Soaking My Nuts

[The Mucusless Kidd]

Ok, your mind is in the gutter -- RELAX !! Thats not what I'm talking about - LOL

Really, I have a question about soaking nuts. Almonds, Cashews, etc.. them all.

Basically, I always eat or prepare with soaked nuts. I never use or eat a unsoaked nut. Problem is, is timing. For eating them, I obviously like to soak them for a day, then have them hit the dehydrator, then pop them in the fridge for storage and take out only the amounts I'm gonna eat a day ahead of time, etc..

For preparing with them, I use them right after they've been soaked. SO this is getting hard and tiresome to time properly and I hate having expensive nuts go bad, PLUS accidently having to soak them for days and days cause I can't get to prepare the meal yet, etc.. Or the other problem is predicting how much I want to soak and dehydrate now for "eating" and how much to just let sit until soaking time for "preparing dishes".

So I ask -- Can nuts be soaked, then dehydrated (as usual), BUT then be soaked again (for a dish that calls for it) ? And if so, does the soaking time change since they've been soaked before ?

Basically, it would be easier for me to soak ALL my nuts the moment I get them, then dehydrate all them nuts. Then put them in a airtight container and put them in the fridge for storage. I can eat the ones I want to eat when I want to eat, AND then resoak ones I want to use in a dish. This would help me alot for timing, usage predictions, etc..

BUT I don't want to do it this way if you are not suppose to soak nuts twice.

So does anyone know ?

Thanks in advance --

[DebB]

I double soak nuts all the time.

I have my "staple stash" ready to go - nuts and seeds that have been soaked, sprouted and dehydrated. But when a recipe specifically calls for a soaked nut - back into the water they go. If they say overnight of xx hours (even though it's previously been soaked), that's what I'll do.

I do not soak cashews, macadamias and Brazil nuts ahead of time because they do not have the enzyme inhibitors and not every recipe calls for them soaked.

I also soak & sprout & dehydrate sunflower seeds. Soak & dehydrate (cuz I've never gotten them to sprout) pumpkin seeds. *Ü*

[modernmonkey]

Can I ask a stupid question? Do 'declared' raw nuts still need soaking?

And yes, I only came here because of the funny thread title.

And Deb, are you saying cashews et al do not require soaking?

[DebB]

Can I ask a stupid question? Do 'declared' raw nuts still need soaking?

And yes, I only came here because of the funny thread title.

And Deb, are you saying cashews et al do not require soaking?

Yes, even truly raw nuts should be soaked to remove the enzyme inhibitors, making them easier for us to digest. Having said that - I've watched many raw food chefs who say they can't be bothered with the time, etc. involved with soaking nuts. So, it's really a personal decision.

Cashews do not have enzyme inhibitors so they do not need to be soaked for that reason. However, many recipes call for them being soaked so they will blend up more creamy. It simply makes them softer and easier to blend :)

[modernmonkey]

Thanks muchly. I feel more educated now!

[The Mucusless Kidd]

Thanks so much DebB for the informative posts !

Ok, COOL, this is exactly what I will do then, and it makes my life so much easier. I will soak all nuts I buy, then dehydrate them. And soak again if needed.

To answer you ModernMonkey (and DebB) on the soak which nuts, and why, etc.. Really DebB is right as far as the enzyme inhibitors, which is why you want to soak ALL brown skinned nuts (RAW or not, but only buy and consume only truly RAW nuts), as I was informed that it is the brown skin on nuts that contains the enzyme inhibitors. (but I could have been misinformed ??)

But, there is another reason for and level you can take it to give you a reason to soak ALL nuts and seeds no matter what, if they are going to be consumed. Pending on where you are in your journey, those who want to be properly alkalized, and eat only alkalizing foods (as a properly alkaline body literally can not harbor illness, disease, sickness, etc..) due to them things literally can not live in a proper PH environment (no not even things like cancer, etc..) being alkaline is important. And just so has it, most raw foods are alkaline, BUT not all !! So be careful. And 99.99999% of all cooked foods are not alkaline. But being knowledgeable in the issue with cooked foods basically slowly killing you, I chose to not consume those cooked foods that happen to be alkaline. Me personally, I combine these 3 rules for me as far as what I eat.

1- 100% truly raw, organic, made by and in nature, unprocessed, etc..

2- Alkaline or close to neutral

3- Contain very little or no starch (so overlooked by most)

Unfortunately all nuts (except acorns) are not alkaline (almonds being the closest to being completely "neutral"). And most contain starch. Being "Acid forming" (the opposite of Alkaline) and having starch causes mucus (obstructions) in the body, and that is what harbors illness, disease, sickness, etc... Soaking things (anything, not just nuts) raises their alkalinity by about one notch, AND lowers the effects that the starch has as far as causing mucus in the body. So in nuts cases it makes them less acid forming (still not quite alkaline). BUT for almonds, it literally bumps them up to neutral !!

Anyway, I could go on for days. Just pointing out there are more than one reason to soak ALL nuts and seeds and other things that you can besides for the reasons of digestion.

And for recipes that do not call for soaked nuts, I just use the soaked, then dehydrated ones, cause they are back to "normal" in the moisture containing levels, BUT are now more alkaline and less starchy and better for you in your dish. IMO of course, I am no scientist.

THANKS AGAIN DebB !! You made my day !!!

[mousebandit]

If we don't soak the nuts that have enzyme inhibitors, does that mean our bodies will need to pull from our supply of enzymes to digest them? Because right now, for me, I'm all about NOT using any more of my enzyme pool than necessary! That is great to know that we can soak and dehydrate and double-soak as well! THANKS!
Mouse Bandit

[DebB]

Very interesting TMK ~ I love the information we can share here! That's why this site is my homepage! *Ü*