How do baking supply companies blanch their hazelnuts?
A friend of ours used to own a chocolate factory, and she would get blanched hazelnuts in big boxes. These were only lightly toasted, if at all, but they were perfectly cleaned - not a single recalcitrant paper skin in the bunch.
I've used both the roast & rub method and the baking-soda method (boil water with a couple tablespoons of baking soda, dump in the nuts and boil for a minute or so, rinse & rub) for blanching hazelnuts. While the latter is vastly preferable, it's hard to get the timing & baking soda quantity exactly right, so either you end up with perfectly clean nuts that are a little cooked (not to mention dyed) looking, or you get nuts that are only mostly clean. So whatever the big suppliers do, it doesn't seem to be either of these methods.
Does anybody have actual experience with blanching hazelnuts on a large scale? What method do they use to get those perfect results?
(Failing that, I'll accept pointers on the baking soda method, i.e. how do I tread that line between dye-bath and ineffective?)
Best Answer
I can't say which things are actually used, but this would seem to confirm my above guess, along with the other one - you can use more chemicals in industry than you would in a home.
Product and process of blanching nuts
A product and process of removing the skins from nuts involves wetting the nut kernels with an alkaline solution and then with a peroxygen solution. The two substances react underneath the skin to liberate gas between the nut meat and the skin. The gas bubbles blister the skin, causing it to become loosened. Slight mechanical brushing is used to dislodge the blistered skins from the nut meats.
Method and apparatus for blanching nuts
Two counter rotating rollers are provided having elastomeric exterior coatings into which ribs and grooves are formed for intermeshing to blanch nuts at a pinch point therebetween. Grooves in the lower roller hold nuts as ribs on the upper roller pass across the nuts to break skins on the nuts. The elastomeric exterior coatings have surface hardness values which measure around 30 durometer. The squeeze at the pinch point between the two rollers can be repeatably adjusted for running different sizes of nuts.
Not really helpful for doing it at home. Hard to say which ones are commonly used in industry, of course. You can find a lot more patents along these lines.
Pictures about "How do baking supply companies blanch their hazelnuts?"
How are hazelnuts blanched?
Blanching is a process in cooking that where food, in our case hazelnuts, is scalded with boiling water. Then the food is removed after a specified time and plunged into ice water, halting the cooking process. After this process, the food can either be frozen, dried, canned \u2013 or help make it easy to peel.Do you have to blanch hazelnuts?
Simply boil the nuts with baking soda and the skins will peel right off. Completely off! Then blot them dry and put them in the oven to get them crunchy again. Yes, blanching hazelnuts requires an extra step because you have to roast them again but it gets the job done the right way.How do you blanch hazelnuts at home?
The blanching methodFor every 1/2 cup of hazelnuts, bring 1-1/2 cups water to a boil. Add 2 Tbs. baking soda and the nuts; boil for 3 minutes\u2014expect the water to turn black and watch out for boilovers. Run a nut under cold water and see if the skin slips off easily.Why are hazelnuts blanched?
Blanching hazelnuts means removing the bitter skin and allowing for a smoother creamier taste in baking. It is possible to purchase already blanched nuts however it is simple to do yourself and also more affordable.How to Skin Hazelnuts
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Max Vakhtbovych, Skylar Kang, Skylar Kang, Ksenia Chernaya