The Unexpected Kitchen Appliance To Use For Perfectly Roasted Nuts

Roasting or toasting nuts can greatly amplify your favorite recipes, adding a richer taste and a crispier texture. Toasting involves cooking the nuts over high heat for a short time, while roasting involves keeping nuts over low heat for much longer. Both have their pros and cons, but the end result of each is sure to bring depth to your recipe you won't get from a raw nut. However, if you're tight on time, toasting nuts can be a real time-killer, since it's typically done in the oven or the stovetop and requires a close eye. Instead of waiting around for the nuts to toast, try using a bread machine for a hands-off, worry-free approach. 

A bread machine is an all-in-one appliance that kneads, proofs, and bakes dough into bread. Due to its intended purpose, it isn't often mentioned when discussing the best and most efficient ways to roast nuts, but it has a ton of potential as long as you have patience. The main downside of roasting nuts in a bread machine is the length of the process, as it can take up to five hours or more. But if you're willing to wait, it can be the most rewarding. A long, slow roast in a bread machine allows nuts to become roasted all the way through to their center, strengthening their flavor beyond just the shell and adding an unbeatable crunch to any recipe. 

Not all bread machines are equipped with one, but if yours has a jam cycle feature, you're in luck. The jam cycle feature is used to cook down ingredients into jam, but it can be used for roasting nuts, too, since its temperature remains steady. Before moving onto other tasks, though, make sure the nuts are prepared for a long cycle in the bread machine. Among the tips you need for roasting nuts at home, beginning with raw nuts is essential to ensure that your end result will be full of flavor. It's also recommended to soak nuts before roasting them, as this makes them easier to digest.

Once the nuts are ready, place them in the main bucket of the bread machine. Arrange them in a flat layer to ensure that they are evenly roasted. If you've got too many on hand, it's okay to have a few layers on top of each other — just be aware that this may call for another cycle. After one jam cycle has finished, do a taste test before removing them from the machine. If they need another cycle, it's recommended that you let the machine cool down before first. And if you didn't season them beforehand, all is not lost. Add your favorite seasonings while the nuts are still hot so that they absorb all of that salty, herby goodness.