How to Choose and Store the Best Hazelnuts?

Hazelnuts are delicious, acorn-shaped nuts with a long, fuzzy outer husk that opens as the nut ripen, exhibiting a hard, glossy shell. Depending on the variety of the Hazel tree, the nut is sometimes called a filbert.

The hazelnuts are believed to have originated in Asia and the Middle East. They are one of the oldest agricultural food products, presenting a high-quality protein and nutrition to humans for thousands of years.

Ancient Chinese documents dating back 5,000 years refer to the hazelnut as a sacred food presented directly to us from heaven. Meanwhile, the ancient Greeks and Romans appreciated hazelnuts for their medicinal properties.

In this article, we are going to tell you how to blanch these delicious nuts. You can find out more about hazelnuts in our other articles on the difference between macadamia and hazelnut, hazelnut allergy symptoms and treatments.

What Are different types of Hazelnuts, which one is better?

Hazelnuts are available in the shell or shelled. You can also buy them raw, roasted, chopped, or ground. Three main groups are belonging to different subspecies according to their shape, volume, and shell hardness:

• (Corylus avellane racemose Lam): These hazelnuts are grouped in clusters; they are round and huge and often netted.
• Corylus avellane glandules’ Lin: These hazelnuts have acorn shapes, variable sizes, with a cone shape of the narrower base and acuminate apex — not very hard shell.
• Corylus avellane Maxima Lam: They have aspheric or round shapes, large or medium fruits, and hard shells.

All of them are perfect and depends on your application to choose from. But if you want to choose the best hazelnuts while shopping, you can adopt these methods:

How to Choose and Buy Perfect Hazelnuts?

If you are buying hazelnuts in the shell, look for shells that look full and feel heavy. Old nuts will begin to dry in the shell, which makes them lighter. If you are buying shelled nuts, search for the ones with tight skins and nuts that are full and plump. Shop at a store with a brisk turnover to get the best and most fresh nuts possible.

There shouldn’t be any sign of mold growth anywhere on them, which is not very common and can only occur if the nuts are kept in a humid environment and are rotten.

check their color, and don’t pick the ones that are discolored or faded, because, when nuts and other fruits start to dry, their color will be slowly faded.

How to Store hazelnuts?

Fresh hazelnuts are perishable and delicate. Shelled hazelnuts, mainly, should be consumed as soon as possible and kept at room temperature, away from heat and humidity. Shelled hazelnuts can be held in the refrigerator or freezer for up to five months. Unshelled hazelnuts may be kept in a dry, cool place for more than a month.

You can also store shelled hazelnuts in an airtight container or bag in the freezer, where they will stay fresh and tasty for one year or more. If you place hazelnuts in an airtight container, you can also keep them in a refrigerator between 32 and 35 degrees F, where they will stay fresh for six to eight months.

That’s it guys

Hope you enjoyed this article.