Proper processing of Macadamia Nuts is critical to having a crunchy, tasty nut. If you don't perform all the steps properly, you can end up with a nut which never with no crisp snap. Here are some critical steps to take on from the harvesting through to the nut being ready to serve.
Husking
First, husk the nuts as soon as possible after harvesting them. With the cate variety, the husks will split on the tree and fall onto the ground. Pick up the nuts at least once a week during harvest time and remove the husks as soon as possible, like within a day or two.
If the husks are left on, the nuts will soon develop a mildew which will quickly effect the color of the shell and give the nut meats a musty taste. Also, the longer you leave the husks on, the harder they are to get off as they dry out and become hard. In short, the sooner you can husk them the better.
Air Drying
When the nuts are first harvested, they have a high moisture content and the natural oils have not yet developed. The nuts need to be air dried, in shade, for at least two weeks to reduce the moisture content and to allow the oils to develop. If you crack the nuts before this drying time, they taste a little like coconut and not much of a nutty flavor. Ideally, the nuts can be placed on drying racks which allow a lot of air to circulate on all sides. Not more than two nuts deep on a wire mesh tray. After this two week drying, the nuts are ready to be delivered to the warehouse, or for your home drying.
Culling
It is very important to sort your nuts. Take out the nuts with obvious problems like cracks, worm holes or discoloration. Undersized nuts also have to be removed, i.e. under 1/2 inch.
Crack-Out
Nuts need to be the best possible to satisfy our customers. We take a random sample of nuts, usually 20 or more, from the sacks delivered to the warehouse and weigh the whole nuts. We then crack out the sample and weigh the meat, the percentage of nut meat weight to nut shell weight is the crack-out.
If the nut meat percentage to the whole nut is 36% or higher, the nuts are graded as Premium. If the weight percentage is 28% to 35%, they are graded as Regulars. Keep in mind that the nuts may vary in size but the percentage of meat to whole nut may be the same.
Oven Drying
At the warehouse the nuts are dried for at least another 48 hours at 104 to 110°F to reduce the moisture to around 1%. The shell will become brittle so it is easier to crack the shell without damaging the nut meat. We then use a food dehydrator at the nut setting, around 104°F, for 2 to 3 days. Take a few nuts after 48 hours and test them by cracking them open and biting into them to see if they are crunchy. If they are still a little chewy, we give them another 24 hours or so. The time it takes for this drying process is determined by how much moisture was removed during the air drying step.
Storing Dried Nuts
Once the nuts are dried and are chrunchy, we then store them in a sealed container in a cool, dry place or in the freezer for prompt shipment for our fresh food customers who order the fresh dried nuts in-advance. We use heavy, thick plastic bag to prevent nuts from reabsorbing moisture.
We crack some of the nuts and store the meats in a tightly sealed container in refrigerators for overseas customers. The nuts store in good condition, they are tasty and ready to eat for up to a year -- usually we are sold out within 2 months.
We also roast the meat, by Roasting. Please see the link for those steps.
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