# Need Help Roasting Raw, Unshelled Peanuts



## larry_stewart

Hey all,

This is the first time in years I grew peanuts in the garden.
It was a very successful harvest.
I looked on line for instructions on how to roast peanuts.

Alton Brown suggested coating the peanuts with oil, sprinkle with salt, then roast at 350 F for about 1/2 hour.

Another basically has the same temp and time without the oil and salt.

I tried the Alton Brown method.  after the 1/2 hour, they were not done enough.  I put them in another 20 minutes.  Some were done, others only 1/2 done.

Any suggestions or anyone have experience roasting raw peanuts.

Larry


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## CharlieD

My mother just uses microwave, puts the nuts as is for coupon minutes. 


Sent from my iPad using Discuss Cooking


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## Roll_Bones

My mother always put them on a sheet pan in a single layer and roasted them.
Nothing but oven heat.
I wish I had asked or paid attention to the temp and how long she had them in the oven.  I remember it being quite easy.
No oil, no salt.  No nothing except the peanuts.
I do remember it taking a very short time.  I would say less than 20 minutes.


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## GA Home Cook

In or out of the shell?


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## GA Home Cook

Sorry hit send too quick.  I do mine in the shell 350 for about 20 minutes depending on if the shell are moist or not.  Out of the shell, I do not use oil, personal preference.  350 for about 10-15.  Use your nose. When you smell them they are done.  DONOT over cook.


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## larry_stewart

350 at about 20 minutes seems to be the general rule.
Next time ill try without the oil.
I only did a handful, as I knew I didn't know what I was doing, and didn't want to ruin the whole harvest.
Its possible, due to our shorter growing season up here, maybe they weren't fully developed .  I read somewhere that the non-fully developed ones would be smaller, and kinda shriveled .


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## creative

I am wondering whether _taking them out at the halfway stage_ and mixing them around, before returning them back, would ensure more even heating.  It strikes me that, being quite small, the ones on the outer edges would brown faster than the central ones otherwise.

Certainly, when I toast macadamia nuts under a low grill, it becomes keenly necessary to juggle them around for them all to toast evenly.


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## cinisajoy

Alton Brown is not always a good resource. 
Especially when it comes to southern and Mexican foods.

It sounds like you oven-fried your peanuts rather than roasted them.


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## GotGarlic

cinisajoy said:


> Alton Brown is not always a good resource.
> Especially when it comes to southern and Mexican foods.
> 
> It sounds like you oven-fried your peanuts rather than roasted them.



The recipes I've seen for oven frying use much higher temperatures - 400 or more Fahrenheit.


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## cinisajoy

Brb.   I may have a peanut cookbook.


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## Cheryl J

Hmmm....Alton Brown grew up in Georgia and still lives there - I would think he knows southern cooking, but I could be wrong.


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## cinisajoy

Back.   I did have a peanut cookbook but it used raw peanuts.
It did say you can freeze them for a year at 0°.


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## Dawgluver

Hm.  As you said, Larry, your peanuts may have not been fully ripe and ready yet.


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## GotGarlic

From the Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Association: Peanut Recipes ~ How to Roast and Store Raw Peanuts



> Place raw peanuts, inshell OR shelled, one layer deep in a shallow baking pan. Roast in 350 F oven 15 to 20 minutes for shelled peanuts and 20 to 25 minutes for inshell peanuts. (Remove from heat just short of doneness desired as peanuts continue to cook as they cool.) **Season to taste.



This seems to be the standard, from the several sites I looked at.


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## larry_stewart

GotGarlic said:


> From the Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Association: Peanut Recipes ~ How to Roast and Store Raw Peanuts
> 
> 
> 
> This seems to be the standard, from the several sites I looked at.



Thats what I've been seeing too.
tried it without the oil, same results.

Im only doing a handful at a time,
Eventually Ill figure it out


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## cinisajoy

What exactly are your peanuts doing?


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## larry_stewart

Not roasting  
The outer shell gets dry, hard and crispy.  But when the peanut is cracked open to eat, it is still raw.  Some are kinda the same consistency as if I were eating a fresh pea,  others are a little mushier, and then there are the occasional few that are similar, but not exactly the same as a store bought peanut.  Ive done the 350F 20 minutes with and with out oil.  Some I left for a longer period of time, but the outer shell just got darker , the inside didn't change much at all.

I guess being a New Yorker, I should stick to Bagels and Pizza, and leave the peanuts for you guys in the south


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## larry_stewart

Im getting closer.
I just did " Low and slow" method 
325F for about 1 hour, shuffling them every 20 minutes.
Definitely roasted taste and peanut consistency.
I could probably reduce the time by 10 or 15 minutes.

Maybe I should get a thermometer for my oven  even thought it is relatively new), just to see if tie thermostat is accurate


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## cinisajoy

Can I recommend shelling then roasting?    I don't know anyone that roasts in the shell.


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## larry_stewart

IF I had the patience to shell them first, I would.  
But I don't.
I think Im just about there.  Just have to reduce the time a bit.  But this last time, they definitely tasted like peanuts with the right consistency , just a little over done.
(325F at 1 hour),  I think Ill knock down to about 45 minutes


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## cinisajoy

Glad you are getting there.  Enjoy.


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## tinlizzie

Larry, I wonder if you could briefly tell how you grew the peanuts.  Did you start with store-bought peanuts?  About how long until you had nuts and if they're underground how can you tell when they're ready to harvest?

Thank you, if this isn't just too much trouble to answer.  I have a couple of fuzzy gray customers in the back yard who would thank you, too.


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## larry_stewart

I got the nuts through a seed company ( possibly Burpee.com)
Jumbo Virginia Peanut Seeds and Plants, Vegetable Gardening at Burpee.com

Knowing  I have a mole problem, and a squirrel problem, I had to outsmart them.  I built a raised bed especially for the peanuts ( including a bottom) out of wood.  This solved the mole issue.  I used chicken wire to cover the newly planted peanuts, to keep the squirrels from digging up the freshly planted peanuts..

I planted them on May 25th ( then placed the chicken wire on top).

The plants started to emerge from the ground on June 1st

I periodically had to raise the chicken wire, as the plants grew, so the plant wouldn't get caught up in the chicken wire.

On june 22nd, I felt the plants were large enough to take the wire off, with no fear of the critters doing any damage.

On July 10th , the plants started to flower.

On august 31st, I was getting curious as to when they would be ready to harvest.  I did some research on youtube, to find out that once the flower is pollinated, it then sends a shoot down from the flower to the soil.  this shoot then  ' boroughs' into the soil.  At the end of this shoot, a peanut forms in time.  I was in complete disbelief .  I had never heard of such a thing.  I figured it was like potatoes, and they just grew from the roots.  

I went outside immediately, and sure enough, their were little shoots coming from the flowers, down to the soil.

What I noticed was, the plants got large enough, that they part of them were leaning over the side of the raised bed, sending shoots basically to nowhere.  So , now being knowledgable about how the peanuts are formed, I placed a few planters ( field with soil) next to the raised bed to provide a place for the shoots hanging over the side to plant themselves.

On september 22nd, my curiosity got the best of me, i went outside, pulled up one of the shoots, and sure enough, there was a full sized peanut attached.  Went back to the internet, and did more research, and basically it said when the plants start to die, you should pick the peanuts.  Problem is, up here in NY, the cold weather was around the corner.  I let the plants grow as long as I could before any freeze or frost would kill them anyway.

On October 12th , we harvested the peanuts.  Probably got about 300 - 500 peanuts from about 30 or so plants.  Most were completely formed, some were not.

Definitely a cool experience.  

The only growing mistake I made, was not accounting for the plants to lean over the side of the planter.  I was unaware of how the peanuts formed.  Now that I know, I will either build a bigger planter to allow for the leaning plant, or just change locations.

The plants get about the size of a string bean plant ( the bush variety).

Hope this helped .

I kept pretty accurate records of my garden this year.

larry


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## larry_stewart

In the Peanut 1 pic , if you look in the lower right corner, you will see the wooden trough I built for the peanuts. It was about 8ft by about 1 1/2 ft.

In Peanut 2 , in the center ( slightly to the left) you will see the wooden trough and plants starting to grow.  If you look really closely, you can see the green chicken wire on top of it, protecting the peanuts from the squirrels.  Ironically ( and I only noticed this now), is the damn squirrel is eating my corn plants in the right center   , that bastard

In peanut 3 , lower right corner, you can get an idea of what the plants look like. ( July25th)

Peanut 4, is me picking the peanuts

Peanut 5 are the peanuts after washing them off.


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## Dawgluver

This is very interesting.  Thanks, Larry!


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## GotGarlic

Way cool, larry  Thanks for sharing your experience.


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## larry_stewart

Just wish my growing season was a little bit longer.  But still a cool experience.


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## tinlizzie

Wow, Larry!  How very nice of you to go to the trouble of explaining so thoroughly and with pictures, too!  And what a beautiful garden you have.  Thank you so much.


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## Cheryl J

What a beautiful yard, Larry!  In addition to your garden, I also LOVE the birdhouses.


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## larry_stewart

Cheryl J said:


> What a beautiful yard, Larry!  In addition to your garden, I also LOVE the birdhouses.



Thanks.
In addition to cooking, gardening is one of my favorite hobbies ( Im glad cooking and vegetable gardening go hand in hand).

I grow flowers too, but Im more interested in growing things I can eat 

I started the birdhouses a few years ago, buying cheap ones, but they would fall apart after a year.  Ive learned to invest in better quality birdhouse.  And I usually get a few residents each year ( mostly chickadees and wrens).

I still have 4 more to put on the fence before next spring.


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