# Smoked Almonds



## tjohnson

I decided to make some smoked almonds, and used Ecto1's recipe, with a little twist of my own.

*SMOKED ALMONDS*

1/2 Cup Honey

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

3 TBS Melted Butter

1 TBS Sea Salt

1 TBS Ground Cinnamon

8 Cups Unsalted Almonds

Place butter in a large bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds, to melt

Add honey, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon to the bowl, and mix well

Add unsalted almonds and mix thoroughly, to completely cover the almonds

Optional:

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 TBS Garlic Powder

Walnuts, Pecans or Other Nuts

I use Frog Mats, but you can use aluminum foil or cookie sheets, sprayed with PAM

Spread nuts evenly over Frog Mats or lightly coated pans

Smoke at 100°(Low Temp) for 2+ hours

Raise temp to 250° for 45 min. - 1 hr to set the coating on the nuts

While they are still warm and coating a gooey, sprinkle some additional Sea Salt on the nuts.

Wait until they cool and break them apart

Smoking at low temps for 2 hours added a great smoke flavor to the almonds, and a light sprinkle of sea salt really enhanced the flavor.  

I brought some over the the neighbors, and we all enjoyed them with a couple beers.

I left them out overnight, in the pan, and as gonna vac pack them this morning.  

The whole pan of nuts was gooey again!  WHAT!!!!

The Honey must have absorbed moisture from the air last night.

Rather than throw the whole batch out, I put about 1/4 cup of sugar in a bowl, and threw in a handful of my now gooey nuts.

*OMG!!!*

*I added more sugar, and the rest of the gooey nuts, and was able to turn my failure into some of the best Smoked Almonds We've Ever Had!!!*

Next time I'll use 1/4 cup Honey and 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar, and definitely coat in sugar

Enjoy!

Todd

Ingredients








All Mixed Together







Smokin' on My Frog Mats







Finished Smokin' and Lightly Coated With Sea Salt







Finished Almonds Coated with Sugar







The Money Shot!


----------



## scarbelly

Those look great Todd.


----------



## bmudd14474

Looks awesome Todd.


----------



## gotarace

Wow those are a great looking snack right there!!! They look like a awesome snack for work around christmas!!!


----------



## realtorterry




----------



## thoseguys26

Yah! Nice money shot.


----------



## kadoka

Very nice looking Todd! Were your almonds raw or roasted before you started?


----------



## tjohnson

Almonds were raw to start.

Smoked at low temp for 2+ hours

Next time I would roast longer at 250°


----------



## BGKYSmoker

MMMMMMM

I like me some dem.


----------



## bluto

Those look fantastic!  I may have to try these.  Did the final flavor end up being more sweet or more salty?  And what wood did you use for smoke?


----------



## bluebombersfan

great job!


----------



## chef jimmyj

Looks like they turned out great...Salt, Sugar and Honey are all Hygroscopic and are very efficient at sucking water out of the Air. So to avoid the Gooey mess they need to be kept in air tight containers or keep adding more Sugar!...Yum...JJ


----------



## roller

Those look great Todd !


----------



## tim202

WOW!!!! I'm gonna have to give that a try!!!!

Tim


----------



## flareside92

Wow! those look great! I especially like the money shot!

Might have to try those with pecans.


----------



## jpenny2525

Great Pics! I for sure will give this a try with your successful failures as my goal for success!


----------



## tjohnson

I learned my lesson, not to keep them out overnight, especially when it's humid out.

But....If not for my stupid mistake, I would not have had the cool results.

Next time, I may add 25% salt to my sugar mix, to give it a "Salty/Sweet" flavor

I used my new "Pitmaster's Blend" Pellets for smoke.  For whatever reason Almonds do not take smoke very well, so a stronger wood like Hickory would work better.

The Honey added a nice flavor, but I think added to the sticky outside.  I wonder if corn syrup would work as well to coat the nuts, for the spices to stick to?? 

I've also read that "Egg Whites" work well to hold the spices to the nuts.  Some recipes call for the spices to be mixed into the egg whites, and other recipes call for the nuts to be coated with the egg whites, and then rolled into the spices and sugar.

TJ


----------



## africanmeat

man it looks wicked


----------



## austinl

Smoked almonds are great!  I have another cooking method I'd like to share.  I cook them at regular BBQ temps, stir them around on the tray every 15-20 mins, and pull them after about 100 mins.  After cooking I put them right in the fridge and the next day they are crisp and delicious.  Oak wood seems to give the best taste in my opinion but I have not tried anything other than pecan, oak, and a mixture of mesquite/pecan.  Great looking almonds you have there.


----------



## sumosmoke

Excellent post, Todd. This is now on my list of things to make!


----------



## smokegoddess

Egg whites work great! Just add whatever spices you want to the whites, whip them up and toss in your nuts! Not just almonds, you can do pecans, walnuts, etc. I've never smoked them, but I've toasted them in the oven before.

I thought that you would smoke them before and then add your coating mix and bake, would you get better smoke penetration that way?


----------



## tim202

Thanks to your post Todd, I made a batch of these on Saturday (used oak in the AMNPS) and they are GREAT!!!!!

Thanks for the good idea.

Tim


----------



## rtbbq2

Gonna do this one..........


----------



## austinl

smokegoddess said:


> Egg whites work great! Just add whatever spices you want to the whites, whip them up and toss in your nuts! Not just almonds, you can do pecans, walnuts, etc. I've never smoked them, but I've toasted them in the oven before.
> 
> I thought that you would smoke them before and then add your coating mix and bake, would you get better smoke penetration that way?




Like many sauces, rubs, marinades, etc. the flavors need to be pretty strong because they will cook-down but I still prefer to do all my cooking in the smoker for this kind-of-thing for that bold smoke flavor.  I suppose you would be correct about smoke penetration for my tastes.


----------



## Dutch

Todd-great looking almonds. 

I've been looking at frog mats on line and no where can I find what material they are made of. Every thing that I have read states that they are FDA appoved for food contact.

Can you share some more light on these mats?

Thanks!


----------



## tjohnson

Hey Dutch!

At first, I thought they were just some overpriced mats, but after using them, they really are awesome to use!

That said, they are still overpriced!

They seem to be a silicone covered fiber mesh.  The mesh is stiff.  It may be a fiberglass mesh, covered in silicone

Nothing sticks, and Clean up is very easy.  I soak the mats in the laundry tub for about 20 minutes, and hose the stuff off

I paid $30 for mine, incl. delivery

Cabelas had a similar product, but the price was no cheaper.

Todd


----------



## sound1

That money shot is awesome and deserves the carousel.  The "Candied Pecan" recipe I use calls for one egg white mixed with 1Tbs of water, mixed till frothy for one pound of pecan halves. 225 for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Other than your honey, the rest of the ingredients are almost identical. Even sitting in a bowl on the counter, I have never encountered the stickiness issue. I'm thinking that moving the "cook" time to the smoker is a great idea!! I wonder if making/using smoked salt would compensate for the nuts not taking on much flavor.


----------



## kembo05

I have a smoky mountain smoker, does anyone know if you can get the temp as low as 100 degrees for these almonds? I have never attempted to smoke anything that low and I am curious about it before buying the almonds...


----------



## tjohnson

You really don't need to get down to 100° for almonds

You can smoke at 225° for a couple hours, with heavy smoke

Todd


----------



## venture

I wish all my failures turned out like that!

Good luck and good smoking.


----------

