I want fancy nuts in shells
November 5, 2020 2:40 PM Subscribe
This is the time of year when I want to sit around with a nutcracker and a big bowl of nuts and snack on walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, etc. If I want to spoil myself, where online should I order fancy nuts in their shells?
I'll extend this question to include peanuts, even though those aren't nutcracker kinda nuts, because I've been craving them too!
I'll extend this question to include peanuts, even though those aren't nutcracker kinda nuts, because I've been craving them too!
Around my work we’re big fans of nuts.com. Also good for dried fruits, shelled nuts, and all kinds of other snacks!
posted by mollymayhem at 3:07 PM on November 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by mollymayhem at 3:07 PM on November 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
Nuts.com is great but free shipping doesn't kick in until $59. I haven't had anything in the shell from them but their other snacks are good quality.
My local grocery store carries them in bulk usually starting in early fall.
posted by soelo at 3:21 PM on November 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
My local grocery store carries them in bulk usually starting in early fall.
posted by soelo at 3:21 PM on November 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: These are great and I'll probably order stuff from sunnyland and/or nuts.com, but what I was thinking of is - is there a special kind of walnut grown only in Norway, or deluxe Italian hazelnuts, or the finest D.O.C. Georgia peanuts? It would be fun to splurge on some of those!
posted by moonmilk at 3:27 PM on November 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 3:27 PM on November 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
Back when I was wanting to mail order pecans, I researched state extension bulletins advising on the most flavorful varieties, then Googled to see who was selling them commercially. Bit labor intensive, and I don't actually remember what I settled on, but I remember they were delicious.
posted by HotToddy at 3:47 PM on November 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 3:47 PM on November 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
I don’t know anything offhand about sourcing here, but for Spain -
Chestnuts
Mallorca almonds
Marcona almonds
Hazelnuts
And they also have a special tigernut that gets used for horchata.
There’s also a nut associated with/from Valencia. Might be the tigernut, might be something else.
posted by bilabial at 4:21 PM on November 5, 2020
Chestnuts
Mallorca almonds
Marcona almonds
Hazelnuts
And they also have a special tigernut that gets used for horchata.
There’s also a nut associated with/from Valencia. Might be the tigernut, might be something else.
posted by bilabial at 4:21 PM on November 5, 2020
When it comes to nuts, freshly roasted is best. The Sunnyland Heavenly Mix is quite deluxe - freshly roasted and top notch. They grow and roast and pack their own nuts. Miles above the drugstore Mr. Peanuts or Mauna Loa type stuff. If you're in Canada, Ayoub's is very nice; again, freshly roasted.
posted by dum spiro spero at 4:43 PM on November 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by dum spiro spero at 4:43 PM on November 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Hubs peanuts in the tin are a treat in my family - already shelled though.
posted by clew at 5:45 PM on November 5, 2020
posted by clew at 5:45 PM on November 5, 2020
Black walnuts
Note that you'll need a special cracker for those, typically with a long lever arm. Ordinary hand crackers are not nearly strong enough.
posted by jedicus at 6:36 PM on November 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Note that you'll need a special cracker for those, typically with a long lever arm. Ordinary hand crackers are not nearly strong enough.
posted by jedicus at 6:36 PM on November 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
You might be able to get Iranian pistachios again soon, depending on the US election result.
posted by scruss at 1:13 AM on November 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by scruss at 1:13 AM on November 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
You might be able to get Iranian pistachios again soon, depending on the US election result.
Ahhh saffron coated pistachios. Maybe not exactly what you are looking for, but now I personally have a hankering.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:14 AM on November 6, 2020
Ahhh saffron coated pistachios. Maybe not exactly what you are looking for, but now I personally have a hankering.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:14 AM on November 6, 2020
Nthing black walnuts. Also any of the sweeter hickory nuts. (jedicus is right: you need a special cracker for black walnuts, and it helps with hickory nuts, too. I shell shagbark hickory nuts with my black walnut cracker. Nutpicks are crucial as well).
If you can source American chestnuts (very difficult without connections to a blight-resistance research farm or proximity to surviving stands, but who knows?), they're edible. You can sometimes buy acorns, although they are rarely in "crackable" form, and it's a lot of processing to strip the tannins.
Leda Meredith is a forager in the northeast, and though I doubt you had "pick your own" in mind, resources about the many amazing nuts native to your region will give you starting points to seek out people who do pick, hull/pre-process, and sell them.
posted by Laetiporus at 7:57 AM on November 6, 2020
If you can source American chestnuts (very difficult without connections to a blight-resistance research farm or proximity to surviving stands, but who knows?), they're edible. You can sometimes buy acorns, although they are rarely in "crackable" form, and it's a lot of processing to strip the tannins.
Leda Meredith is a forager in the northeast, and though I doubt you had "pick your own" in mind, resources about the many amazing nuts native to your region will give you starting points to seek out people who do pick, hull/pre-process, and sell them.
posted by Laetiporus at 7:57 AM on November 6, 2020
Burnt Ridge Nursery sells black walnuts and chestnuts (and hazelnuts and English walnuts) by the pound.
The only ship to Canada, but GrimoNut Nursery has some interesting nuts they sell.
There are also butternuts (also known as white walnuts) a native North American species, although I didn't find any place selling the nuts, only the trees.
posted by ShooBoo at 10:37 AM on November 6, 2020
The only ship to Canada, but GrimoNut Nursery has some interesting nuts they sell.
There are also butternuts (also known as white walnuts) a native North American species, although I didn't find any place selling the nuts, only the trees.
posted by ShooBoo at 10:37 AM on November 6, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks for the recommendations! So far I've ordered black walnuts (SHELLED - i'm not gonna try to open those monsters myself) from Hammons, and english walnuts and hazelnuts from Burnt Ridge.
Any direct-from-the-orchard almond or pecan recommendations?
posted by moonmilk at 4:25 PM on November 6, 2020
Any direct-from-the-orchard almond or pecan recommendations?
posted by moonmilk at 4:25 PM on November 6, 2020
I ordered a bunch of roasted, shelled, salted nuts from nuts.com thanks to this thread. If you order enough it's free overnight shipping! They're quite good, definitely fresh roasted and high quality. They aren't quite as good as the ones I remember from Morrows Nut House (a late lamented SF local shop) but they're much better than anything my grocery store has. The Turkish pistachios are particularly good.
posted by Nelson at 7:56 AM on November 11, 2020
posted by Nelson at 7:56 AM on November 11, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by dum spiro spero at 2:51 PM on November 5, 2020 [1 favorite]