Do you feel like you could never possibly soak and dehydrate your own nuts and seeds? Do you wonder why it is even important? I want to tell you two things:
- You can do it!
- It is important!
First, soaking and dehydrating your own nuts and seeds requires almost no effort. It does require time, but much less than you think. The time required is not you-working-hard time. It is just a tiny bit of time to get the nuts/seeds soaking, transfer them to the dehydrator, and then put them in a jar when they’re dried out.
Second, soaking nuts is important to do because as-is, nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors. God made them this way. Enzymes are unstable and therefore, He locked them up in the seed until such time as they are needed. The time they are needed is at germination and forward into the growth of the new plant. So that’s what you mimic in your kitchen through soaking – a germination. The water tells the seed it is time to soften up and get ready to grow, and voila! The enzyme inhibitors go away and the enzymes are now available for our use. (Though not a scientific explanation for this process, it is a summary of the effect of what happens.)
Dehydrating the nuts is optional. If you do it, your nuts will be raw and rich with enzymes – as long as the dehydrator is kept below 115 degrees F – and the nuts will be returned to the crispy state that so many recipes require. Not to mention that they taste and feel great when they’re crunchy.
According to Dr. Edward Howell in Enzyme Nutrition, germinated, raw nuts and seeds are an excellent source of digestive enzymes. Most people do not consume enough digestive enzymes. This means their bodies must produce these enzymes, but the human body cannot supply a limitless supply of any kind of enzymes. The more digestive enzymes we have to make, the less metabolic enzymes we can make. The metabolic enzymes run all the systems of our bodies. So you can see that if our bodies must manufacture digestive enzymes (which we could get from food) instead of metabolic enzymes, we would lack the necessary metabolic enzymes to keep our bodies functioning well. Dr. Howell claims that this is one of the reasons we tend toward modern diseases.
Read more about this in Dr. Howell’s book; and in these posts: here, here, and here. Also see Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morell.
How to Soak and Dehydrate Nuts and Seeds
- Put 4 cups of any raw, organic nut or seed in a half gallon mason jar. Add 1 tablespoon of sea salt. Fill with water to the top of the jar. Swirl the water around to dissolve the salt. (The salt is for taste and has no effect on whether the enzymes become available or not.)
- Let the nuts/seeds sit in the jar sit overnight, or for at least 7 hours.
- Drain the nuts/seeds. Rinsing is optional. Using a sprout screen with metal band really makes this easy. Remove skins, if desired.
- Spread the nuts/seeds in a single layer on a dehydrator tray. (See Resources for sources of quality dehydrators.)
- Dry at 95 to 100 degrees F until crispy. Check by taste – are they crunchy and free of moisture? This usually takes about 24 hours, depending on dehydrator and other conditions, etc.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use the sun during sunny months. Set out a tray full of soaked nuts/seeds in sunlight. Keep it covered with a light cloth to keep out dust and bugs. Using an oven above 115 degrees F is a second-choice solution because it will kill the enzymes present in the nuts/seeds. (However, you will have nuts/seeds free of enzyme inhibitors due to the soaking and the cooking.)
Uses for Soaked and Dehydrated Nuts and Seeds
Anywhere you would use nuts, use these!
- Use them chopped in all recipes that call for nuts – but remember that if it is a cooked recipe, you’ll lose the enzyme benefit from the heat of cooking.
- Grind them into nut and seed butters.
- Snack on them – mix them with dried fruits for a trail mix.
- Add them into raw nut and fruit snacks, such as Amy’s raw date truffles or my homemade enzyme-rich Larabars.
- Eating raw, soaked and dehydrated nuts/seeds with a meal provides digestive enzymes to help the body digest that meal: sprinkle them chopped on a salad; sprinkle on your morning (soaked) porridge; or eat a couple of whole nuts alongside any meal.
I keep quart size jars full of various nuts and seeds ready to go in my pantry cupboard.
Is a Dehydrator Really Necessary?
Yes, and no. You can always soak your nuts and use them that way. Being able to dehydrate them returns them to the crispy state that is called for in most recipes. So, a dehydrator of some sort is essential if you want your nuts/seeds crispy while keeping the enzyme benefits of raw, germinated nuts. (But remember if you use the raw, germinated nuts in a cooked recipe, the enzymes will perish from the heat of cooking.) You can get around having a dehydrator if you live in a sunny area where you can dry nuts/seeds outdoors year round or can build a solar dehydrator.
Unfortunately, a quality dehydrator costs more than loose change. It isn’t as expensive as you might think, though, and a dehydrator is one of those kitchen tools with many, many healthy applications. So if you don’t have one now, put it on your wish list and pray about it. I’m happy to say that I’m getting an Excalibur dehydrator (perhaps today, via UPS) as my birthday and Christmas gift. I’ve been nursing an el-cheapo dehydrator for some years. It has gotten me by and I’m thankful for what it has done for us! But still, I’m looking forward to not having to worry about whether el-cheapo is going to die mid-cycle. 
What about you? How do you use raw nuts and seeds? If you haven’t already, are you willing to try soaking and dehydrating your nuts and seeds?
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, this week hosted by Cheeseslave.
I’m so happy you made this! Describing it, you’re...
I’ve been dying for a food dehydrator for some time! I’ve been wanting to sprout and of course for preserving God’s bounty from my garden!
Diana@Spain in Iowa´s last blog post… Week of Christmas Giveaway’s – Green Pasture’s Fermented Cod Liver Oil
My first attempts at soaking nuts a couple of years ago were a failure, so I gave it up – I didn’t have a dehydrator and the lowest setting on my oven was 200 degrees, so they ended up overdone. Yuck! I couldn’t understand why people said the ‘crispy nuts’ in NT were so good. Then a year later, I decided to try again. By that time, I had aquired my Excalibur (LOVE it!) and now it’s a totally different experience. So quick and easy!
The kids noticed that the nuts are tastier when soaked and dried – it takes away a bitter taste that nuts have (which I never noticed until eating them prepared properly).
I routinely soak all of our nuts – last week I did twelve cups of almonds, this week I did twelve cups of cashews (with nine kids, I have to prepare large amounts
). We use them to bake and cook with, as well as to snack on.
Btw, Wardeh, I bought my Excalibur on ebay – it was a reconditioned unit with a ten year warranty, shipping included, for $150. Reconditioned doesn’t mean it was used – it wasn’t. (I posted about it when I got it last October – http://oceansofjoy.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/my-newest-kitchen-appliance/) It doesn’t have the timer, but that’s worked out fine for us. Now I use this for so many things that I can’t imagine not having it!
Avivah @ Oceans of Joy´s last blog post… Mock Larabars (grain free)
Diana – I hope you get one! You need a dehydrator and I need a garden.
Then we’d both be set.
Avivah – That is a great deal! I did get a deal on mine, but not quite as good as yours. Mine was a brand-new customer return and it was discounted quite a bit (and included the warranty). You have 9 kids! I agree that the crispy nuts taste so much better than raw.
I regularly snack on raw nuts to help with my blood sugar, so this is a very interesting post. My oven *seems* to run at 100 degrees, although I’d like to confirm that’s really what it’s doing by getting an oven thermometer. It’s just warm to the touch though – seems like a good sign! I’ll have to try this out.
sara kay´s last blog post… Thankful
Sara Kay – That’s great that your oven may hold such a low temp. If only every oven did this – but then again, how could we bake if we were always using our ovens as dehydrators?
I love this very simple and effective explanation about the why behind the how. I think that is so important – educating others is really how to make a change.
Kitchen appliances – I just got a VitaMix and LOVE it. They had them at Costco for a significant discount so my husband put it in the cart.
The food dehydrator is on the list. Hopefully next. I’ve been talking about it forever so maybe I’ll get it for my upcoming b-day. I have to giggle at your el-cheapo. I understand how important having quality kitchen appliances is – even if it means you have to wait and save up. Needless to say, I can’t wait to dehydrate my own nuts and seeds.
Thanks for linking to my truffles, too.
Amy – How exciting to get a Vita-Mix! I got mine from a Costco demo, too.
Yum! Ever since I tried nuts soaked with sea salt and dehydrated, I’ve been hooked. They are so delicious. The taste alone makes me want to eat nuts this way, but thanks for reminding me of all the nutritional benefits too.
Right now I’m making chili lime flavored almonds in the dehydrator and soaking almonds for a maple sugar recipe that will also be dehydrated (we just got 50 lbs of raw organic almonds so we are going all out on almond recipes!). I also love making raw vanilla cream from cashews soaked in unsalted water and not dehydrated.
I’ve been very happy using a dehydrator I got for about $30, it’s lasted me for about 5 years and still going strong. I’m only limited a bit in presentation of what I make, not quality. Mine is donut shaped so I can’t do large pizza crusts or “meat”loafs. But it still tastes great in smaller portions. I think the most important thing is to find a dehydrator with a temp control that goes as low as you want, mine goes down to 90 degrees.
Faith – I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see some of your recipes!
This is a great post Wardeh! I haven’t been a very good soaker of nuts and seeds, we normally eat them raw, but it’s a good reminder of why I SHOULD start doing so! Maybe I can borrow my mom’s dehydrator . . .
Best,
Sarah
Sarah´s last blog post… Coconut Macaroons
I asked this before at Nourishing Gourmet but I wanted to know where everyone gets their nuts. Almonds are pastuerized unless you get them directly from the farm via mail. Even the almonds that say raw aren’t raw.
I thought I’d get nuts in their shell (they can’t be pastuerized in their shells, can they?) But then I thought after I got all the nuts from their shells I’d still have the skins on them. Do you all soak nuts with skins on them?
I’ve conquered a lot with the Nourishing Traditions but for the love of God, I cannot crack the nut thing.
[...] dates and nuts – are two of those foods. However, dry nuts are rich with enzymes only if soaked and then dehydrated at a low temperature, also called crispy nuts in Sally Fallon Morell’s Nourishing [...]
Would you mind listing the various nuts which soak and dehydrate well? On hand I have raw almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts and pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds? Will each of these do well? I know there are many other nuts though. Great post, Wardeh, and comments.
Mom (Martha) – In Nourishing Traditions, these are the nuts/seeds that have “recipes” for making them crispy (soaking/dehydrating): pumpkin seeds, pecans, peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, filberts (hazelnuts) and walnuts. Cashews are also mentioned, but they’re a special case. We can’t get raw cashews, so there’s no enzymes to save anyway. They shouldn’t be soaked longer than 6 hours or they’ll get slimy. Sally Fallon Morell recommends soaking them in salt water and then lightly toasting them.
And one other thing: storage. Almonds, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts and peanuts are pretty stable, and once soaked and dehydrated may be stored at room temp in an airtight container. Walnuts are more susceptible to rancidity and should be stored in the fridge or freezer.
Sara B – I haven’t make those raw flax crackers, but was just eyeing a recipe yesterday. I was wondering how to soak the flax seeds first because they get so gelatinous. I’d love to hear what you recipe asks you to do. With the Excalibur, the directions say to do crackers on the Paraflexx sheets (or parchment paper) and “flip” them halfway through the dehydrating. This is when the crackers peel off easily, not when they’re still sticking to the parchment paper/plastic sheet.
I now have my mom’s old style dehydrator, so I should give this a try! I would love to have an Excalibur, but a Vitamix is on my list first.
Speaking of dehydrators, has anyone had success with making those raw flax crackers in their older dehydrators? I have the solid piece that you insert for fruit leathers etc… Would I use that?
[...] 1 cup crispy walnuts (learn how to soak and dehydrate your nuts here) [...]
Does anyone know if the raw brazil nuts you get at the health food store can be sprouted and dehydrated? Love brazil nuts, they’re supposed to be one of the richest sources of selenium. Also once a nut has been shelled (we buy them shelled) how do they sprout since they’re not a whole nut anymore (thinking of pecans, walnuts in particular).
Cindy- It’s quite difficult to actually sprout any nut besides almonds from what I’ve heard. I have not tried it. But they can be soaked to activate germination. I love brazil nuts particularly in a nut milk drink and you are right, they are so nutritious.
They are one of the things I am very happy to buy non-local as they are one of the only Amazon crops which must be grown wild in the rainforest, thus you are helping to preserve the rainforest when you support brazil nut harvesters!
[...] soaked and dehydrated chopped nuts and seeds – start with raw nuts [...]
[...] 3 cups almond flour, almond meal or other finely ground nut meal (nuts are best soaked and dehydrated) 1 stick unsalted softened butter, OR 1/2 cup softened coconut butter 1 egg 1/3 [...]
[...] list) and soaked nuts. Soaking the grains neutralizes phytic acid, a mineral absorption blocker. Soaking the nuts starts the process of germination, de-activating enzyme inhibitors. A raw granola that does this [...]
[...] Ingredients: 1/2-2/3 cups butter, or coconut oil* 1/2 cup honey 1 cup crispy almond slices [...]
[...] An important aspect of all recipes that use ground up seeds and nuts is that they should be properly soaked and dehydrated, then ground up. You can read about why and how to do this here. [...]
i’m curious if anyone has tried using a convection oven for the drying?
thanks susan
Susan – that’s a great question. I hope someone will answer. I’m asking your question on facebook and twitter – hope we’ll get a response from someone who’s done this.
I’m wondering why the convection would make a big difference — I have the option for convection on my oven, but it still won’t set below 180º, and in my experience convection runs a little hotter than conventional settings (so the lowest temp on my oven probably runs closer to 200º).
It would be great to know if there were a way to make it work without killing enzymes, though — I’m still dehydrator-free!
I’ve been using my oven to dehydrate. It has both a convection setting and a regular setting. I usually use the regular setting because the convection fan is a bit noisy. The oven has a digital display that will accept any temp I put into it, but at this point I have no idea if it actually heats to that temp. If I set it to 110 though, it gets hot but not hot enough to burn my hand, so I suspect it’s working. I have done nuts and grains in it, seemingly successfully, but it probably really depends on the oven. Hope that helps…
[...] cup chopped (soaked and dehydrated) nuts (I used [...]
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[...] handful of soaked, raw almonds (why soak nuts?)* [...]