temperatures. Shell-less kernels are best
refrigerated. Because they contain very little
water and so don’t suffer from the formation
of damaging ice crystals, nuts can be frozen
for long keeping. Storage containers should be
truly air-and odor-tight — glass jars, for
example, rather than permeable plastic bags.
Nuts are at their best when they’re freshly
harvested, usually in late summer and fall
(early summer for almonds). Newly harvested
nuts are too moist to keep without being
vulnerable to molds, so producers dry them
with as little heat as possible, usually at 90–
100ºF/32–38ºC. When buying fresh nuts, look
for an opaque, off-white interior. Any
translucency or darkening is a sign that the
cells are damaged, oil has been released, and
rancidity is developing.
Cooking Nuts
Unlike most other seed foods, nuts are good