Chestnuts!

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Chestnuts!
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sarahloo

Joined: 01 Jun 2007
Posts: 125
Location: Reading, Berkshire

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 3:40 pm Post subject: Chestnuts!
Does anyone have useful advice on storage / freezing chestnuts?

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 3:40 pm Post subject:
Ours are tiny.

jamanda
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Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35083
Location: Devon

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 3:42 pm Post subject:
Ours too. Absolutely rubbish

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 5:16 pm Post subject:
Nice haul Sarahloo, I managed to collect a few to roast on our fire, they seem a decent size this year. I've never collected enough to think about storing and ones I've forgotten about seem to dry out quite quickly. I also tend to find different trees can be quite variable, some not producing much and others producing a decent sized nut each year. Here's a pic of ours:

natty

Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 186
Location: London

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 7:19 pm Post subject:

Oh, love chestnuts. they are still a bit small here yet but last year I froze loads. I tried roasting, and boiling with slits in them but they are are real pain to peel-its best when they are warm. When they cool its more difficult (at least for me) so this year I'm cooking in batches and then peeling before doing more- I'm alos going to give steaming a go to see if it works better.
You can do them whole with a cross in the bottom or sliced in half, boiled or in the oven and then peeled and frozen. Maybe others will have better tips but MOH and me ended up with nasty bits of shell under our nails and it really hurt!
Another idea I may do for christmas prezzies is to put them in brandy syrup in jars. So far I'm thinking of this recipe
https://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/3961/chestnuts-in-brandy-vanilla-syrup.html
And somewhere on line there is a recipe for chestnut jam (but its actually more like a nutty paste- haven't tried it though)

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91� N

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 7:37 pm Post subject:
Here they're still tiny (or at least were up until about a week ago which was the last time I explicitly checked). Must check again and see if I can get anything decent now.

Fee

Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 15922
Location: Earth

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 10:03 pm Post subject:

natty wrote:

Another idea I may do for christmas prezzies is to put them in brandy syrup in jars. So far I'm thinking of this recipe
https://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/3961/chestnuts-in-brandy-vanilla-syrup.html
And somewhere on line there is a recipe for chestnut jam (but its actually more like a nutty paste- haven't tried it though)

Sweet Chestnut Jam recipe

Chestnuts in brandy sound like a lovely idea for adding to the hamper! We've got an abundance of sweet chestnuts here, but they're not that big

Stewy

Joined: 17 Oct 2005
Posts: 1453
Location: Berkshire

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 10:20 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Nice haul Sarahloo, I managed to collect a few to roast on our fire, they seem a decent size this year. I've never collected enough to think about storing and ones I've forgotten about seem to dry out quite quickly. I also tend to find different trees can be quite variable, some not producing much and others producing a decent sized nut each year.

Here's a pic of ours:

Nice looking nuts!

PeteS

Joined: 06 Dec 2006
Posts: 874
Location: Hampshire

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 07 11:22 pm Post subject:
Yes, very nice nuts. I've had a look for a few but the ones I have found have been small and/or dried up Maybe I'll have another look!

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 07 11:47 am Post subject:
roast, puree and freeze for adding to chestnut chocolate cake at regular intervals throught out the year. Or stuffing, but choclate cake is better.

sarahloo

Joined: 01 Jun 2007
Posts: 125
Location: Reading, Berkshire

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 07 11:44 am Post subject:
Does anyone know if you can just stick them straight in the freezer? Or do you have to cook them first? Thanks

ksia

Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 2320
Location: Mayenne, France

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 07 5:29 pm Post subject:

I love chestnuts but things are still a bit slow here...

for freezing normally I've boiled them a little so I can peel them - some end up still being quite firm and others are a bit mushier. I guess it depends on your peeling technique, as natty says it's easier when they're warm so they'll be a bit coked anyway.

The 1st year I just shoved them in the freezer without peeling and never used them - it just seemed to difficult to deal with them from the freezer. They quickly go mouldy if left out.

So lots of work now but then you can just easily chuck them into whatever you're making later.

Chestnuts in brandy sounds yummy..I'll check out that recipe!

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 07 5:17 pm Post subject:
And some from a different tree which seem more elongated:

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 07 6:03 pm Post subject:
What kind of conditions do chestnut trees like? I know what the trees look like, but I've never seen one. I wondered if they didn't like chalk or something?

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 07 6:08 pm Post subject:
I would expect them on lighter acidic soils and looking at PFAF, https://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Castanea+sativa , it says "Averse to calcareous soils". We live in a chalky area but there's outcrops of other acidic soils so there might be some near you. I tend to look out for the large herring bone shaped leaves whenever I'm about.

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