the great chestnut debate: open fire, oven, boil...

Paul

Paul

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So every year I go through this. I am a chestnut FIEND. This morning I had them for breakfast and lunch and now making more. It is going to go on like this for as long as I can find them in stock at local sources...

And to clarify the breakfast thing, I brought my wife some last night after she'd gone to bed and there were leftovers in the morning - breakfast for me... (Whether or not I planned it that way is up for interpretation)

Last year I went wild and tried boiling. I was shocked really that it was a good option. So I experimented and ended up boiling then roasting in the oven. I do have an appropriate pan for fire roasting but I have not had a lot of success.

So this year further experimenting I started my first batch in oven at 425 for about 15-20 minutes. Second batch I veered over to the wild side again and did something unprecedented. Instead of an X - I did a single slash around the chestnut about 3/4 around - basically all except the flat side. I was inspired by Martha Stewart here and again I believe this is now my preferred method. After years of X-ing. I'm now a single slash guy... AND instead of 425 I went 350 for 35 minutes!

Batch 3 - I'm now boiling a single slash and will try finishing them at 350 for say 10 minutes...

 
Well wasn't this interesting. (Now that I no longer have fireplaces). Do you find that they burn in

the fire? Would this be your preference if they did not burn?

And once you boil them, what plans do you have for them besides eating out of hand? When you boil them, how do you slash them, if you do?

I just passed some in the supermarket but had never considered cooking them another way so maybe I should be more open-minded.

 
We cook them in a fish basket on the grill.

I have done them in the oven, but it's not as good. I have always meant to try boiling them, but my husband is a firm believer in the grill.

 
hit or miss for me in the fire or on the stove flame

but nice when you get them right that way. When I boil, I cut them before boiling.

 
I was resistant to the boiling too but once I tried it I converted

but I do like to "finish" them in the oven. I guess my next attempt will be Boil>Flame

 
the photo doesn't do them justice. beautiful, deep red brown

the water I boiled them in I was trying to think what to do with it. Maybe a natural wood stain...

 
if you mean by prep - no if you mean for recipes yes I use them for a lot of things

hopefully there will be some left for Thanksgiving stuffing but I've added them to soups, salad even Chili

 
This is amazing information!

I had nearly stopped using chestnuts because I hate to peel them. If one doesn't peel while hot, the shell reglues itself and it is near impossible, and if you peel hot, one burns one's fingers.

Your method appears to have solved that major hurdle by making the peel easy to knock off while they're still hot. Will definitely need to try this!

 
one method is to put them in a towel right after you take them out of the oven and

then crunch them up a bit. this will loosen the shell even further. If you peel right after boiling it tends to be a simple process.

The same batch that I did last night peeled perfectly last night directly from the oven but also hours later. But like you said, today the membranes were re-glued to the nut on some and they were harder to peel.

 
I did another batch yesterday this time doing the following

1 cut; boil 12 minutes; bake 425 for 10 minutes.

The results were not as good as previous efforts where I finished at 350. They were not dried out or overly hard but actually the peeling was more difficult. So I will go back to 350 finish but maybe play around with the boiling and bake time until I'm satisfied that I've reached the optimal method.

I'm also going to get out my chestnut pan and try Boil>Flame.

 
new experiment: steam

today split a batch with about 1/4 going into steam. I wasn't sure how to effectively translate boiling time to steam time so I winged it at 20 minutes. The rest I boiled for 12 minutes. Results:

(steam sample) Steam 20 minutes then 12 minutes in a preheated oven @ 350. Pretty much perfect. Arguably my best batch.

(boil sample) Boil 12 minutes then 10 minutes in preheated oven @ 350. Undercooked so put back in for another 10 minutes, still slightly undercooked.

Another note is that I wondered how the chestnuts would open up in steam vs boil and this was NOT an issue at all in fact, in contrast the steamed seemed to peel easier both when hot and when they have cooled a bit. Based upon past results in boiling I will give it 15 minutes boil time. The difference between 12 and 15 minutes seems significant in the boil YMMV.

Conclusion: Steam a very good option. I think perhaps the chestnuts were more tender as well. I had one (only one) that was mushy even but this could have been just a bad sample.

 
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