Rethinking Smoked Almonds

[johnmeyer]

I tried various things in the brine, including both spices and sugar. None of them penetrated.

I think if you want additional flavor, I'd recommend not drying them off after the brine, and then, before smoking or roasting, sprinkling both powdered flavoring of your choosing (cayenne, etc.) and also lots of salt. I just looked at my recipe again and I don't think I mentioned that I put on extra salt on the wet nuts, and then again at the end (I forget about blood pressure when I eat these).

 

[noboundaries]

My wife can't handle salt, so I use low salt commercial and homemade rubs. The hot brine actually gives the nuts a hint of a salty flavor (ate one after drying with a paper towel).

When I start smoking these on the Weber, will definitely use a hot brine and eliminate the phony smoke. They actually have a flavor I recognize from a MAJOR brand, so now I know how they do it.

 

[spg1]

Putting the spice on when they are wet sounds like a good idea. I actually sprinkled some spice on early in the smoke hoping it would stick. It helped a little.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[cmayna]

John,
This thread reminds me that I need to do more to share on the upcoming rock cod / crab combo fishing trips. Off to Costco I go. My favorite way to do is your simple method of just brining for the infamous 10 minutes and then into the smoker they go. Smoke with Hickory at 160+ for 90 minutes (rotating trays halfway thru), bump temp up to 230 for another 60 minutes (rotating again halfway thru). I then just turn the smoker off and let the almonds cool down in the smoker.

Again John, I really appreciate you sharing this recipe.

 

[Winterrider]

Had to do another batch up for Christmas upon request. I added 1 tsp cayenne last time to the mix. Nice addition.

 

[noboundaries]

My smoker is out of commission at the moment due to me forgetting to cover it before a rain. Looks like a laboratory experiment inside. Been too busy to address something way down my to-do list. Maybe today after I roast several pounds of coffee, also for gifts.

Ended up using the oven to make 12 lbs of faux smoked almonds over two days. By the end of the effort I was like a machine. Turned out 6 lbs a day. It took about 3 hours each day from start to finish where the last nuts were cooled and ready to bag.

I was surprised that not much weight was lost from roasting, yet the nuts were crispy and flavorful. I got 23 eight ounce bags of nuts out of the 12 lbs. (I think the difference was me taste testing each batch. Ooops.)