Drying and storing walnuts at home

Drying and storing walnuts is an important point in further preserving the quality of the kernel, which affects the future commodity price of the product. In this article we will find out how to dry the inshell walnuts in a variety of ways and at home, and also consider all the nuances of storing the prepared raw materials.

When is it best to collect

As soon as the harvest on the walnut tree is nearing maturation, squirrels and various birds begin to hunt after it. In order to prevent the loss of nuts, and at the same time preserve in them all the useful and nutritional properties, you should pay attention to the signs by which you can determine the right ripening phase:

• cracked green shell;
• woody foliage began to turn yellow;
• fully mature fruit has a hard, light brown shell, and the core, located in it, should be moist and noticeable by weight.

The variety of cultivated walnut is also important.The trees that bloom in springtime ripen by the end of summer and mid-September, and the nuts of the June bloom begin to ripen only by early October.

How to dry walnuts

In fact, dry walnuts in the shell, in the usual domestic conditions, it is not hard at all, just need to follow some simple rules. How to carry out this process in a variety of proven ways, including in the oven and in the electric dryer, read on.

In the open air

Drying nuts in the open air involves the gradual implementation of the following steps:

In sunny weather:

1. Spread any waterproof fabric, such as a tarp, on a free piece of land.
2. Further, the fruits selected and cleared from the green film are evenly laid out on the layered fabric, necessarily in one layer.
3. Now you need to leave the nuts for a few days to dry in the open sun.With favorable weather, drying will take only 3-5 days.

This is the way agronomists used for many years, until more modern methods appeared in the world. Its main disadvantage is the possibility of unforeseen precipitation and a sharp decrease in air temperature.

In room:

Walnut fruits can also be dried indoors without fear of adverse weather conditions. For this, as a rule, usually choose the attic:

1. Harvest is peeled from the pericarp.
2. Each nut is sorted by size and washed in cool water.
3. Then the raw material is laid out on racks with a grid, on which fresh air must necessarily get.

If the harvest of nuts is small, the entire harvest can be dried in the apartment, pre-spread on the floor of the newspaper. In this case also, fresh air should not be forgotten.

In the oven

Details on how to dry and thoroughly calcined walnuts in the oven, looks like that:

1. Peeled previously from green peel the fruit must be sorted by size, washed and blot from excess moisture with a clean towel.
2. Without forgetting about the temperature at which nuts should be dried (it is 40-45 ° C), we select fruits of the same size, arrange them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven.
3. Drying should last no more than 3 hours, and the oven door should be slightly ajar.
4. After the appointed time, the temperature should be raised to 70 ° C and keep the nuts in the oven for about half an hour.
5. At the end of the process, hot food should be removed from the oven and left in the air until it cools completely.

In the electric dryer

If there is a special appliance in the house - electric dryers, the process of drying nuts is greatly simplified. But here it is necessary to follow the instructions attached to the device and constantly pay attention to the degree of readiness of products.

The procedure itself takes, as a rule, only 5 hours, but the number of fruits should be minimal, otherwise they will have to be dried in several approaches.

How to check readiness

To test the readiness of dried walnuts, chop the shell of at least two fruits and check their kernels. If they are "rubber" and wet - the remaining nuts will need to be further dried. Otherwise, even under the right storage conditions, they can rot and mold. If the nucleoli become fragile and have a thin skin - they are completely dried out and ready for use or sale.

Storage of walnuts at home

In the future, it is important to preserve the prepared foods so that they do not lose all their beneficial components and nutrients in the process. To do this, dry fruits are placed in baskets or mesh bags and stored dark in a fairly cool place (for example, in the cellar). You can also freeze them.With properly executed conditions, the products will retain their freshness for at least two years.

How to dry and store walnut kernels

Walnut kernels can be dried in a simple and proven way. First, they must be removed from the shell, thoroughly cleaned from films and dirt. Do not rinse! Then the resulting solid products must dry on trays for two or three days. You can also use the oven and dry the kernel at reduced temperature to the required degree of readiness.

Store dried kernels must be in tight sealed cans or canvas bags, in a dry, cool place. Shelf life should not exceed 12 weeks. Once a month, it is desirable to sort out the products and re-dry them - this will permanently prevent the appearance of moldiness on them.

As you can see, there are many ways to cook walnuts. You just need to choose the most suitable for them, and as a result get a high-quality and truly competitive product.