I have a lot of pine nuts in my freezer and would like to use them. Does anyone have any suggestions on shelling them. I have tried a hammer and it crushes the nut. I love the taste of the nuts but shelling them is very tedious, unless I'm missing something, in making the job easier. Marlene

-- Marlene Leiby (mleiby@caprock-spur.com), April 18, 2001

Answers

Hi Marlene. Well, I'm not an expert on this, but I've seen this done. Maybe you'll have better info in later postings. But, you need to roast them slowly first in the oven on a cookie sheet... don't know how long, but a low temp, and stir them around every so often. I knew an old Hispanic lady that would take them out and spread them on a large cutting board, cover them with a towel, then roll a jar or a rolling pen over them lightly. Then she just picked out the nuts. It's time consuming and a lot of work! Which is why they're so expensive, I guess. No easy way. Hope this helps a little. dh in nm

-- debra in nm (dhaden@nmtr.unm.edu), April 18, 2001.

Can you eat the "nuts" of just any pine, or can you only eat pinon nuts? I realize that the other ones would be smaller, but if they're edible, I would like to give it a try. How does one harvest pine nuts, anyway?

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), April 20, 2001.

Thank you for the tip on shelling pine nuts but it wasn't much easier than using a hammer. First I roast them 10 minutes and proceeded to use the rolling pin on them. Some crushed and a few shells broke. So I tried roasting them 15 min. Not much difference but the nuts were alittle over toasted. The birds by the backyard feeder enjoyed the crushed bits though. I worked for over 1 hr. and have about 1/3c. of shelled nuts. Soni, I don't know anything about other pine nuts. I have never picked the pinon nuts, always purchased or given to me but I know they are very tasty if sauted in a little oil and lightly salted. I love them on salads.

-- Marlene Leiby (mleiby@caprock-spur.com), April 21, 2001.

Soni, don't know about just ANY pine nuts... guess you could give them a taste and find out! For us in the southwest, it's only Pinon. These trees are some of the ones affected by the bark beetles, written about in the last issue of Countryside (I have trees on my property that are dying). As for harvesting, you just pick up the open cones that drop on the ground and shake out the loose nuts. Preferably, the cones or nuts lying on TOP of the ground... not buried under years of forest humus. This gets into the issue of Hanta Virus, which some say come from nuts gathered around mouse middens. You have bumper years and you have years where the pickin's are pretty slim. In the 6 years I've lived at my place, only one was a bumper year. Don't know whether this is because of a wet or dry winter. Anyway, yes, they're a pain to clean, but so, SO good.. sort of like truffles, I guess! Some people out here have a nice little seasonal home business and sell pinon nuts at the flea market or on the side of the road, roasted & salted or raw. They sell for about $3-7 per baggie, depending on supply.... the demand is always there! Happy nut hunting! dh in nm

-- debra in nm (dhaden@nmtr.unm.edu), April 23, 2001.