stick to the clean product again. To prevent this from happening, you should use a slotted spoon.
Which is better: wash or soak?
There is a point of view that it is not enough to simply wash shelled walnuts - they should be soaked.
There is no particular difficulty in the procedure. Unroasted peeled kernels are placed in a container, filled with drinking water and left in this form for several hours (or overnight). The product can be stored for up to three days in the refrigerator. After the specified period, they begin to deteriorate, and their taste characteristics deteriorate.
It is better to use hot water for soaking. But when using baking soda, cold soda will do. An alkaline environment will no less effectively kill all viruses, bacteria and eggs that parasites have managed to lay.
The soaking process is often used by raw foodists. It is generally accepted that placing a raw product in water for a while helps to revive it. The taste of peeled walnuts becomes sweeter and more delicate after soaking. If there was some bitterness in it previously, it disappears. The nut stops crunching, but many people even like it.
How to properly dry nuts after washing
Having figured out how to wash shelled walnuts, it is worth learning about how to dry them. There are several ways.
Natural drying
Natural drying does not involve heat treatment. The washed product is laid out on a cloth or sheet of paper in a well-ventilated area for 2 - 3 days. The fruits should be stirred periodically to ensure even drying.
In an electric dryer
When drying using a specialized household appliance - an electric dryer - it is important to set the correct temperature, which is intended for heat treatment of fruits and nuts. The procedure will take about 5 - 6 hours.
In the oven
When drying washed, peeled nuts in the oven, it is necessary to set the temperature in the range from 70 to 90 degrees. A higher figure is not acceptable. Before placing the nuts in the oven, they must be laid out on a baking sheet (preferably in one layer). The drying process will take 2 to 3 hours.After the designated time has passed, the fruits must be removed, laid out on a flat surface and allowed to cool.
In the microwave
Drying washed, shelled nuts in the microwave is not the most common method, but it is sometimes used. It will take literally 1 - 2 minutes to dry the fruits. In this case, it is important to set the time mode correctly: if you make a mistake, the walnuts will burn.
Alternative to washing: roasting nuts
Not everyone decides to wash fruits before eating, fearing about their taste. In such cases, it is worth considering another way to make the product not only safe to eat, but also more tasty. We are talking about frying in a pan.
To obtain tasty and safe nuts by roasting, you will need to follow these steps:
- Heat a skillet over medium heat.
- Place the kernels in it in one layer, previously cut in half or into 4 parts. There is no need to use oil or fat: the fruits themselves are quite fatty.
- Keep it on the fire, stirring constantly, until it turns brown. On average, the process takes no more than 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Let the nuts cool.
- Serve.
Practice shows that roasted walnuts have a brighter and richer taste.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that walnuts are considered a healthy product, their consumption must be approached with caution: not washing shelled walnuts before eating will be a serious mistake, for which you can pay for an upset stomach. Washing fruits before eating is no less important than washing your hands.
