Nuts and Nut Information

Nut Definition: An edible nut is the seed from the center of a woody shell. Nutritional Information

Nuts are one of the best natural snacks mother nature provides. Man has exerted much effort to duplicate the nut but so far has failed to come close to matching the crispy crunch and delicious taste of nuts.

Nut Research: Recent studies have shown that people who ate nuts once a week had 25% less heart disease than people who avoided nuts completely. And because nuts are included in the Meats, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans and Nuts Food Group, you can enjoy them every day while enhancing your good health.

Nut blanching: Cover the nuts with boiling water for one minute. Then squeeze off the nut skins leaving a shiny white surface. Sometimes nuts are mechanically dry blanched which leaves a non shiny surface.

Raw Nuts: We have many nuts in the natural raw shelled form. Pine nuts, english walnuts and pecans are typically eaten this way. 

Nut Roasting: Single Layer Nuts and Dry roast in oven until light brown. (Around 25 minutes at 350F). Multiple layers need stirred occasionally. Salt to taste. To get more salt to stick lightly coat or spray with a light oil (sunflower or your preference) while hot.

Nut processing: Most generally nuts are shelled in plants with specially built machines. Nuts that are typically dry roasted are seasoned peanuts and macadamias.

Roasted and Salted Nuts: Most nuts are oil roasted and salted before eaten. We have a large selection of roasted and salted nuts as well as roasted no salt for people on low salt diets.

Future for Nuts: With modern farming of certain nut trees the plantings of nut trees has been increasing rapidly throughout the world. Almonds, English walnuts, macadamia and pistachio nuts all have major increases in plantings which should result in lower prices in the coming years.

  Order Nuts (60 kinds)

Where Nuts are grown.

Almonds come from California although they are also grown in Spain.

Brazil nuts grow in the wild and are harvested in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.

Cashew nuts grow in Brazil, Africa and Vietnam. They are referred to as Indian when they are shelled in India.

Filberts are imported from Turkey. Oregon filberts are more commonly called hazelnuts.

Macadamias come primarily from Hawaii, Australia, South Africa, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Pecans from the southeastern US are mainly wild nut trees or non commercial nut tree plantings know as seedlings. The western states and Mexico now have pecan nut tree farms which produce larger nuts known as paper shell pecans due to their thinner easily breakable shells.

Pine nuts are of two similar varieties. One variety grows in China. The other is slightly longer and thinner and grows in the Spain, Portugal, Turkey or Pakistan areas. Pine nut trees have pine cones and one nut is found under each leaf of the pine cone. All pine nuts will have a seed under each leaf but only certain varieties of pine trees produce cones with pine nuts.

Pistachios are grown in California and the middle east Iran/Turkey. The California nuts are larger and milder in taste.

English Walnuts are grown in California. China produces large quantities not often imported to the US due to their astringent taste. California Walnuts are considered higher quality, and have a milder taste.

Eastern Black Walnuts grow in the wild in many states east of the Rocky Mountains. Black Walnuts are also commercially grown in California. We carry only the Eastern Black Walnuts as they have much more flavor than the California grown.