Roasted chestnuts -- what am I doing wrong?

Hi,

I love roasted chestnuts. I like how they smell and taste. I have fond memories of my Dad making them for us as kids. I have been to Italy where, in the Fall, there are wonderful chestnuts for sale everywhere.

And I used to be able to roast them, too. But I'm messing up lately, and I don't know what has changed.

I think my Dad used to cut an 'X' in each nut with a small sharp knife, then roast them in the oven at 350* for 20 minutes (or so). In my oven, that seems underdone. I have ratcheted up the cooking time till it's now 425* for 25 minutes, and I stir the nuts around the pan halfway through. And that gets the outside shells brittle but the inside skin does not peel off the nut. (It's reminiscent of trying to eat coconut still on the inner skin.)

Am I omitting a step? Cooking too hot or too long? Cutting the 'X' too big? (I have a chestnut cutter tool but it doesn't seem to do a good job and it can't handle big or odd-shape nuts.) Maybe these nuts aren't Italian -- I know we do get Chinese nuts around here -- so maybe they're a different species?

Any guidance greatly appreciated. The season is upon me!


Jeff

What are you doing wrong? You're roasting chestnuts.

What are you doing wrong? You're roasting chestnuts.

I used to do this in the fall but never found a method to easily take off the skin either. I did the same method as Jeff and it always involved a fair amount of labor and I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong. The chestnuts were always delicious but in recent years I've opted for other sources. (E.G. the Italian roasted and shelled chestnuts in bags are often a pretty good product, no additives, decent price, great flavor. Used to buy a good brand at Fairway in Nyc)

We gave up trying to roast chestnuts decades ago. There are good brands available jarred if you look carefully. We usually pick up a jar at Whole Foods before Thanksgiving. Since we put them in stuffing, they are fine if just passable!

You need an open fire.

Sounds like it should work Jeff, it may be variety we just get big or small!!
I just cut a slit and and put over the fire shaking occasionally until charring on the outside. Howie's suggestion has merit can you put them on your grille or is it too cold outdoors?

[Jenise]

You need an open fire.

Stole the words out of my mouth.

Only way it ever worked for me was over an open fire...in the fireplace.

I've got a pot swing in my fireplace that holds a cast iron pot. I get the fire real hot, cut the x in the chestnuts, put them into a cast iron pot, hang it on the swing bar, push the bar in a little to place the pot over the coals. Takes half an hour plus.

Might work on an open grill. It never worked well for me in an oven and I have no idea why, but assume it must have something to do with the direction of the heat.

An open fire sounds nice but it's well below freezing here now.

I have yet to find a bag or jar that contains good chestnuts. Honestly, they're either hard or they're mush but in neither case do they taste like chestnuts! I won't even sully my stuffing with them.

Maybe I'll go read some more Italian websites and see if I'm missing a step. But I would swear that I used to be able to do this! (The only un-fix-able problem is that approx. 2 in 10 chestnuts are moldy inside.)

Jeff:

Maybe the problem is the chestnuts themselves.

Perhaps you can replicate an open fire on the stove top.

...and if you think it's cold in NY City, you ain't been in the Finger Lakes this week. Only good thing here is that while Howie is under seven feet of snow, we have none--for now.

Stovetop in cast iron?

Old fashioned chestnut roasting pan over an open fire is the trick. I think we burned ours out when the designated roaster nodded off once though.

I vote for bad chestnuts. According to a friend of mine who grows them, they are often in bad shape by the time they get to a grocery store. Is there a way to get some nearby that you know are fairly fresh? (Or are you already doing this?)

I vote for bad chestnuts. According to a friend of mine who grows them, they are often in bad shape by the time they get to a grocery store. Is there a way to get some nearby that you know are fairly fresh? (Or are you already doing this?)

I have not found a way to source them fresh. There are 3 or 4 stores that sell them in the fall. One place gets them from Italy, one place gets them from China, and the other two do not say (or say different things at different times).

I avoid the Chinese ones, suspicious of another incarnation of pine mouth.

But I have no idea how things are handled, regardless of provenance.

I love roast chestnuts also, but dread the tedium (and pain) of scoring, roasting, and then trying to PEEL THE STUPID THINGS CLEANLY FERGODSAKE. Gah! If it weren't for the fact that my wife loooooooooves the cream of roast chestnut soup I came up with some years ago which she now insists on every Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm not sure they'd be worth the brown and bloody fingers it takes to produce them. (Although I'm seriously considering saving up so maybe next year I can get this little contraption: http://www.chestnutter.com/. At least that would cut down on some of the bloodletting.)

(Although I'm seriously considering saving up so maybe next year I can get this little contraption: http://www.chestnutter.com/. At least that would cut down on some of the bloodletting.)

I own that tool. It's useful if the nuts fit in it well -- too small and the blades don't reach it, too big and you can't close the handles. It makes a small 'X' and I think a larger cut is useful so.... it now sits in the drawer with the other infrequently-used gadgets.

When I cut the nuts I put an oven mitt on the holding hand and use a paring knife with the cutting hand.

If you happen to own a chainmail glove (...folks who shuck a lot of oysters do...) that would also be handy.

I own that tool. It's useful if the nuts fit in it well -- too small and the blades don't reach it, too big and you can't close the handles. It makes a small 'X' and I think a larger cut is useful so.... it now sits in the drawer with the other infrequently-used gadgets.

Ah, nuts (so to speak). And I had such high hopes. Ah well, off to find a chain mail glove. No oyster shucker outfitter locations this far inland, but plenty of purveyors of S&M gear. One of them is bound to stock them.

Thanks Jeff!

Ah well, off to find a chain mail glove. No oyster shucker outfitter locations this far inland, but plenty of purveyors of S&M gear. One of them is bound to stock them.

Cut-resistant gloves are <$15 on Amazon.

But don't let me interfere with your shopping-tainment.

But don't let me interfere with your shopping-tainment.

[Robin Garr]

Cut-resistant gloves are <$15 on Amazon.

Do I remember Alton Brown using kevlar welding gloves for some risky technique, maybe a mandoline?

Jeff - if you are still living in NJ, hop on the PATH to Newark and go to Seabra's Supermarket on Jefferson St. in the Ironbound. At this time of year they have big burlap bags of chestnuts right from Portugal - they are $3.99/lb. and are very good quality. I think your problem is with stale nuts, not the way you are roasting them. We find they go off quite easily. Some of the Ironbound bars will give you a plate of roasted chestnuts to eat with your drink when they are in season. I think they just stick them in a fire in a sort of perforated bucket thingie.

Thanks, Joe. I live in Brooklyn so Newark is something of a schlep. (Though, strangely enough, I am travelling in NJ for work just now, but much further west.

Ah, for some reason I thought you lived in JC. Yes, it would be a schlep for you.

[Jenise]

Old fashioned chestnut roasting pan over an open fire is the trick. I think we burned ours out when the designated roaster nodded off once though.

So what about putting them on a gas BBQ? Would kind of replicate the conditions of the little charcoal brazier street vendors often use.

Have to admit, like Jeff, I tried this at home several times years ago and couldn't get the nuts to peel either--I quit trying.