Rib Rub Smoked Almonds

[walle]

Hey Smoke-Heads!

Went through the last batch of smoked almonds like shat through a goose... so I'm doing another batch.

Following some advice I've got form the forum, so here's what I'm doing:
Soaked these almonds overnight in a smoked salt brine - 1/4 cup smoked salt with 2 C water.



After brining overnight, I tossed the almonds in about 2T of rib rub and tossed them in the smoker.









These turned out really good. Kinda that whole three-some effect of smoke/salt/sweet/spice... guess that's a FOUR-SOME!

Thanks for checking out my post - these are great and very easy.
Tracey



WALLE Update
So here's my update on my insulation job - Day one: Almonds
Shot before I got started - those purdy little sparkldy things... that's frost!


Built my fire and here's a shot of it after it had burnt down and was up to temp ~ 30 minutes.




If you look close, you can where it is defrosting around the front where I had the door cracked while the fire was burning down, but basically still covered with frost at 225* internally. Damn this superwool is good stuff!

Thanks for checking out my post - I'll share finished pictures of the almonds when their finished!
Tracey

 

[rdknb]

those almonds look good. I will have to try that

 

[steevieg]

Looks great! Did you let them dry before you put the rub on and into the smoker?

 

[richoso1]

Now that is some lip smacking treat. Thanks for sharing, I'll try that this week. I usually just smoke the almonds plain, but now...

 

[walle]

Thanks,
Richo

One thing - If you soak them over night, which I think does make a difference, you need to go ahead and probably go for a 2 ~ 2.5 hr smoke at 200*.
They were very good, but I had them in a jar, grabbed a handful last night, and they were'nt "crunchy"... was afraid they might mold, so I stuck them in the oven on 200 for another hour and a half.

Made a huge difference in taste - now there like my first batch.

SteevieG - No I just drained them, and put them in the bag with rib rub wet - that helps it to "stick".

RdKnB - Thanks, man!

 

[chefrob]

what does the soaking do.....i just toss in melted butter or olive oil and sprinle my rub on them.

 

[walle]

Well... I think it helps the almond retain the "saltiness".

Your way sounds good too, my first experience was that most of the salt just fell off - either putting it in the jar or getting them back out.

I'm open for suggestions/debate as by no means am I an expert.

My second batch (soaked) was far better than my first.
Tracey

 

[scubadoo97]

WALLE, I've done it this way a few times. Didn't use smoked salt just regular salt. I'm still unconvinced that the soaking does much. My rib rub had a little sugar and it started to burn and the rub falls off. The last batch was soaked but after I got them most of the way done I pulled them off the smoker, tossed in a little olive oil then added the rub and then into the oven to finish cooking. The rub didn't burn. Still falls off but not as bad. You couldn't tell they had oil on them when done. I could coat them in a lot of butter but am trying to keep it the calorie count down where I can.

 

[chefrob]

i've only done it a couple of times so i just wondered what the soaking did. i get the brineing adds sale but i just wondered if the xtra water did anything. i also used raw almonds and not toasted. either way i love the smokie goodness they take on!

 

[walle]

Right! I was just trying to get the highest salt/water concentrate I could. When I did it before (brined for about 30 minutes), I used 1C salt, 1C water! No way the salt would all desolve in that mixture. I suppose it doesn't have to.... With the 1/4 S to 2C water, it did all desolve.