Looking For A Boiled Peanuts Recipe.

[Schlenkerla]

I've been buying peanuts at Wal-Mart that are Hatch Chili Flavored. Walmart has now stopped selling that brand. They now sell plain ole roasted, roasted and salted, and raw peanuts.

Any of you southern folk on HBT have a good boiled peanuts recipe?

Every time I travel through Mississippi and Alabama they have them at the local gas station. Never tried them. Looking for ideas.

Thanks!

 

[Jayjay1976]

I've made boiled peanuts a time or two, it involved locating a large bag of raw peanuts, salt, water, and some chili powder to add some heat. We made them in a crock pot and IIRC they had to cook for 12 hours or so to get tender. They swell up and are soft like beans, the shells become leathery and flexible. Turned out okay, but not as good as the ones I've had in Florida and Alabama. The real thing is deelish. If I try it again I'll substitute the cayenne with some dried chipotles to add smoke and heat. Boiled peanuts are great with a frosty cold beer.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've made boiled peanuts a time or two, it involved locating a large bag of raw peanuts, salt, water, and some chili powder to add some heat. We made them in a crock pot and IIRC they had to cook for 12 hours or so to get tender. They swell up and are soft like beans, the shells become leathery and flexible. Turned out okay, but not as good as the ones I've had in Florida and Alabama. The real thing is deelish. If I try it again I'll substitute the cayenne with some dried chipotles to add smoke and heat. Boiled peanuts are great with a frosty cold beer.

JayJay1976 - I haven't heard from you in awhile. Hope you're doing well.

Thanks. The bag of raw peanuts, I saw at Wal-Mart claims you need 5 lbs of peanuts, one cup of salt, and enough water to cover them. Then boil for three hours. I have a new Instant Pot that might be ready to do the job. I'm thinking a handful of dry ancho and gaujillo peppers in the boil might be in order. The chipotles sounds like a good addition that mix.

Many things to ponder....

 

[mabrungard]

I lived in north Florida for almost 30 yrs and can tell you that those gas station and roadside boiled peanuts could be soaked and boiled for much longer than 3 hrs. In addition, they are typically held in very warm water for hours on end. I think its the hours on end part that really makes the difference.

 

[SoulToast]

I've had really good results starting my soak the night before. I typically start with 1/2 cup of salt, water to cover by a couple of inches, and some crushed red pepper flakes. Amount unknown, since I measure in the hollow of my hand.

Stir things around, get it to a boil for a few minutes, kill the heat and cover so nothing lands in it overnight, and go about your business.

Helps the salt permeate the shell and carry your spices in.

Next day, fire up the heat, toss in about another 1/2 cup salt, a few shakes of flakes for good luck, and let it ride for a few hours. I check around each hour or half hour, and make sure the water's topped up. Around the two hour mark, I'll fish a couple out and see how the flavoring and tenderness is coming along. I usually end up around 4-5 hours, but more time really doesn't hurt. You just gotta play around, and it seems pretty hard to screw up.

I'm about to do a batch for our annual 4th of July, "Float Down the River and Drink," so I'll pay better attention and report back.

Raw peanuts are also really easy to roast in the oven and are pure heaven.

I may be a Yankee, but I boil a mean peanut.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I've had really good results starting my soak the night before. I typically start with 1/2 cup of salt, water to cover by a couple of inches, and some crushed red pepper flakes. Amount unknown, since I measure in the hollow of my hand.

Stir things around, get it to a boil for a few minutes, kill the heat and cover so nothing lands in it overnight, and go about your business.

Helps the salt permeate the shell and carry your spices in.

Next day, fire up the heat, toss in about another 1/2 cup salt, a few shakes of flakes for good luck, and let it ride for a few hours. I check around each hour or half hour, and make sure the water's topped up. Around the two hour mark, I'll fish a couple out and see how the flavoring and tenderness is coming along. I usually end up around 4-5 hours, but more time really doesn't hurt. You just gotta play around, and it seems pretty hard to screw up.

I'm about to do a batch for our annual 4th of July, "Float Down the River and Drink," so I'll pay better attention and report back.

Raw peanuts are also really easy to roast in the oven and are pure heaven.

I may be a Yankee, but I boil a mean peanut.

Great info, now I know what I did wrong! Thanks for contributing but dammit man, now I need to go pick up a bag of raw peanuts for the 4th. I think I might split the batch a few ways and try adding some Old Bay crab boil seasoning to one and Chachere's creole seasoning to the other for a little variety.

 

[SoulToast]

Just doin' my part to contribute to the delinquency...

Old Bay! Yeah, absolutely! I've tossed that in before, as well as Cavenders Greek Seasoning. Really good. This go round I'm going to toss in a head of garlic and see what happens.

I tend to just start screwing around in the spice cabinet; the blends do well in 1/4 cup increments. Or thereabouts, I play pretty fast and loose with it.

And I should probably clarify that I'm using kosher salt, so that may change volumes a little bit, but I'm usually doing a couple pounds in a pretty sizable kettle so my nuts have room to move around.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Old Bay! Yeah, absolutely! I've tossed that in before, as well as Cavenders Greek Seasoning. Really good. This go round I'm going to toss in a head of garlic and see what happens.

The cavender's sounds great, never heard of it but I just ordered a bottle from amazon. My neighbors are a big Greek family, they might dig Greek style boiled peanuts and I'll try it in burgers too, sounds awesome.

Other boiled peanut seasoning ideas:
-Falafel seasoning since it goes great with chickpeas which are not all that different from peanuts
-Szechuan peppercorns bring a lot of heat with a numbing effect allowing you tolerate even more heat, great for snacking
-Any BBQ dry rub
-?

 

[GrogNerd]

Why make your own? when you can...

Sorry. Forgot where i was

Carry on

 

[Miraculix]

Never ever heard of the term boiled peanut, but it sounds delicious! You don't boil them with the shell do you?

Technically they are legumes so it makes sense from this perspective as well.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Never ever heard of the term boiled peanut, but it sounds delicious! You don't boil them with the shell do you?

Technically they are legumes so it makes sense from this perspective as well.

Yes boil them in shell, they get soft but hold together and keep the peanuts (now more like slightly chewy beans) from getting mushy. I'm really interested in roasting some myself, never occurred to me to try that. THERE GOES ANOTHER WEEKEND!

 

[Schlenkerla]

Ok I pulled the trigger. Bought a pound of raw peanuts.

I'm using my instant pot (IP) but a crock pot could do the same thing I'm thinking.

I have 6 quart IP. It can do one pound easily.

Add all of this to the IP

1 - gallon water.
1/4 - cup of salt.
1/4 - cup of sugar.
1 - tablespoon garlic powder.
1 - tablespoon of chili powder.
1 - tablespoon of red pepper flakes.
1 - pound of raw peanuts.

I'm setting it to slow cook, on high (208F), for 3 hours. After three hours I'll check the water level. I'm thinking after that I'm gonna keep it on warm for 8 hours or until the moment of weakness sets in....

The lid is on and the vent is open

.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Picture of the settings. 11 minutes into it...

 

[Jayjay1976]

I know you're using the insta-pot in slow cooker mode, but I can't help wondering whether using a pressure cooker might speed up the process of reaching the perfect slow-simmered consistency without the boiled-to-death flavor.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I know you're using the insta-pot in slow cooker mode, but I can't help wondering whether using a pressure cooker might speed up the process of reaching the perfect slow-simmered consistency without the boiled-to-death flavor.

I thought of that. I bought two pounds. The next bag of peanuts will be pressure cooked. I wonder if the nut shells will pop under pressure.

From what I read, the longer they boil the better they are supposed to be tastewise. I don't know if that's true though.

 

[Miraculix]

Picture of the settings. 11 minutes into it...View attachment 577780

You sir, basically just forced me to buy a slow cooker

.... Always wanted to get one anyway....

 

[Schlenkerla]

You sir, basically just forced me to buy a slow cooker

.... Always wanted to get one anyway....

Get an instant pot "Ultra" they are more pricey but you can set it to any temp, with or without pressure, for 99 hours. It's essentially Sous Vide capable.

I made a chicken mole the day before yesterday. It only took 8 minutes under pressure.

I really wanted it for making crystal malt though. It can easily mash 5lbs of pale malt barley for eight hours. Using 95% of its weight with distilled water. Then dump it in on baking pan to dry it and then start the maillard reaction. One day drying at 170F. (10L at this point) Then baking it at 250F for an hour will turn it into 30L. Crystal malts are hard to come by here at times. The LHBS doesn't stock enough. They're always out of what I need. Being able to make it easily will come in handy.

 

[imasickboy]

so my nuts have room to move around.

*gigglesnort*

 

[Schlenkerla]

@Jayjay1976

Found this website, so pressure cooking is quite viable.

http://www.boiled-peanut-world.com/boiled-peanuts-recipe.html

An excerpt from this website looks like anything goes. Main take away is the water to salt ratio. Then everything else is to each his own.

"Regional boiled peanut recipes add chili peppers, jalapenos, old bay seasoning, shrimp boil seasoning, sugar, jaggery, star anise, turmeric, Chinese 5 spice, cilantro, onion, garlic, Szechuan peppercorn, chicken stock, liquid smoke, etc."

Hmm liquid smoke.... [emoji14]

[emoji481] [emoji481] [emoji481]

 

[Jayjay1976]

@Jayjay1976

Found this website, so pressure cooking is quite viable.

http://www.boiled-peanut-world.com/boiled-peanuts-recipe.html

An excerpt from this website looks like anything goes. Main take away is the water to salt ratio. Then everything else is to each his own.

"Regional boiled peanut recipes add chili peppers, jalapenos, old bay seasoning, shrimp boil seasoning, sugar, jaggery, star anise, turmeric, Chinese 5 spice, cilantro, onion, garlic, Szechuan peppercorn, chicken stock, liquid smoke, etc."

Hmm liquid smoke.... [emoji14]

[emoji481] [emoji481] [emoji481]

Hey thanks!!

I've been on the fence about buying an insta pot, the ability to produce my own crystal malts has pushed me over the edge.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Hey thanks!!

I've been on the fence about buying an insta pot, the ability to produce my own crystal malts has pushed me over the edge.

YW!

Make sure you get the Ultra though. This one has the complete temperature range flexibility you need to do this.

Chicagoland Kohls has them... My wife had a 30% off coupon, plus another 10% for using the Kohls card to make a steal of a deal.

I have a book on making your own malts. If you have questions pm me.

You can make nearly every specialty malt from the info in this book. While I'm not malting you can make a lot of specialty malts from regular bulk pale malt.

This website is outstanding.

The book is like $11. It's well with it if you like doing this sort of thing.

https://brewingbeerthehardway.wordpress.com/category/caramel-malts/

 

[Schlenkerla]

My boiled peanuts are pretty good. I think I prefer them dried after they're boiled.

I did them for two days at 170F. They taste pretty damned good now.

I like the spiced flavor and the crispy dryness they have now having been in the oven to dry out. They are more crunchy like corn nuts than regular peanuts.

Even the shell tastes good.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I know you're using the insta-pot in slow cooker mode, but I can't help wondering whether using a pressure cooker might speed up the process of reaching the perfect slow-simmered consistency without the boiled-to-death flavor.

Doing this now....

....it smells great!

Added the following: Water, salt, black pepper, chili powder, dried onion, red pepper flakes, garlic power and, cayenne pepper.

Pressure cooked on the high pressure setting for one hour. Point of reference, dried beans get hydrated and soft in 20-25 minutes.

 

[Inkleg]

I played around with the Instant Pot last year with good results. I only was able to a find few pounds before the season ended for raw green peanuts (August-November and found in the produce section of Krogers and Publix).
There are two kinds of raw peanuts. Raw green at 30-50% moisture and raw dried at 10%. Raw dried will take longer to boil or pressure cook.

Last year I didn't weigh the peanuts down and had mixed results with texture out of the same batch. Last weekend I used a vegetable steamer basket and pyrex lid to keep the peanuts submerged. The texture was consistent with all the nuts, but at 45 minutes they came out softer than I like so the batch this morning I'm going with 30 minutes.

I have 1 pound in the Instant Pot now with
10 cups water
1/3 cup Kosher salt
1 Tbsp Old Bay
1 tsp Chili powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flake

 

[Inkleg]

 

[Schlenkerla]

I played around with the Instant Pot last year with good results. I only was able to a find few pounds before the season ended for raw green peanuts (August-November and found in the produce section of Krogers and Publix).
There are two kinds of raw peanuts. Raw green at 30-50% moisture and raw dried at 10%. Raw dried will take longer to boil or pressure cook.

Last year I didn't weigh the peanuts down and had mixed results with texture out of the same batch. Last weekend I used a vegetable steamer basket and pyrex lid to keep the peanuts submerged. The texture was consistent with all the nuts, but at 45 minutes they came out softer than I like so the batch this morning I'm going with 30 minutes.

I have 1 pound in the Instant Pot now with
10 cups water
1/3 cup Kosher salt
1 Tbsp Old Bay
1 tsp Chili powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flake

I dry them in the oven for a day or so at 170F. They taste much better to me dry and crunchy.

 

[catdaddy66]

This is from my colleague but I will edit it to be a bit more specific...

Basically just put in about 2 tbsps of Slap Yo Mama or or Old Bay, .25 cup of kosher salt, a tbsp onion powder & garlic powder... throw in a couple of chopped up peppers... after a couple hours, when the water starts to boil off, replace it with beer. Walla!!!!

Start with about 3# peanuts and boil 2-3 hours before taste testing.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Last week I made two lbs of peanuts with salt, cayenne pepper, and taco seasoning.

Tastes amazing.