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Smoked Almonds
CornfedMA
Posts: 491
Anyone have a good tip or trick to get spices to stick to smoked almonds? Every recipe I’ve seen says to soak them in water, which I’ve done a number of times with only marginal results.
Comments
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My current method is to toss raw almonds with Frank's hot sauce and salt, then spread the nuts in roughly a single layer on a pizza screen, then apply desired seasoning. I smoke the almonds either cold amaze-n pellet smoker) for a few hours or low and slow (try to keep it under 250) for about an hour; in either case I then roast the nuts in the oven at 200 for a few hours to crisp them up. I found that trying to crisp in the egg is too finicky, and results in too many overdone / burnt nuts.
At one point I tried using egg whites as the spice binder, but find the hot sauce approach easier and adds some flavor. Also, for years I soaked the almonds in water first, but determined it really wasn't necessary.
Good luck.LBGE - St. Louis, MO; MM & LBGE - around 8100' somewhere in the CO Front Range -
Butter is your friend!!
These are not almonds, but the same method should work. I did these this weekend. Smoke the nuts without any seasoning any way you like. I usually just toast them at 300 for about 15 minutes on a pizza screen with peach or apple wood.
For about 1.5 pounds of nuts (the pics below are pecans and peanuts) use the following:
combine:
2 Tbls chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp dark sugar
2 tsp kosher salt (assuming you start with unsalted nuts).
Then combine the dry ingredients with 1 tbls of melted butter. It makes a paste.
In a large bowl, toss the smoked nuts, while still warm with the paste till coated well.
I assume the butter combined with any seasoning to make a paste will work fine.
These are really good - not my recipe and I can't remember where it came from.
Memphis, TN
LBGE, 2 SBGE, Hasty-Bake Gourmet -
This look awesome, but the butter thing won’t fly with the wife. She likes having the almonds around as a healthy snack. Thinking I may try the hot sauce or just grinding the rub/spices to a finer powder to increase the amount that sticks.
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I bought a cheap coffee grinder and grind my spices into a fine powder for seasoning almonds when I smoke them. It does help them to stick a little better.
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Toss almonds with a tablespoon of olive oil per pound of nuts, sprinkle seasoning, lay out and smoke.
XL BGE, 22" Weber Red Head, Fiesta Gasser .... Peoria,AZ -
CornfedMA said:This look awesome, but the butter thing won’t fly with the wife. She likes having the almonds around as a healthy snack. Thinking I may try the hot sauce or just grinding the rub/spices to a finer powder to increase the amount that sticks.
I've had good luck with butter as a coating for nuts - sweet with some brown sugar and cocoa powder, or savory with garlic powder and paprika & salt.
If you are eating a handful of nuts, the fat from butter will be a small fraction of the fat consumed. A 1/4 cup of almonds is going to have 18g of fat vs maybe a 1-2 g from the butter.
If you want a 'healthier' fat, you could try olive oil.
1 LBGE in Chapel Hill, NC -
We make these for every party we have, our guest love them. We grind the spices in an old coffee grinder.
Spicy Smoked Almonds - from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
1lb raw almonds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic pepper
1 tbsp finely ground kosher salt or fine sea salt
2 tsp chile powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
the recipe reads:
lay the almonds on rack & cold smoke for 2 to 3 hours
preheat oven to 375
combine oil and spices in a bowl & toss with almonds to coat , spread on baking sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring several times , remove from oven -taste, add more salt if needed
can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks
Edina, MN -
Budgeezer said:We make these for every party we have, our guest love them. We grind the spices in an old coffee grinder.
Spicy Smoked Almonds - from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
1lb raw almonds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic pepper
1 tbsp finely ground kosher salt or fine sea salt
2 tsp chile powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
the recipe reads:
lay the almonds on rack & cold smoke for 2 to 3 hours
preheat oven to 375
combine oil and spices in a bowl & toss with almonds to coat , spread on baking sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring several times , remove from oven -taste, add more salt if needed
can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks
To OP - If butter is a problem, you could try substituting vegetable oil or olive oil as several others have used above.
Memphis, TN
LBGE, 2 SBGE, Hasty-Bake Gourmet -
@Budgeezer Thanks for posting this. I have this book, but had not read it yet. I will be trying these. I wonder why they can only be stored for 2 weeks?
Phoenix -
Those nuts look good!------------------------------
Thomasville, NC
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