Smoked Almonds.

[tailfeathers]

For clarification, the baskets I made are just zip tied at the corners but they are not attached to the racks, even though it may appear that way in the pictures.
Also, if you make the above honey smoked almonds I would recommend that you line your v tray with foil, making sure to cut the foil in the center drain hole and all vents. They turn out really good but they make one sticky mess as far as cleanup.

[ragweed]

TF's honey smoked almonds are absolutely fantastic!!!  I have to hide them from the rest of the family, then dole them out one bag at a time or I'd be making a batch everyday!

[piratey]

I tried the honey almonds recipe, but after 5 hours at 200 degrees, the almonds were still not dry.  I ended up taking them out since I had to leave home.  How long should it take to dry them out?

They did make one super sticky mess for cleaning up.  yikes.  Even with the foil on the v-tray, the honey got onto the tray in the places where i cut holes for the vents and the drip hole.  I think next time, I will put a disposable aluminum pan on the bottom rack to catch the drippings.

I thought one way to dry out the almonds would be to put them into the house oven at a higher temperature.  It turns out that 400 degrees for 20 minutes will dry the honey, but also roasts the almonds.  I now have a tray of heavily roasted (sometimes burned) honey almonds.  I still like the taste.

The other two trays are still quite somewhat sticky, but I think the house oven will dry them off at 200 degrees. I'll post again when I have a chance to try it.  I like the taste of the almonds, but the stickiness is a problem for storing.

[tailfeathers]

Don't know what to tell you. I've never left them in for more than three hours or so and they turn out ok. They won't be completely dry when I take them out but I just let them cool then break up the stuck together lumps of nuts. I assume you had your top vent completely open?


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[piratey]

Yes, top vent was completely open.  Wife roasted the second and third racks in the house oven at 200 for 20 minutes and almonds dried completely.  One thing I did notice was that after taking the almonds from the smoker, they dried a little more just sitting on the kitchen counter.  Maybe that also helped, along with the oven a few days later.  I like the recipe, thank you.

[iceman]

One thing I found out was humidity has a lot to do with the drying process. I smoke a few batches of almonds each year up here but always had trouble in the spring and summer. (Melting snow and rain). Then I realized it was over 75 % humidity. Winter and fall was always at 50% or less and no problems. I'm just tossing this out there to ponder. It might be some of the problem. Another thing is after they cool down a bit they get dryer and a bit more crunchy.  ;)
Sure sounds like a great recipe.  :)

[Divey]

These Smoked Almonds are just getting better  :)

I decided I would do a much larger batch next time and went to the markets here to see if I could buy the Raw Almonds much cheaper that locally. They were $17.00AUD per kilo which equates to (including today's exchange rate) $13.24USD per kilo or $6.02USD per lb and, $16.15CAD per kilo or $7.34CAD per lb. I bought four kilos and will do them this weekend.

Are these prices similar to what you pay for Raw Almonds in the USA or Canada ???

[piratey]

I bought a 3 lb bag from Costco for $17 US before trying the honey almond recipe.

[tailfeathers]

I bought a 3 lb bag from Costco for $17 US before trying the honey almond recipe.

x2


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[Divey]

I bought a 3 lb bag from Costco for $17 US before trying the honey almond recipe.

Thanks for that, very similar price to what I have here.  :)

[piratey]

Which is sad, considering that I live in California, one of the largest almond producing states in the U.S.  Should be cheaper, since they don't have to ship it anywhere but the local Costco.

[Meatatarian]

For sweet smoked almonds try this one. 3# almonds 6 oz honey 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup melted butter 1 tsp sea salt 2 tsp cinnamon 3/4 tsp nutmeg. Combine all, stir into almonds and refrigerate 6 hrs, stir every hour or so. Spray frog mats with pam and spread almonds in a single layer. Smoke at 200 until dry, rotate racks periodically.

I know this is an old thread but I just tried this recipe with apple smoke and a 7 day bloom....EXCELLENT!!

[SlickRickDFW]

How long did you smoke the almonds? Just looking for any recent updates/hints on this thread...

[Gafala]

Smoke for 2 hours and then let them bloom for a week. I due 20lbs of almonds when I do them.

[Matth]

I'm going to try using popcorn salt.  That is about as fine a textured salt as one can find.

I have noticed that the commercial bought smoked almonds have very fine salt on them so I ground table salt in the mortar and pestle until I was happy with the texture.