Boiled Peanuts

[JohnVee]

Anybody do these? Should be simple, right? I've got two batches going right now:
1 - Brined overnight, Old Bay, stovetop in stockpot.
2 - Old Bay, Crockpot.

I used the same amounts of raw peanuts, water, salt and Old Bay in each method. I guess I should have started with no seasoning but I feel good about it, especially since I realized I need to use raw, not roasted nuts! They should be ready by the time I get my gas tank and exhaust reinstalled in the 40...I mean between lunch and dinner.

--john

 

[FLATU8ER]

That's good schmit Maynerd. Grew up on these as a kid in Fla. I guess you can actually buy these in a can kinda like soup.
I would always start by boiling the Pnuts in salt water, a good rolling boil for a while, then let them set over night in all their salty goodness. Then consume w/your favorite adult beverage.
Reporting on this is Mandatory,
-Jim

 

[JohnVee]

The brined peanuts turned out slightly saltier - not enough that I'd feel compelled to do it every time. Maybe this would be different with a higher concentration of salt. The stovetop method took 4 hours to achieve the texture I wanted and the Crockpot method took 6. Both could easily have gone longer; I had more nuts that were on the firm side than I did on the mushy side but most were what I wanted this time.

I had people telling me wildly different amounts of salt so I started low and used 1tsp per 1.5 cup of water. I'll probably double+ it for the next batch.

Old Bay was 1tsp per 3 cups of water. It made the house smell great and was faintly noticeable in taste but I doubt anybody would recognize it. I might try adding an equal amount of Tony Cachere's Cajun next batch. I know that red pepper flakes are common to use but I'm not usually a fan. This would probably be a great way to use up some of the ass-blistering hot sauce that would otherwise go to waste here...

My take thus far is that it's easy to make them tender so any seasoning used will be where all the creative flair is. The only negative is that I had to get the raw peanuts at WalMart.

Maybe I'll add some ham hocks next time...

--john

 

[JohnVee]

Morning after update:
They're about perfectly salty after sitting in the fridge overnight in their juice!

--john

 

[rusty_tlc]

You can buy these canned, not as good as fresh but still pretty dammed good.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Virtually every grocery store in the south sells canned boiled peanuts. As was mentioned above, not a good as fresh boiled but still plenty good.