How to store pine nuts: ways and where to keep them at home

Pine nuts are a nutritious food with a range of he alth benefits and great taste. Fruit picking is carried out in the first autumn months. Nuts are sold in different forms - peeled, in shell or in cones. At the same time, not every person knows how to properly store pine nuts. This can be done in a variety of ways.

Why nuts go bad

Any nuts can lose their properties. At the same time, they can be in a purified form or in cedar cones. Nuts spoil due to the fact that they contain oils that oxidize.

The speed of such a reaction at home is affected by ambient temperature and lighting. The warmer and lighter the room, the faster this process takes place.

Determination of spoiled product

To identify a spoiled product at home, you should pay attention to the following features:

Smell - sometimes just smelling a product is enough to determine its quality. Butter that has gone rancid has an unpleasant odor.
Taste qualities - Spoiled nuts are bitter and sometimes moldy. Fresh kernels have a sweet taste and spicy notes of resin.
Color - greenish-gray spots on the shell should alert, which indicate the appearance of mold. High-quality peeled nuts should have a yellow color. They will taste bitter.

How long do nuts stay fresh

Not every person knows how long pine nuts stay fresh. Cleaned kernels are stored for no more than 3 months. They can stay in the shell for 5-6 months. The storage of pine nuts in the freezer or in the refrigerator has the same terms.

Expert opinionZarechny Maxim ValerievichAgronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best gardening expert.Ask a QuestionThe product can lose its properties prematurely only under the influence of heat, sunlight, moisture or constant temperature fluctuations. If the kernels are stored open in the refrigerator, they will quickly lose their taste as they absorb the smells of other foods.

Even if pine nuts lie for more than 6 months and retain their attractive appearance, it is not recommended to use them. After 3 months, the kernels will lose their benefits, and their taste will not be so rich. In addition, after a few months of storage, bacteria invisible to people will appear in the nuclei.Their ingestion can cause negative he alth effects.

How to choose a product in the store

To keep nuts for a long time, it is important to choose them correctly. A quality product stays fresh much longer and does not lose its properties. When buying it, it is recommended to take into account the following features:

Fresh cedar cone seeds have a brown skin. The lighter and yellower its color, the older the nuts are.
Cleaned grains of fresh harvest are distinguished by a light cream shade, which is as close as possible to milk.
The structure of the nut kernels is of great importance. It is important that they are whole and not crushed. If the seeds are flattened, then the oil has been partially squeezed out of them, but not to the very cake. Sometimes unscrupulous manufacturers try to sell such a product as a whole.However, it is not very suitable for storage.
Seeds from cones immediately after shelling have a pleasant resinous aroma. Inshell grains and peeled kernels are distinguished by a weaker, but still the same typical aroma. If the product has an intense chemical smell, it indicates that it has been processed with a flavoring agent. It is used to mask musty smells.

According to the rules, it is required to collect cedar cones in early autumn. This means that it is better to buy new harvest nuts from the end of October. When buying pine nuts, it is recommended to be interested not only in the time of harvest, but also in the region. Quite often, Chinese pine nuts are found on the market, which, in terms of their taste characteristics and nutritional properties, are significantly inferior to their Siberian counterparts.

Preparing for storage

In order for pine nuts to retain their properties as long as possible, it is important to pay attention to preparatory measures. In this case, the seeds must be properly cleaned from the shell. Careful choice of capacity is also of great importance.

Correct shelling

It's best to have a product on hand that's ready to use. Therefore, many people prefer to buy already peeled pine nuts. If you store the product in the shell, it will have to be cleaned from time to time. There are many different ways to do this:

Roasting. Seeds are recommended to be calcined in a pan, stirring them constantly. In this case, the fire must be made above average. When using the oven, nuts should be heated at a temperature of + 110-120 degrees. Heat treatment should take about a quarter of an hour. As a result, it will be possible to make the shell more fragile and easily peel the kernels with your fingers.
Steaming. Pine nuts can be poured with boiling water for half an hour. After that, it is recommended to drain the liquid, and dry the kernels. As a result, the peel will steam out and be easily removed.It is important to bear in mind that this method has a very significant disadvantage. The fact is that moistened kernels cannot be stored for a long time.
Temperature effect. Nut shells are highly sensitive to temperature fluctuations. When calcining nuts and their sharp immersion in ice water, the skin will be covered with cracks. Peeling nuts prepared in this way will not be difficult.
Freeze. To apply this method, cedar seeds in a bag must be placed in the freezer for 6 hours. The grains in the bag must be distributed in a thin layer and rolled with a rolling pin. With a little effort, the fragile peel will crack. It is important to bear in mind that this method has a significant drawback. When it is used, not only the shell is crushed, but also the nucleoli. Therefore, you will have to choose fragments from crushed nut mass.

It is important to consider that the peeled seeds have a short shelf life. Nuts that have undergone heat treatment can be stored for a maximum of 2-3 days. Therefore, you should not peel a lot of nuts at once in advance.

Preparing containers

The shelf life of nuts depends on suitable conditions and on the right choice of container. It is important to consider the storage method:

Room conditions - you should give preference to a sealed and light-tight container that has a tight-fitting lid.
Refrigerator - the best option would be a plastic or glass container that will reliably protect nuts from moisture and unwanted flavors.
Freezer - It is best to use tight freezer bags for storage. They must be small. Also, a great solution would be to use the same containers as for the refrigerator.

Where to put nuts

To keep pine nuts fresh for a long period of time, it is important to follow these recommendations:

It is forbidden to keep the product in an excessively humid place. The optimum air humidity should not exceed 60%. Otherwise, the nuts will become moldy and rot.
Only fully ripened seeds can be stored for a long time. Insufficiently ripe nuts will quickly begin to rot. To keep nuts as long as possible, they need to be kept in an airtight container that has UV protection. The fact is that under the influence of light, the process of oxidation of cedar oil begins. It is actively released from the nuts and evaporates. Also, nuts should not be kept in an open container, as they will begin to oxidize and quickly lose their properties.
Before storing nuts, they need to be sorted out. It is important to remove spoiled or split fruits. If this is not done, the rest of the nuts will also spoil.
It is important to remove nuts with deformed skins. Also, fruits with green or yellow spots should not be stored.It is best to give preference to large seeds that reach the size of the little finger nail. Smaller fruits are recommended to be used immediately. They are immature seeds that will not be able to retain their properties for a long time.
Dry, shriveled, too wet or oily inshell nuts should not be stored. Cleaned seeds can be stored in a sealed vacuum bag for several days. This needs to be done in the refrigerator. It is also permissible to freeze peeled fresh kernels for six months. Roasted nuts must be consumed immediately.
Seeds in the shell can be stored at a temperature not exceeding +20 degrees. Peeled fruits are kept in the refrigerator at a temperature of -15 to +5 degrees. This must be done in an airtight container.

Refrigerator

Under the influence of low temperatures, all chemical reactions slow down. Because the refrigerator is perfect for storing pine nuts.Cleaned kernels can lie in such a place for 2 months. If condensation accumulates in containers with nuts, they must be dried, as this is fraught with mold growth.

Freezer

Fatty foods are perfectly stored at low temperatures. Oxidation in the freezer stops and shelf life increases. The nucleoli should be frozen in small portions, putting them in tight bags. It is important to avoid re-freezing. Because of this, the product quickly deteriorates and loses its taste and aroma. Peeled kernels can be kept in the freezer for six months.

In order for pine nuts to retain their taste and useful properties for as long as possible, they need to provide suitable conditions. At the same time, it is important to choose the right container for storage and buy a quality product.