How to dry walnuts: we will help you do it right!

Increasingly, walnuts can be found in summer cottages.
The tree bears fruit well even in the conditions of the Middle Zone, so it has become very popular. But, by and large, the nut is still a curiosity. Therefore, some gardeners dry and store collected nuts incorrectly. As a result, most of them rot in the first 2-3 months. Dear readers!
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How to dry walnuts at home

If, after harvesting the fruits, you plan to store them for a long time, then you should definitely dry them. At home, there are several methods for implementing this process.

1. Naturally - in the sun or in a dry room, protected from precipitation.
2. Artificially - using an oven, microwave oven, electric dryer.

The latter method has a number of positive aspects: drying is much faster in electrical appliances than in the sun. Does not depend on weather conditions, can be performed at any time of the year. However, the volume of fruit that can be dried at one time will be significantly less.

How to dry walnuts in the oven without shells

After harvesting walnuts, you need to remove the shell and remove the kernels. Place on a baking sheet, then place in the oven, which has been preheated to 50°C. Drying time is 20-40 minutes. For even heating, do not forget to stir.

It is important to keep the oven door slightly open so that condensation does not accumulate and the process goes faster. It is not recommended to increase the temperature in the oven, as this will lead to bitterness.

How to dry walnuts in shell in the oven

To dry the nuts to the required state, there is no need to rush and preheat the oven to maximum. Thus, the fruits will be boiled and fleshy. Or you can just burn them and that’s it. You can get excellent taste if you adhere to the following algorithm:

• rinse the shells with water and place them on a towel, waiting for the water to drain;
• Place clean fruits evenly on a baking sheet;
• preheat the oven to 40-45 °C;
• maintain at this temperature for about three hours;
• The oven door should not be closed;
• half an hour before the end of time, increase the temperature to 60 ° C;
• readiness is checked by cracking the shell: in well-dried fruits, the kernels break easily;
• walnuts are removed from the oven and left on the table so that they are completely cooked;
• if the core turns out to be soft and stringy, it means that the fruits are not completely dry, you should continue the drying process.

Important! For unshelled nuts, it is not recommended to raise the oven temperature above 70 °C.

How to dry walnuts in an electric dryer

Home appliance stores have electric dryers that are designed for drying fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. Such devices are suitable for drying walnuts. The principle of operation is as follows: the fan circulates heated air, heating the fruit from all sides. You just need to control the process and turn the nuts in time.

The drying process in an electrical appliance takes on average 5-6 hours. This is with a minimum load, otherwise you will have to do several approaches. In the intervals between drying, you should test the readiness of the fruit.

Attention! Fruit should not be placed on impermeable materials. The liquid will stagnate, after which dark spots will appear on the shell and kernels.

Artificial drying methods

To carry out the fire procedure, special dryers are used. Air enters the device naturally using powerful fans. The nuts are treated with hot air and heated on each side. It will take a couple of days.

For large volumes of raw materials, you can use channel sieves. The nuts are washed, wiped with a cloth and loaded into a device with heated air inside. Moving in the sieves, the fruits dry out. Fire drying should be done at a temperature of 55 or 57 degrees.

How to dry walnuts in the sun

Drying walnuts naturally is the most labor-intensive and time-consuming method. Since its quality and taste will depend on the amount of moisture inside the fruit. Sun drying is considered the oldest but most common method.

Walnuts are scattered on an oilcloth or wooden pallet in one layer. They need to be turned over several times a day. The structure is installed in a sunny area. The main disadvantage of this method is the unpredictability of weather conditions. At any moment it may rain or the air temperature will drop significantly. Therefore, you need to be prepared for this. In bad weather, nuts should be brought into a warm, dry room. For the process, it is advisable to select a period without precipitation, with warm sunny days. Fogs and morning dew will also negatively affect the drying rate.

There is no need to pre-sort. Using trays and stacks will speed up the process significantly. After all, good air circulation will be ensured.

The duration of drying walnuts in the sun is 3-6 days. Under unfavorable conditions, the procedure can take up to 10-12 days. It all depends on the weather.

In particularly humid regions, walnuts are dried in special drying barns. Where the fruits lie on special racks, and the weather does not in any way affect the duration of the process.

Natural way of drying

The drying method affects how high quality the dried product is and how long it can be stored. The natural method allows you to dry the nuts in their shells outdoors in the sun. It is not necessary to wash the harvested crop. If the fruits have been washed, they must be wiped dry. A cloth is spread on the ground, on which ripe nuts are scattered in one layer. It will take two or three weeks for the nuts to dry properly. To prevent dew and rain from soaking the crop, they bring it indoors at night and monitor the weather conditions. This method is easy, but outdated. When lying on the ground for a long time, harmful microorganisms can develop in the fruits. If even a little dampness gets into the raw material, some of it may deteriorate, as well as the taste of the nuts. Natural methods are used by conservative gardeners.

There is a natural method when the nuts are dried not in the open outdoor space, but in a drying shed, where there should be air circulation. The room during the process should be well ventilated.

You can use wooden lattice trays. Before drying walnuts, they are cleaned and sorted. Be sure to wash the nuts. It is better to lay out the products on the racks in one layer. Boxes or trays with products should be placed on the shelves of the rack. There should be good air flow to each tray. Dried fruits make an excellent food supplement; they can be eaten as a separate product or planted in the spring.

Tip: To prevent walnuts from becoming moldy during drying and storage, you will need to monitor the humidity around the fruit; conditions are not dangerous at 5 or 8 percent of the indicator. To protect the workpiece from dampness, the nuts, scattered in mesh bags, are left near the heating radiators for a couple of days.

How long to dry walnuts and how to check readiness

The time it will take to obtain tasty and dry nuts is difficult to determine in advance. It all depends on the size of the fruit, the chosen drying method, the degree of ripeness and the level of humidity.

Under ideal conditions, they can be dried naturally in 4-5 days. But if problems arise with weather conditions, the process may take longer. Thus, the duration will be two weeks.

When choosing artificial methods, the time frame is significantly reduced. The drying speed of fruits is on average 1-2 days, maybe faster.

To check the readiness of walnuts, you need to crack the shells of at least two fruits. The quality of the kernel is assessed:

• there is no excess moisture;
• dense, not soft consistency;
• the pulp should break easily;
• thin skin;
• the presence of dry membranes;
• brown color of the kernel;
• the taste is crispy, pleasant without bitterness.

If the nuts do not meet these parameters, they should be dried. Otherwise, even if the recommended storage conditions are observed, they may become moldy and rot.

Preliminary preparation

It is advisable to start drying non-opening and opening fruits in a hard shell immediately after picking or purchasing. The main steps are to sort through, sort out damaged, spoiled, hollow specimens, get rid of plant debris, and remove leathery pericarps. When working, be sure to wear rubberized household gloves. Dyes penetrate deeply into the skin and allergic irritation may occur.

To wash or not to wash? Why and how?

It is advisable to rinse kernels purchased already peeled with boiling water once or twice. Peanuts must be washed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The remaining types are washed with ordinary water (especially if they were purchased at a market stall or fruit and vegetable depot).

Products located in the open air during transportation from the collection site to the warehouse, to the packaging site, to the retail outlet are inevitably covered with a layer of dust and small particles of dirt. It may contain parasite and insect eggs, bacteria, and chemical residues. During the growing process, trees are sprayed with pesticides; during pre-sale storage, the crop is treated to protect it from food moths and other pests. Walnuts are usually clarified with acids to obtain a marketable appearance in special solutions, and fumigated with sulfur. In addition to sanitary cleaning, immersion in water helps separate empty specimens from full ones.

It is advisable to rinse peeled kernels sold without sealed packaging under running water.

After washing, the raw materials should be blotted with a paper towel or soft cotton cloth and dried naturally in a ventilated place or near central heating radiators for two hours. Methods of further processing are chosen depending on the type of nuts.

It is important not to confuse the drying procedure with frying. When drying, the product is only dehydrated, without changing its original qualities, and remains “alive”. A properly dried nut can be germinated by soaking it in water.

Terms and conditions of storage

Walnuts should be stored in such a way that they do not lose their nutritional properties and beneficial components. It is better to store unpeeled fruits in plastic or wooden boxes or nets. The main thing is that they “breathe” in the container, that is, they are well ventilated. Then the appearance of mold is excluded.

Optimal parameters of temperature and humidity conditions: 0-10 ° C and humidity within 60%. The room should be dry, free of unpleasant odors, and well ventilated. Walnuts in shell can be stored for up to 3 years.

Attention! Fruits should not be placed in cellars, basements, or damp areas. Excessive air humidity provokes the processes of rotting and debate.

Peeled, dried walnuts can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-12 months; in the pantry or other dark place, the shelf life is 2-4 months. However, frozen kernels have the longest period. You can keep them in the freezer for 1-3 years at a temperature of -18 °C. After defrosting, you need to fry it in a frying pan to give it a characteristic taste or heat it in the microwave.

Another way to store nuts is to store them for the winter. The peeled kernels are placed in a jar and filled with fresh honey in a ratio of 1:2, respectively. These honey tinctures can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 12 months.

Suitable containers include a glass jar, a bag made of natural material, a cardboard box, and vacuum bags. It is important to remember that peeled kernels are afraid of sunlight and absorb unpleasant odors.

Best time to collect

Due to the fact that nuts are the best treat for squirrels and various birds, closer to ripening they begin to encroach on them.

Although it happens that fruits reach ripeness in an apartment or inside a house, nuts that have ripened on a tree branch are more beneficial.

At the same time, their safety increases. It’s easy to guess that they can be torn off based on the following signs:

• The shell begins to crack.
• Yellow foliage on a tree.
• The presence of a light brown shell.

The variety is of no small importance. When the plant blooms in the spring, the harvest is harvested in late summer. It often takes another 2 weeks for the fruits to ripen.

You can try nuts that bloom in June no earlier than October. To prevent your hands from turning brownish, you need to wear gloves when collecting and peeling nuts.