Photo - smoked almonds

[shyzabrau]

Since y'all seem to like photos, here's one!

I smoked some almonds on cherry last night for an hour and a half. Tossed them with some olive oil, salt, pepper, ancho chile powder and cayenne powder (per Charcuterie) and roasted them in the oven.

The smoke was a bit light so I popped them back in the smoker for another half hour. Added a bit more salt and ancho chile powder. Turned out very nice...

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• shyzabrau
• Apr 10, 2017

 

[noboundaries]

Nice job!  Man oh man, I can taste those! 

You've inspired me, Shyzabrau!  I've got a bunch of raw almonds, pecans, and hazelnuts sitting on the counter I was going to stick in the freezer.  The smoker is cooking along with a pork butt.  When that's done, I'll load it with nuts!  Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[SmokinAl]

Gosh! 

Those are some of the best looking smoked almonds I've ever seen!

Awesome job!

Al

 

[shyzabrau]

Thanks!

 

[murraysmokin]

What temp or cold smoked? They look delicious.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Wow! Impressive! I'll take a whole sack full!

 

[lamar]

Those look good. Now take them a bit farther. Put the nuts (I mix all kinds) and put them in a plastic bag. Add just enough maple syrup to lightly coat theml. Spread them on a cookie sheet, add whatever seasoning you like.....paprika, chili powder, salt, seasoning salt, almost anything will work. Cold smoke them for 2-4 hours and then cook at 250 for a couple of hours, or till crispy. You won't believe the variety of flavors that are possible. Enjoy!
Lamar

 

[ab canuck]

Almonds look absolutely wonderful, Great job.... I'll give a point for that, I love smoked almonds......

 

[shyzabrau]

I smoked them as low as I could - the Bradley electric smoker can't really do true cold smoking.

 

[murraysmokin]

I smoked them as low as I could - the Bradley electric smoker can't really do true cold smoking.

Thanks man those really look good.

 

[ab canuck]

if you go through the extra option/parts the bradley does sell a cold smoker adapter that works well. My neighbor does wonderful smoked cheese in it. There are some great smokers and options out there, but what you did is looking still great.....

 

[disco]

Nice nuts!

Disco

 

[johnmeyer]

I love smoked almonds and have done more batches of almonds than any other food during my 18-month smoking odyssey that started when someone gave me an MES in late 2015. My first batches were horrible, and the latest batches are marvelous. That positive trend is entirely due to what I've learned in this forum. I've made a huge number of changes and each one has brought me closer to almond nirvana.

Which brings me to what I hope will be another learning opportunity for me (and others).

I have been using a modified version of the smoked almond recipe that Todd provides with his AMNPS. However, while I like the coating and have made no modifications to that, and while I keep experimenting with different wood, the biggest variable of all is the temperature and time. My latest smokes have been for 1-3/4 hours at 160° followed by 45 minutes at 225°. I also rotate the almonds, both back to front and top to bottom in my MES at least once during the smoke to reduce burning due to hot spots in the MES (a notorious MES problem). The smoke at the lower temp gives me plenty of smoke, but I need to finish at the higher temp in order to avoid a sticky, mushy product. However, I still get some batches that are either slightly mushy or, worse, slightly burned. Burned is really bad. I notice in your photo that some of yours seem to have that telltale black edge that makes it appear they might be slightly burned.

However, you say that you basically cold smoked them. Is that the whole story? Didn't you give them any time at a higher temperature? I don't see how they could end up looking like that if they didn't spend some time above 200°. The only reason I ask is that I'm looking for more ideas on the "ideal" time and temperature for almonds.

Thanks!

 

[shyzabrau]

John, like I said in the original post, after smoking them for an hour and a half, I roasted them in the oven. (I think it was 325. I don't recall the duration.) after roasting, I tasted them and decided to smoke them for another 30 minutes.

 

[johnmeyer]

John, like I said in the original post, after smoking them for an hour and a half, I roasted them in the oven. (I think it was 325. I don't recall the duration.) after roasting, I tasted them and decided to smoke them for another 30 minutes.

Thanks. I don't know how I missed the "roasted in the oven" in the OP.