Drying walnuts at home: Tips + Photos and Videos

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 in a pan

You already know how to dry walnuts at home! Above we talked about how to use the oven for peeled kernels, but there is another option. You can dry the fruits in a frying pan:

• Heat a heavy frying pan without oil;
• Add chopped nuts;
• Leave them to dry for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ready! Nothing complicated, are you sure? You can also use the natural method:

• Place the peeled kernels in a container and place them in direct sunlight to dry;
• Stir and move the nuts periodically;
• In 2-3 days you will achieve the desired result!

We told you how you can dry walnuts in shell and without it - finally, let's talk about the quality of the finished product!

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.

Drying nuts without shells

After harvesting, the fruits can be cleaned immediately. To do this, first remove the pericarp, and then the shell itself. The resulting kernels can be washed if desired. Partitions are often thrown away. Fans of traditional medicine dry them together with the kernels. The partitions contain many useful substances, and therefore tinctures are prepared from them. There are several methods for drying walnuts after collecting and cleaning.

In the microwave

The prepared kernels are laid out on a plate in a thin layer. Place in the microwave. With a power of 850 kW, the drying time is about 5 minutes. The oven must be stopped several times to stir the nuts. This way they dry evenly.

In the microwave, nuts do not lose their original color. Their readiness is determined by taste, as well as by the pleasant aroma emanating from them. The pulp of the finished nut is quite hard and dry, and the bitter taste is completely absent.

In a frying pan

A quick way to dry shelled walnuts is to use a frying pan.

The process in this case is divided into several stages:

1. Heat the pan without oil.
2. The prepared kernels are poured onto it.
3. Dry for about three minutes, stirring constantly.

Place the finished nuts on a plate and leave until completely cool. After this, they can be put away for storage.

In the oven

The method for calcining walnuts in the oven after peeling them is extremely simple. The prepared kernels are laid out on a baking sheet in one layer. The oven is preheated to a temperature of about 50 °C. Place nuts inside. The door is not closed tightly. The drying time in this case ranges from 20 to 40 minutes. The kernels are stirred periodically.

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.

Storing dried walnuts

Storing walnuts after harvesting in shell is possible in boxes or bags. In the first case, the dried fruits are laid out in wooden boxes, the bottom of which is covered with clean paper. They are placed in a dark place where the temperature is maintained at about 20 °C. For storage, you can also use bags made of thick fabric. It is important to put them in a dry place. Fluctuations in room temperature can negatively affect the condition of the fruit.

Many housewives roll shelled nuts into glass jars, like canned food. To do this, the containers are completely filled with kernels. A piece of cloth is placed at the bottom of a large pan, and the jars are not placed on it. Pour water so that all the containers are completely immersed in it, but it does not pour inside. To prevent the jars from floating, you can press them down on top with a press. Bring the water to a boil and do not remove from the stove for an hour and a half. During this time, a full sterilization process will take place. After the jar, all that remains is to roll it up in the usual way.

Walnuts are a tasty and healthy product. If you strictly adhere to the drying rules, it can be preserved for the whole year until the new harvest. They can be enjoyed in their pure form or used for cooking.

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.

Useful properties of nuts

Nuts contain vitamins of almost all groups. The leader is tocopherol or E. The strongest natural antioxidant. It increases the elasticity of blood vessels, inhibits aging, has a beneficial effect on the skin, prevents heart disease, improves kidney and liver function, and is involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin. In addition, it contains dozens of minerals, valuable fats, and vegetable protein.

Beneficial properties of nuts:

• improve the condition of skin, hair, nails;
• regulate the functioning of the nervous system;
• have a positive effect on the thyroid gland, contain a lot of iodine;
• increase potency;

• help cope with anemia;
• strengthen teeth, compact bone tissue;
• relieve chronic fatigue;
• promote the growth and development of a healthy fetus during pregnancy.

Do you know how to choose walnuts?

Not really

The product will cause harm if you have an individual intolerance or allergies. The main contraindications are diseases of the digestive system, obesity, lipid metabolism disorders.

Nuts can be dried in the oven along with the shells, in a peeled form. You need to rinse first. The shelf life of peeled kernels is 2-3 months. Nuts with shells can be stored for up to a year.

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.

Preparing for drying

All nuts can be dried. The thicker their shell, the longer it will take. Only ripe fruits are dried. The large amount of moisture contained inside the green nut will contribute to the rotting process. The nut harvest is harvested at the very beginning of autumn. To determine the degree of maturity, it is important to pay attention to the shell. If it cracks or becomes dark in color, then the nut is ready for further processing. Before drying, the product is cleaned of excess debris and other contaminants. This will eliminate defects and further damage.

You can dry pre-shelled nuts, but the shell protects the fruit from harmful external influences and the shelf life is significantly increased.

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.

Nut collection

Walnuts are harvested at the end of September. Maturity is determined by the green, slightly cracked shell. Harvesting begins with ripened nuts that have fallen earlier, so that they do not have time to get wet on the ground. Any remaining on the tree should be shaken off. If you feel the shell of ripe fruit, it will be hard.

Each collected nut must be cleared of the pericarp so that the product does not turn black in the future and is suitable for consumption. Fresh walnuts contain about 40 percent moisture. To prevent rotting of the crop, the harvest is thoroughly dried and stored for use throughout the year. To choose how to dry nuts, get acquainted with natural and artificial methods.

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.

When and how to collect

From this review you will learn how to properly dry walnuts - but first, let's talk about why this step is needed at all. You need to dry the nuts before chopping - this is a very important procedure that allows you to remove excess moisture and prevent the processes of rotting and spoilage. You can extend the shelf life of the product, preserve the taste and beneficial properties.

Before you figure out how and how much to dry walnuts, you need to collect the ripe fruits. The collection procedure begins when the ripe nuts already fall to the ground, but it will be difficult to determine the exact time! Let's try to discuss the main parameters:

• Collected at the end of August and left to ripen for 2-3 weeks in a cool, dry and dark place;
• Late September – early October. Such fruits do not need to ripen.

Of course, the harvest time largely depends on the variety. Early-ripening nuts are collected in the summer, late-ripening varieties are removed from the trees only in the fall.

You can focus on the following factors - they will tell you that it is time to harvest:

• The tree's foliage began to turn yellow;
• The shells were covered with cracks;
• The shell changed from green to yellowish and became soft.

The harvested crop ripens or goes straight to processing - remove the green skin! Be sure to wear gloves to avoid getting your hands dirty with the brown pigment, which is very difficult to clean.

Now it's time to learn how to properly dry walnut kernels! We know several ways, which we will describe in detail. Let's get started?

Don't have walnuts in your garden yet?

Walnuts are incredibly healthy. In terms of vitamin content, it is significantly superior to many berries and fruits, and in terms of calorie content, even meat, it contains almost 20% protein. It is recommended for nursing mothers to improve lactation. It has been found that if you eat walnuts regularly, the condition of the walls of blood vessels improves, and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease decreases. It turns out that it is also useful for treating the thyroid gland due to its high iodine content. And this is not all of its beneficial properties.

Walnuts grow most fruitfully in the southern regions. does not require it, but you need to take care of the harvest. The fruits ripen in September, towards the end.

It’s easy to determine the degree of maturity: as soon as the green shell begins to crack, it’s time.

Usually those lower to the ground ripen first and then fall off. Experienced walnut growers advise starting to collect them from them before they get wet from the ground. Afterwards, those that remain on the tree are shaken off. They can also be checked for maturity: there should be a hard shell under the green shell.

As soon as the harvest is harvested, they begin to tear off the pericarp on each nut. If this is not done, the fruits will turn black and become unsuitable for food. It is important to note that fresh walnuts contain almost 40% moisture and are very susceptible to rotting. Therefore, the harvest must be well dried and it will last until next year. So, the drying process can be carried out in two ways - natural and artificial.

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How to dry only kernels without shells

Dried nut kernels
You can also dry only the kernels. The advantages of this method are clear. You can dry more nuts.

To dry the kernels, an oven preheated to 40 degrees is most often used. First, the kernels are taken out of the shell, cleaned and placed on a baking sheet. There is no need to wash the kernels!

Please note that if the kernels are of a different color and smell unpleasant, they should be thrown away. They're gone.

A longer method is drying in boxes and trays. You will spend 3-4 days on the whole process.

Drying pine nuts

To dry pine nuts, they must first be removed from the shell. For drying, you can choose one of the following methods:

• Electric dryer.
• In the oven.
• In a frying pan.
• Lay it out on a clean cloth and place it in the sun.
• In the attic.

A convenient and fast way is to use electric drying. Having laid out the kernels removed from the shell on specialized trays, you just need to select the appropriate mode and start the device. However, not every housewife has an electric dryer at her disposal. Therefore, you can choose another suitable method.

Pine nuts can be dried in the same way as walnuts in a frying pan or in the oven. At what temperature should you dry nuts in the oven? The optimal temperature is 120 degrees. Considering that pine nuts are small in size, they need to be dried for no longer than half an hour. Just as in the case of walnuts, pine kernels, after drying in the oven, must be removed from the oven and cooled at room temperature.

If it is not possible to dry the kernels in the oven, you can lay them out in the sun, first laying them down with a clean cloth. For city dwellers, it is recommended to use a balcony or loggia that receives sufficient sunlight. When using this method, do not forget about the variability of weather conditions. In case of rain, nuts should be removed into the room, avoiding getting them wet.

Drying methods

How to dry nuts correctly? There are several ways, and each is worth considering separately:

1. The most obvious, but not always accessible, method is natural drying in the fresh air. But the weather must be sunny or at least dry, since high humidity, firstly, will slow down the process, and secondly, increase the risk of mold formation. The duration of drying will depend on climatic conditions: in the hot summer it can take five to seven days, and in the fall the process will last for two to three weeks. To prepare, place all the nuts in one even layer on a thick cloth or tarpaulin, cover the top with gauze to protect against insects. To ensure that the kernels dry evenly, stir and turn them over periodically.
2. A simpler and faster option is oven drying, especially since everyone has such a device. Warm it up to about 40 or 45 degrees. Place the nuts on a baking sheet so that they lie in one layer, with free space between them. The drying process in this way will take about three hours, and it is advisable to keep the oven door slightly open so that the air circulates and the moisture immediately evaporates. Next, the temperature rises to 65-70 degrees, and the nuts are dried for about another half hour. During the entire procedure, you can stir and turn the products several times so that they dry evenly.
3. If you have a special dryer, then use it. Set the appropriate temperature (about 60-70 degrees), place the nuts on the trays in a single layer (do not pack them too tightly) and dry for about five or six hours.
4. Try using a microwave. A flat container with nuts laid out on it is placed in it for about seven minutes, if the power of the device is about 700-750 W. But the process will take a lot of time, since drying needs to be done in portions, and the volume of the microwave is small. In addition, the method is very expensive, considering the energy consumption.

A few tips to achieve the best results and improve the quality of the finished product:

• Before drying, be sure to sort through the nuts to select the highest quality and best. If the shell is damaged, pathogenic microorganisms can penetrate through it, so it is better to eat such specimens immediately and not store them. And if there are spots on the surface, then this indicates damage by pests, which could easily reach the kernel (and during drying, they will move to other nuts, ruining most of the harvest).
• It is better to dry ripe nuts, but they should not remain on the ground for a long time, since high humidity is undesirable. Walnuts become fully ripe when the green shell covering the shell cracks on its own. If it is intact, it means the process is not completed yet.
• It is best to store dried nuts in boxes, cardboard boxes or canvas bags for six months to a year. In any case, the container must allow air to pass through. And if it is located in a non-residential premises, then it is advisable to choose a closed one that provides protection from rodents.
• Almonds and other nuts can be dried not only in the shell, but also without it. But remember that this method reduces the shelf life to two to three months, since the kernels are deprived of their natural protection.
• You should not increase the temperature when processing in a dryer or oven: in this case, the nuts will not dry out, but will practically roast and lose some of their beneficial properties.
• To find out if the nuts are dry enough, crack one of them and try to break the kernel: if you can do this without effort, the process is complete. If the structure is dense, then the process should be continued.

By drying nuts correctly, you can not only extend their shelf life, but also get the most out of them and enjoy the taste.

When purchasing nuts in a store, the buyer cannot be sure of the high quality of the products. The best option is to harvest fresh nuts from the tree in the fall. The product can be stored in different ways, subjected to pre-treatment. One of the simplest types of processing is drying pine and walnuts in the oven. But in order not to overdry the kernels, you need to know the basic rules for drying this tasty and nutritious product.

Why dry nuts?

Why should nuts be dried at all? After collection, they contain a certain percentage of moisture and a fairly large amount of oils. High humidity is an excellent environment for the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms, including mold-forming fungi. And oils, when stored for a long time and exposed to oxygen, can oxidize and become less useful (in some cases even harmful), as well as unpleasant in taste and bitter. Drying will preserve all the beneficial properties of the product and its taste, and extend its shelf life.

Are the nuts ready, how to check

To check readiness, you need to remove the kernels of several nuts and examine the inside of the shell. The following signs will indicate that the product is ready:

• the kernel is dry, dense in consistency, easily broken;
• pleasant taste and thin skin;
• the membranes are dry.

Checking nuts for doneness

Do not try to determine the readiness of dried nuts while warm. First you need to cool to room temperature. During this time, residual moisture will be distributed inside. They are usually checked by breaking them. Never use a knife or fork. The oven is also convenient for drying ginger, bananas or even tobacco leaves.

Characteristics of the dried nut:

• light weight compared to its raw counterpart;

• dry surface in a fault;

• It doesn't bend, it breaks straight away.

If the kernel has not reached the desired state, it needs to be dried further. Sometimes they simply place it in a closet or another dry room and leave it for several days. It is convenient to dry large quantities in the attic.

There is no need to overdry. The product will lose weight. When broken, some types crumble. Sometimes the taste suffers.

Determining the readiness of dried walnuts