Almond Advice

[SproutMonster]

I am trying a recipe in my new dehydrator which calls for me to soak the almonds, then dehydrate them and grind, only to put them in a recipe which will go back in the dehydrator. Is this right? Why soak them if they are already dry? Also, how long do they take to dehydrate? Thanks for any help out there....

[michigan roman]

ive never paid attention to it because by instinct i judged the idea wrong , but theres an opinion that nuts produce something termed a sprout inhibitor
on their coating thats less than optimal to consume . thusly the pre soak to remove , for me im not going to play around with a great natural food straight from the earth so eat as is .

but you could use search icon upper right on this page to search ' soaking nuts ' and read more on it .

[GlimR]

Hello~
You soak them to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors..to make them a live food and easier to digest. They change quite a bit after being soaked and dehydrated..they become crisp, almost like a roasted almond, lighter, crunchier...I don't remember how long mine took to dry...I usually leave them overnight...next day they are ready....good luck~:)

[Revvell]

As said, soaking releases enzyme inhibitors which makes them easier on the digestive system. Drying them makes them easier to grind up. How long to dry? I dunno, as long as it takes depending on the temp you're using, the humidity in your home, etc. I'd say less than an hour. Doesn't the recipe say?

Revvell (http://www.Revvellations.com/shopping)

[SproutMonster]

Great! Thank all of you for the info. I like drawing on the wisdom and experience from several different people. This makes learning about raw food and preparation way more fun. I'm glad I found this site.
The recipe doesn't say how long to dehydrate the almonds but I will watch them closely. Sounds like it is not an exact science. Thanks again all.:)

[walnutty]

I dehydrate mine in an Excalibur set at 105 degrees and it takes about 36 hours for them to get crunchy. Good luck!

[raweater]

I wondered the same thing when I first went raw. They are soaked because nuts have enzyme inhibitors that prevents them from sprouting until the conditions are right, that's why you don't have a bunch of almond trees growing in a bag of almonds. When you soak them the seed senses the conditions are now right to sprout and this releases the enzyme inhibitors and brings the nut (seed) to life.

I personally don't soak my nuts.

By the way almonds from USA are now almost all pasteurized with a known cancer causing chemical (the organic ones are pasteurized with steam I think). I'd recommend trying to find almonds from Italy or Spain, they cost much more but taste incredibly better than americain ones. I mostly use walnuts now since they are cheaper and not pasteurized. I don't like walnuts as is but in recipes they don't taste much or at all.