Activating nuts

[ambrosia]

Have you ever heard of activated nuts? I was new to the concept until recently, when a friend told me about how he soaks nuts in brine to make them easier to digest. Apparently he soaks them for several days until they get fully saturated with the salt water. I have tried them and wasn't all that impressed. They left a bit of a "rich" aftertaste in my mouth. Have do you prefer your nuts?

 

[Food4thought]

Some types of nut cannot be digested in their natural state. I know of a similar process for activating acorns to make them digestable by humans. You do not use salt water, but you do need soak acorns for at least 24 hours, preferable in running water, to leach out the tannins. After treatment they can be ground and used in cooking like other types of nut.

 

[Ellyn]

If it affects the flavor that badly, then I'd rather do the digesting inside my body, thank you very much!

I haven't heard of activated nuts, either. For acorns, I thought it was hours of boiling and re-boiling with fresh water that was needed. I would think that soaking nuts in a hypotonic(?) brine might actually leach out nutrients... Just making a nut milk out of them by milling and mixing with water might have been okay, although I still don't see the advantage of activating that you can't just have by chewing really well.

 

[firelily99]

I had not heard of that which is odd because I do eat a lot of nuts. I'm not sure of the validity of doing that to nuts and I think that I prefer to skip that step.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I have heard of it and have been doing something similar for years, just not with brine. I find plain water is just fine, I have not heard of soaking them in salt water (and would not consider the idea personally).

It does make them easier to digest, either soak them in cold water overnight or soak in boiling water for 2 hours. I usually use this when I am going on to puree them when making something like cashew nut cheese or using them in a cheesecake (instead of dairy). Also when using them instead of cream etc.

I also 'cook' them - this is simply a case of adding the whole nuts (say cashews) to a stew around 10 minutes before the end and it softens them - again it makes them much easier to digest (I won't cover how, but it is obvious the next day! enough said )

 

[ambrosia]

Some types of nut cannot be digested in their natural state. I know of a similar process for activating acorns to make them digestable by humans. You do not use salt water, but you do need soak acorns for at least 24 hours, preferable in running water, to leach out the tannins. After treatment they can be ground and used in cooking like other types of nut.

That is really new to me. I have never eaten acorns, especially since they were not available where I live in Australia. But now, since I have moved back to Europe, I would like to try it out. Is it safe to eat them after a day of soaking? Can you get ill if there are still tannins left? Sorry, if my question sounds naïve.

 

[ambrosia]

I have heard of it and have been doing something similar for years, just not with brine. I find plain water is just fine, I have not heard of soaking them in salt water (and would not consider the idea personally).

It does make them easier to digest, either soak them in cold water overnight or soak in boiling water for 2 hours. I usually use this when I am going on to puree them when making something like cashew nut cheese or using them in a cheesecake (instead of dairy). Also when using them instead of cream etc.

I also 'cook' them - this is simply a case of adding the whole nuts (say cashews) to a stew around 10 minutes before the end and it softens them - again it makes them much easier to digest (I won't cover how, but it is obvious the next day! enough said )

Thanks for all the info, SatNavSaysStraightOn, (interesting username, btw ). Tell me more about your cashew cheese. It sounds intriguing to me. Do you always use it in making cheese cakes, or do you eat it by itself, adding other ingredients?
It's news to me that boiling water will speed up the process of making nuts more digestible. There are so many things that I still don't know about cooking. I will try it out with the almonds I've got here.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Thanks for all the info, SatNavSaysStraightOn, (interesting username, btw ). Tell me more about your cashew cheese. It sounds intriguing to me. Do you always use it in making cheese cakes, or do you eat it by itself, adding other ingredients?
It's news to me that boiling water will speed up the process of making nuts more digestible. There are so many things that I still don't know about cooking. I will try it out with the almonds I've got here.

apologies for the delay - I was away on a cycling tour.
I am pretty certain the cashew nut cheese is on here somewhere. You can make the 'cheese' with any nuts so almonds will also work. Right - here we go
https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/raw-cashew-nut-cheese.243/

the cashew nuts for the cheese cake is a dairy alternative which is excellent and this one for the link for the blackberry cheesecake. We have also made it using raspberries and strawberries. It is always a hit. https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/just-made.169/#post-809

the username comes from a joke about when we went off to cycle around the world (or at least attempt to, we failed after 12 months on the road...) we didn't have satnav, still don't and whenever we see satnavs in cars they always say the same thing. Also when you are lost, going straight on is the best option because it makes back tracking so much easier...

 

[Ellyn]

I recently read an article by a Paleo foodie who basically said that nuts as well as grains are best left to sprout or ferment so that they don't cause cramps with their anti-nutrients (phylates and some other stuff), so it makes sense to me now.

 

[ambrosia]

apologies for the delay - I was away on a cycling tour.
I am pretty certain the cashew nut cheese is on here somewhere. You can make the 'cheese' with any nuts so almonds will also work. Right - here we go
https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/raw-cashew-nut-cheese.243/

the cashew nuts for the cheese cake is a dairy alternative which is excellent and this one for the link for the blackberry cheesecake. We have also made it using raspberries and strawberries. It is always a hit. https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/just-made.169/#post-809

the username comes from a joke about when we went off to cycle around the world (or at least attempt to, we failed after 12 months on the road...) we didn't have satnav, still don't and whenever we see satnavs in cars they always say the same thing. Also when you are lost, going straight on is the best option because it makes back tracking so much easier...

Welcome back! I hope you had a fantastic trip! Cycling around the world sounds amazing to me. I've been around the globe a few times myself, but never on a bike. I see you must have picked up a lot of interesting recipes from all the places where you went. Thanks so much for providing me with the above links! The blackberry cheese cake immediately caught my attention!

 

[ambrosia]

I recently read an article by a Paleo foodie who basically said that nuts as well as grains are best left to sprout or ferment so that they don't cause cramps with their anti-nutrients (phylates and some other stuff), so it makes sense to me now.

Yes, it definitely makes sense, Ellyn. I just wasn't exactly sure how you go about it because I heard so many different things about it. Some people told me that there are special ingredients required for the fermentation process, while others suggested that water alone is fine. So, thanks to all the feedback here I am a little wiser now.