Almond fuzz after soaking ?

[beautifulone7]

Hi everyone! I'm not raw yet, still "lurking" on this site ;) , but I've been trying to incorporate many of the healthful strategies I've learned into my diet. One is soaking nuts. I've been using almonds ("almost raw" from Trader Joe's) as a protein snack during the day and understand the importance of soaking them overnight for easier digestion, release of enzymes, etc.

Anyway, I soaked about 2 cups and packed some to take with me to work, leaving the rest in one of those Ziploc plastic container thingies. (not environmentally correct I know :o )

After a day or so, this white fuzz, almost spider webby type stuff grew over the nuts! They smelled odd..not nasty but odd.

Was this a bad thing, or is fuzz normal and could I have eaten the almonds? Would they have lasted longer if I'd put them in the refrigerator and/or in a non-plastic container? Finally, can I soak a large quantity of nuts and store them, or should I just do a little at a time? I think I'm eating about 1/2 cup per day. I'm also going to add cashews for variety.

Thanks!


(btw...I did a "search" for soaking nuts using the yellow banana but I didn't find the answer to my question. I don't mean to be repetitive)

[Revvell]

After soaking and rinsing thoroughly, dry thoroughly before saving. If you have a dehydrator, dry them for about an hour there. Sounds like mold to me and no, they shouldn't be eaten.

Ummm, now that I'm thinking on this, TJ's almonds have been heated high enough to kill any chance of salmonella which, in my mind, means they've also killed the enzymes sooo, no use in soaking. Anyone else have an idea on this?


Revvell

[sport]

Do not eat mouldy food. Soaking just enough is the perfect solution but either refridgerate or dehydrate leftovers.

[beautifulone7]

Thanks for your replies!

[rawpriestess]

When soaking nuts, you need to either dehydrate to crisp and then you can leave in a plastic bag or container, out of the fridge, if you like.

Or if not dehydrating, then you need to keep them emmersed in water in the fridge, and keep changing the water once a day, they will keep about a week or more.

[organic alaskan]

Revvell is right, TJ's "almost raw" almonds have been heated past the raw stage, so soaking them won't reap any benefits. Might as well enjoy the crunchiness. Still a healthier snack than roasted/salted almonds though.

For truly raw almonds, I would follow Revvell and Raw Priestess' advice...also change the soak water as frequently as possible to prevent unwanted cultures from cropping up.

[RawFoodieMom]

Some great info here. :) I'm brand new to raw foods and have been wondering some things about nuts too. My question is, how do I know if the nuts I'm buying are raw? The best health food store in my town, for almonds only has a bin that's listed as "natural almonds". Do you think that they're probably not raw? The only other alternative I've seen is to buy the small plastic ziploc baggie commercial kind from Sunridge Farms, but they are SO expensive and it's such a small quantity. But the package does state that the almonds are "raw". I wish they had bigger bags for sale. I bought their "organic, raw" sunflower seeds. Does anyone know if Sunridge Farms products are truly raw when they state they are? Is there any regulation that they can't be heated if they're going to claim they're raw?

Thanks. :) Debra