# Rethinking Smoked Almonds



## johnmeyer

I smoke a LOT of almonds, more than any other food. However, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the results. For almost two years, I have been trying variations on Todd's smoked almond recipe that comes with his AMNPS smoking tray. They are tasty, but there is no way to avoid the sticky gooey coating (the recipe uses butter, honey, and brown sugar). What's more, they don't keep well because the considerable sugar used in the coating absorbs moisture (they are hygroscopic).

So, I started poking around for a better alternative, and ended up starting from scratch.

Boy, am I glad that I did.

I left the security of this forum and searched the Internet for ideas of how to make a different almond product that would be less sticky and which would also showcase the smoke flavor. Ever since I started using the AMNPS in my "mailbox mod," the smoke flavor is much cleaner and more pleasant, but even with this "better smoke," the almonds never came out quite right.

What I found in my searching is that a lot of people _brine _their almonds. What's more, I came across one guy who did a LOT of research and performed many trials, and what he found is that you only need to brine for ten minutes. Wow, that is quick prep! I figured I had nothing to lose, so I tried his recipe, without any variations.

I instantly fell in love with the technique and the results.

I then began to experiment. I brined for twenty minutes, but found that the almonds became soggy (exactly what he had warned) and that the sogginess never came out. I tried adding other ingredients, but found that even with some pretty strong spices, not much ended up in the almonds. I then tried spraying them a few times during the smoke, using sugar water to try to make them sweeter, but found that this too made them a little soggy.

After a dozen attempts, I have now settled on the world's simplest almond recipe. I have made it almost a dozen times and have given away quite a few of these to people to whom I previously gave my sugary, sticky almonds. To a person, they all like this newer recipe better.

So here it is: a new (to me) way of smoking almonds. Make sure you have a way to monitor and regulate the smoker temperature, because it is easy to burn almonds if the smoker gets too hot.

1. Prepare the brine using two cups water, 1/3 cup table salt, and 1/3 cup sugar. I also use three shots of Jack Daniels (two into the brine, and one for me). Stir until dissolved.

2. Place 1-1/2 pounds of almonds (half of a Costco bag of almonds), along with the brine, into a Baggie, remove the air, seal, and let stand for ten minutes. Resist the urge to let them soak longer.

3. Drain the almonds, reserving the brine (unlike marinades for meat, I think it is OK to re-use this 2-3 times, keeping it in the fridge).

4. Spread the almonds out on a Qmatz (I got these from Todd).

5. Place the almonds in the smoker preheated to 160 degrees. Smoke for 45 minutes. Remove the almonds, move them around a bit, rotate the trays, and put the trays back in the smoker using a different shelf order (important in my MES because it has hot spots). Smoke for another 45 minutes.

6. After this 1.5 hours of 160-degree smoking, increase the heat to 230 degrees. Cook for one more hour, turning halfway through (and exchanging the shelves).

7. Let cool down on the cooking racks for as long as you can (if I smoke them in the morning, I don't put them away until the evening). You want as much moisture to escape as possible. I have a salt grinder that I use to sprinkle salt on them as soon as they come out of the smoker. Don't jostle them after you've added this salt, and you'll find that a surprising amount of this extra salt will stick or get absorbed.

[edit - October 2019] You can also add salt and other spices to the wet nuts after you've spread them on the Qmatz in step #4. This seems to be the best way to add additional flavor.

I just did some more of these yesterday, and I cannot stop eating them.

I'll be interested in hearing from others whether they like this product.


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## cmayna

Do you have pics of your process  (before and after)?


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## GaryHibbert

I'm gonna try this method.  Ive never had any luck brining and smoking nuts.
Thanks
Gary


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## SmokinAl

I've tried smoking almonds too, without much success.
I'm gonna give this a try!
Thank you for sharing!
Al


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## xray

I just got a big batch of pellets from Todd. I’ve been wanting to smoke some nuts for the holidays. 

This sounds good, any pictures?


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## cmayna

John,
What flavor wood do you use?


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## johnmeyer

cmayna said:


> Do you have pics of your process  (before and after)?





xray said:


> I just got a big batch of pellets from Todd. I’ve been wanting to smoke some nuts for the holidays.
> 
> This sounds good, any pictures?





cmayna said:


> John,
> What flavor wood do you use?


These pics answer all the questions, including the wood (Todd's "Pitmaster Blend" in my AMNPS which I put inside my "popcorn mod").

I start with a 3# Costco bag of almonds.








After the ten-minute brine I smoke them per my earlier post. This shows the color change between the raw (on the left) almonds, and the finished, smoked product. Because I am using an external smoke generator, the color change is subtle.






This shows some of the finished product, along with the bag of Pitmaster Blend (Cherry, Hickory, Apple) smoking pellets.


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## crazymoon

JM, I will try this method as my previous results always end up with the seasonings falling off the almonds. Thank you .


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## noboundaries

Great step by step! 

I've had mixed results with my almonds.  I always did the 10 minute brine, but after smoking they weren't consistently crunchy.  The coatings I used stuck nicely, adding great flavor.  The smoke was great too, but sometimes the almonds lacked that crunchy bite we all love. 

I read something recently about how to solve that problem.  Haven't tried it yet, but here's what I read.  If home smoked almonds lack crunch, zap them in the microwave for a minute at a time until they are crunchy. It makes sense because the microwaves excite the water molecules inside the nuts, causing them to escape as steam.  I think I'll pick up some almonds on my next trip to Costco and give it a try.


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## johnmeyer

I've done several dozen almond smokes in the two years I've been doing this. The things that affect the "crunch" seem to be:

1. Coating. Pretty much anything that puts a coating on the almonds will trap moisture. The recipe I started with two years ago (Todd's recipe) used butter, honey, and brown sugar, and it completely covered up the almond. They were never very crunchy.

2. Cooking time and heat. This one is obvious (more heat --> less moisture --> more crunch), but getting the almonds "done" without burning them is not easy. Also, the less moisture you have on the surface the less smoke gets absorbed (at least I think that is the way it works). I verified this when I tried sparying them during the smoke, and that additional moisture definitely sogged the nuts (and you don't want your nuts sogged), even though I quit applying the spray an hour before the finish. My solution at this point (and I think there has to be a better way) is to expose them to smoke at a lower temperature (160), but then raise the temperature (225) to actually do the cooking. I may experiment with a much higher temperature (like 275, which is as hot as my MES will go), but for a shorter time, and see if that works better.

3. Time immersed in the brine or honey goop. I actually did this experiment and there was a gigantic difference between ten minutes in the brine and twenty minutes. I didn't note any more taste with the longer soak, but I definitely noticed that the almonds were a little spongy.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who tries this out, or who has had other experiences that I can learn from.


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## isitdoneyet

Are you using raw almonds or are they roasted and salted?


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## johnmeyer

isitdoneyet said:


> Are you using raw almonds or are they roasted and salted?


I showed a picture of the bag of almonds I am using in post #7 above. Take a look.

I'm pretty sure they are not roasted or salted. I don't think you'd want to use nuts that had already been flavored or roasted.


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## SonnyE

First, Thank You John for sharing your story and the recipe. I've done a couple of batches of almonds in the past and they came out good nuff, but always interested in how others do it.
Second, I think you might need some sort of an Almond Intervention. Your avatar looks like you have too much alum in your diet and it's got you awful puckered up. ;)

I'd like to make some smoked Almonds for our Christmas get together at the Daughters house. So great timing for your post!
All this brining business is new to me, but I found a great deal of success with my last batch of salmon with a very basic Salt and Brown Sugar cure that melts down into a brining.
At first I thought "Dang! 3 shots of Jack?" But was glad to see it can be reused a couple of times. I think pourin the brine down the sink would bring a tear to my eye knowin some turd at the sewer plant would be partyin on those shots.
I like Fireball Whiskey, do you think that could be tried for a variation? Or in your opinion would the cinnamonyness be yuuki? I'm apt to try it anyway. Might not do anything.
I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to print out your recipe and put it up in my liquor cabinet by the Fireball. It's just for me.
Does the folks eating these Almonds have to be 21 years old?

Oh, Edit In: I like smoking with Hickory. Think that'd be OK?


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## johnmeyer

I don't think the wood makes a huge amount of difference for almonds, unless you were to go with something really strong, like mesquite (I don't think that would be good). There used to be (thirty years ago) a saying in business that "no one got fired for buying IBM equipment," meaning that their stuff was always pretty good. I think the same is true of hickory: no one gets upset if the food is smoked using hickory. 

The brine is on the almonds for such a short time that the flavoring from the booze is quite subtle. It is definitely there, but it doesn't hit you over the head, like actually drinking the stuff. If you use something else, you'd want something with a pretty strong flavor, such as Captain Morgan's Rum, which appears in many recipes in this forum.


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## SonnyE

Thanks John, I mentioned the wood because I tend to like the smoke stronger than it appears others do.
(For instance, most I read of does not suggest using Hickory for fish, but I like using it for my Salmon. I reminds me of the taste a grew up loving. Different fish, same wonderful smoky goodness. But even still, I'm still finding my way.)
So I find that Smokey goodness flavor with Hickory. I have, however, been running Alder of late, and trying to "do it right". And it is a 'sweeter' taste. For lack of a better term. LOL.
But when I get some almonds, I definitely want to follow your recipe.

If I had my druthers, I'd druther have Gentleman Jack in my cupboard. But that stuff seems to evaporate almost as fast as my smoked larder. But I'll try the Fireball for a test, and get a bootjack of Jack Daniels for another batch test.
OK, now you introduced Captain Morgan into the equation, IIRC, there is light and dark. I would suspect dark would impart the most flavor. But I imagine some of both should be included for proper research.

Maybe I should get two bags of almonds? ROTFLMAO!
I found a bottle of Grand Marnier, and some Russian stuff that tastes like scotch. :eek: Shivver.
Anything that tastes bad could be washed down with the Saki....







Smoking nuts has given me a hangover!


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## cmayna

johnmeyer,
Once you have removed the almonds from the brine, do you rinse them? Also do you room dry before going into the smoker?  If so, how long?


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## johnmeyer

I definitely do not rinse: with a short soak, you want as much of that salt as possible to stay on the nut. Also, I think that a surface which is slightly damp will absorb a LOT more smoke, so you definitely do not want to dry it.

So, just drain (I re-use the marinade which, for nuts, I think is OK to do), put the wet nuts on a Q-Matz or similar thing, and smoke.


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## isitdoneyet

Made a batch of these yesterday and man are they good. Right amount of salt and smoke, with a good crunch. Thanks for the recipe Johnmeyer.
Will be making these again.


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## johnmeyer

Hey, thanks! It took about twenty tries to get to that recipe. I just completely cleaned my 2+ year old MES 30 and am re-seasoning it right now, after which I'll be making ... almonds!


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## wnctracker

I didn't lookup how to smoke almonds before I just tried it one day. I've never brined but maybe I'll try a batch and see. I have this stuff that call magic dust that I use on stovetop popcorn. 

6 Tbs kosher salt 
2 Tbs black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1  Tbs cumin

Put this all in coffee grinder and grind and shake grinder for a minute. This makes a powder that sticks to everything (sort of like a non liquid brine I think).
I usually mix some melted butter 1 lb of almonds and 2 tsp of the salt powder and then smoke away. They are nicely salted. A little of the salt powder goes a long way.


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## cmayna

john,
I noticed that when trying to sprinkle salt at the end, the salt just bounces off the almonds probably due to how dry they were.  Any suggestion?  I will say that having the almonds any saltier than what the brine offered, might be too salty.  Thinking, what if we added just a little more salt to the brine to help reduce the desire to add more salt at the end of the smoke session.


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## johnmeyer

I add salt at the end and then put some on top of them when I put them in the jar. The salt in the jar does begin to stick because no matter how long you cook them, there is still moisture in the nuts, and it will come out while they sit in the jar, and the salt will then stick.

If you really need more salt, try putting it on at various times during the smoke, when you take them out to rotate the trays.


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## ab canuck

John that sounds amazing, I just read this to my wife and have her interested!!! I love almonds and have been thinking of trying to smoke some so this is on the list for sure. Thx. for sharing and the step by step!!! Point for sure...


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## johnmeyer

ab canuck said:


> John that sounds amazing, I just read this to my wife and have her interested!!! I love almonds and have been thinking of trying to smoke some so this is on the list for sure. Thx. for sharing and the step by step!!! Point for sure...


Thanks!!


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## cmayna

Thanks John for the reply.  I actually like the almonds without any additional salt besides what we see in the brine.  My wife took a bag of them to her work yesterday and everyone went crazy.  Thanks for introducing this ever so simple recipe.


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## spg1

I am really glad I found this post yesterday, my wife brought home a bag of almonds and I figured I would try smoking them.  Just like others have said, my past attempts have been lacking to say the least.  My only regret is that I only smoked half the bag of almonds.  I will definitely be doing this recipe again.

I only made 1 change to your recipe.  Instead of using plain sugar I used John Henry's sugar maple rub.  I have not gotten around to buying amnps yet for my MES smoker.  So I used a torch to get the wood smoking at the lower temps.

Thanks for sharing your recipe!


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## johnmeyer

Glad it is working for you! I'm still making these quite often and, unlike my other smokes where I'm never quite sure how it will turn out, I am getting very consistent results with this recipe.


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## Winterrider

Got another batch of these in the smoker as we speak. Haven't made for awhile and very easy. Nice little snack for hunting season 
Thanks John***


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## cmayna

Brought a bag of these on a Salmon fishing trip which included 7 other fishing buddies.  The almonds were gone in no time. Yum!


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## spg1

Funny this was replied to today.   I just made another batch today!  The few samples I tried were very good.


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## solman

johnmeyer said:


> 1. Prepare the brine using two cups water, 1/3 cup table salt, and 1/3 cup sugar. I also use three shots of Jack Daniels (two into the brine, and one for me). Stir until dissolved.





 johnmeyer

i want to try this, but was wondering if you can taste the JD at all? in another post, i think you said in the end all you can really taste is the salt and smoke. i'm trying to avoid sugar and the JD, so if in the end you can't even taste them, my plan was to skip them altogether and just do a simple salt/spice brine.

also, have you tried this with pecans, or other nuts besides almonds?


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## johnmeyer

First of all, I've given up posting on this smoking meat forum after getting one too many "call outs" from the food police, like the one I responded to in my final post a month ago. 99% of the people on this forum are absolutely wonderful, which is why I've made 2,000+ posts and stayed here for three years, but there are a few that have caused me problems.

Other than this one mention I have not made any comment about this, privately or publicly, and plan to say nothing further.

However, since I started this particular thread and since I got a notice that there had been activity, let me answer your question, and then go away again.

The JD is completely useless in this recipe, so you can skip it without missing anything. The reason I even mentioned it was that when I was doing my original almond smokes using the sugar-based recipes (the ones that got so sticky), the JD added quite a bit of good flavor to that sugar mixture, and came through nicely in the final product. I don't entirely understand the chemistry of what that happens with sugar, but not with my sugarless recipe, but it does.

So, in my simple recipe, I have found that the only thing that "sticks" to the nuts is the smoke and salt. The JD gets lost.

I have not tried my recipe with any other nuts but, to my taste, I think walnuts or pecans would need some sort of sugar or something similar, in order to taste right.

What I'd recommend is that if you want to try other nuts, just take a little of the water/salt mixture you are using for the almonds, and soak various other nuts in it. Then, smoke those nuts at the same time you do your almonds.


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## noboundaries

John, you inspired me to blow the dust off my smoked almond recipes and do a little experimenting in the oven today. (I always do oven tests before moving to the smoker.) I wanted quick, crispy, and flavorful.

It worked! I got all three by brining in hot salted water for ten minutes, drying in paper towels, coating with a smidge of oil and seasoning, then 350F on parchment covered cookie sheet for 15-20 mins (highest top shelf, no turning). Remove and cool completely. Won't be crispy until they cool.

My wife took one bite, said "Oh, these are really good. They'll make great stocking stuffers." Guess I'll be headed to Costco since the price of almonds have dropped so much.

Thanks for the inspiration and my latest Christmas directive!

Edit: I was thinking gifts for family members and friends, which I've done in the past. Now my wife wants me to make enough for her whole team at work, too.  And I was just killing time today.


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## spg1

I am going to make another batch soon and I would like to add some heat to the almonds.  Any suggestions on how to add some heat without going overboard?


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## Winterrider

Light sprinkle of cayenne mixed with liquid might be a starter.


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## johnmeyer

noboundaries said:


> I got all three by brining in hot salted water for ten minutes, drying in paper towels, coating with a smidge of oil and seasoning, then 350F on parchment covered cookie sheet for 15-20 mins (highest top shelf, no turning). Remove and cool completely. Won't be crispy until they cool.


You've come up with some interesting things for me to try.

1. Hot brine. I hadn't thought of that. Did it peel off the almond "bark"? I always use raw almonds, and even in cool water the bark almost comes off, especially if you ignore my guideline and soak for half an hour instead of ten minutes. 

2. Oil. The original recipe from Jeff (I think it was his) used butter, and I could never get them to dry out. But, that was butter, and it was a lot more than a "smidge." Can you define how much is in your smidge? (And don't tell me that your smidge is bigger than mine ...). 

3. Temperature. I have always been smoking these and my MES barely makes it to 275° F. However, the idea of finishing in the oven at high temp for a few minutes might help with the drying. I'll have to try that. 

Thanks!


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## spg1

Winterrider said:


> Light sprinkle of cayenne mixed with liquid might be a starter.


I am am about half way through a batch where I added 1/4 tsp of cayenne.  So far I can't tell the difference, but I see how they turn out. 

Thanks.


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## Winterrider

1/4 tsp would be pretty light, think I would dive into at least 1 full tsp and go from there in future. I think I will try that next time.


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## spg1

Winterrider said:


> 1/4 tsp would be pretty light, think I would dive into at least 1 full tsp and go from there in future. I think I will try that next time.


I will calibrate my light sprinkle up some for the next batch.   He he


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## noboundaries

Hey John,

Like I said, I was experimenting. Only roasting about a cup and a half of raw almonds like you get at Costco. I had enough for three different batches.

1. Hot brine. Just wanted an easy way to dissolve the salt (2 Tbs). The skins did not come off in the 10 minute brine, and the salt melted immediately. Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I've had an almost full bottle Wright's liquid smoke in the fridge with a 2011 date on it. I added a tsp to the hot brine since I was using the oven. Gave the final product a HINT of smoke flavor, but nothing like I get in the smoker.

2 Oil. I just grabbed the canola oil next to the stove. After draining and paper towel drying the nuts, I put 2 tsp of oil in a bowl. Added 2 tsp of seasoning. Stirred it together. You don't want a paste but a runny slurry. Add a little oil if too thick. Add the nuts and stir until well coated. Too much seasoning overpowers the almond flavor, so go light, not heavy.

3. Temperature. I experimented with 350F first yesterday, then 300F. 300F did not work. At 20 minutes I cranked the heat up to 350 and they got to the brown look I wanted in 8 more minutes. I made another batch today and used 350F. They were ready in 18 minutes.

Below is yesterday's first batch (left) and the final batch I cranked out today (right side and too much seasoning). One batch is already gone.


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## johnmeyer

I tried various things in the brine, including both spices and sugar. None of them penetrated. 

I think if you want additional flavor, I'd recommend _not _drying them off after the brine, and then, before smoking or roasting, sprinkling both powdered flavoring of your choosing (cayenne, etc.) and also lots of salt. I just looked at my recipe again and I don't think I mentioned that I put on extra salt on the wet nuts, and then again at the end (I forget about blood pressure when I eat these).


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## noboundaries

My wife can't handle salt, so I use low salt commercial and homemade rubs. The hot brine actually gives the nuts a hint of a salty flavor (ate one after drying with a paper towel). 

When I start smoking these on the Weber, will definitely use a hot brine and eliminate the phony smoke. They actually have a flavor I recognize from a MAJOR brand, so now I know how they do it.


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## spg1

Putting the spice on when they are wet sounds like a good idea.  I actually sprinkled some spice on early in the smoke hoping it would stick.  It helped a little. 

Thanks for the ideas.


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## cmayna

John,
This thread reminds me that I need to do more to share on the upcoming rock cod / crab combo fishing trips.  Off to Costco I go.  My favorite way to do is your simple method of just brining for the infamous 10 minutes and then into the smoker they go.  Smoke with Hickory at 160+ for 90 minutes (rotating trays halfway thru), bump temp up to 230 for another 60 minutes (rotating again halfway thru). I then just turn the smoker off and let the almonds cool down in the smoker.

Again John, I really appreciate you sharing this recipe.


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## Winterrider

Had to do another batch up for Christmas upon request. I added 1 tsp cayenne last time to the mix. Nice addition.


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## noboundaries

My smoker is out of commission at the moment due to me forgetting to cover it before a rain. Looks like a laboratory experiment inside. Been too busy to address something way down my to-do list. Maybe today after I roast several pounds of coffee, also for gifts.

Ended up using the oven to make 12 lbs of faux smoked almonds over two days. By the end of the effort I was like a machine. Turned out 6 lbs a day. It took about 3 hours each day from start to finish where the last nuts were cooled and ready to bag. 

I was surprised that not much weight was lost from roasting, yet the nuts were crispy and flavorful. I got 23 eight ounce bags of nuts out of the 12 lbs. (I think the difference was me taste testing each batch. Ooops.)


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