How can I salinate in-shell unsalted roasted peanuts?
July 17, 2020 4:32 AM   Subscribe

What it says on the tin! I have a big bag of Kroger unsalted in-shell peanuts, and I would like them to be salted in-shell peanuts. Is there a process I can do at home to make this happen?

I have an oven, instant pot, slow cooker, cookie sheets, pans, etc. I would assume I could soak them in brine and dry/reheat them, but every related recipe I find is for boiled peanuts, which I'm not looking for. Would love for them to be still in the shell, but would settle for post-shelled salty goodness. I would also be willing to do it in little batches, to experiment with a process, so any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

TIA!
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra to Food & Drink (7 answers total)
 
Boiling in brine for 15mins or so seems to be the water-based method for nuts (I was thinking of pistachios, which I knew were boiled in brine), but that doesn't solve your no-boiling problem. However, this page (also about pistachios) suggests tossing the nuts in a paper bag with salt for 30 seconds as an alternative, which might be worth a small-batch experiment?
posted by terretu at 5:14 AM on July 17, 2020


Response by poster: I'm not against boiling or any process that would result is "roasted peanuts" that are salted. I'm just not looking for this.
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 5:19 AM on July 17, 2020


In that case I'd be tempted to experiment with boiling a subset of the peanuts in brine for 15mins and seeing what happens/how close the result is to boiled peanuts (those aren't really a thing where I live so I hadn't realised there was a very specific outcome you were trying to avoid).
posted by terretu at 5:24 AM on July 17, 2020


Here's a technique to salt and roast peanuts in shell. Basically, you brine them, and then dry them out (which can take a few days, unless you have a dehydrator). Re-roasting may not be necessary if the peanuts were already roasted when you started, but the roasting step might drive off the last of the residual moisture and increase the crunchiness.

Basically, I would try brining and drying a small batch. During the drying process, taste one every 24 hours and see how they're progressing. If you find that the moisture level doesn't get as low as you like, try "re-roasting" a few of them and see if that gets any better.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:22 AM on July 17, 2020 [2 favorites]


I often see a 200 degree oven as a suggestion for replacing a dehydrator, so I would start there. Probably 200 for about two hours and check every half hour after that for a dry but not over roasted nut. I would shoot for the same batch size each time, or expect to slightly increase the time if you increase the batch size. Most important is to spread out the nuts so they are not touching.
posted by soelo at 7:14 AM on July 17, 2020


Boiled peanuts like the type you're trying to avoid are boiled for a looonnnnggg time. Like, several hours. Boiling in brine for 15 minutes shouldn't get you anywhere close to that, consistency-wise.
posted by 7segment at 8:49 PM on July 17, 2020


Response by poster: I boiled the unsalted unshelled peanuts for 15 minutes in a 1 cup salt:16 cups water solution, then dried them on racks in a 170°F convection oven for 5 hours, then let them sit out overnight. They are barely salty and mostly rubbery and not fun to eat. Thanks for the suggestions though.
posted by Pig Tail Orchestra at 7:06 AM on July 19, 2020


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