Five tips for peeling chestnuts from the oven without annoying skin
Created: 12/24/2022, 5:00 p.m
By: Ines Alms
Clouded joy - under the skin of roasted chestnuts there is still a skin that is often difficult to get off.
Water and salt solve the problem.
The chestnut sellers at the street stalls seem to have a secret: the chestnuts or sweet chestnuts can usually be peeled very easily, including the furry inner skin, and are plump and flawless.
If you buy them in the supermarket and roast them in the oven at home, you may end up with a wormy or dried-up specimen.
But there are a few preparation tricks that you can use to peel the chestnuts without tedious pulping.
Chestnuts from the oven: five tips on how to peel them without skin
Before roasting, the chestnuts must be cut lengthwise or crosswise.
© Westend61/Imago
Whether a chestnut is ultimately a pleasure also depends on the quality of the nuts: If you see damage to the shell, small holes, signs of eating or mold when you buy them, you should ignore the goods.
Chestnuts that bruise are usually older and their flesh may be moldy or spoiled.
Instead, the chestnut must be heavy, firm, and shiny.
“Class Extra” offers the best quality, followed by “Class I”.
The most important thing for the preparation in advance: Before cooking, you have to cut the skin.
If you fail to do this, the chestnuts can burst from the heat and literally explode.
This is not only unsightly for the kitchen, but also dangerous.
The right technique is important here.
You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter of our partner 24garten.de.
Water loosens the inner skin of the chestnuts
If you use one or more of the following methods, you stand a good chance of peeling the edible chestnuts with ease:
Make the right cuts: Using a sharp knife, score the chestnuts lengthwise along the entire curved side, cutting right down to the flesh but if possible not into it.
A crosswise incision is also possible.
Place the carved chestnuts in a bowl of room-temperature water and a teaspoon of salt and soak for one to two hours, advises the
CookBakery
YouTube channel .
Alternatively, pre-cook the chestnuts in boiling water for three minutes before roasting.
Place a small ovenproof bowl or cup with water on the tray with the chestnuts – the cut side faces up – and roast the chestnuts in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes.
Take the finished chestnuts out of the oven, cover them with a damp cloth for a few minutes and then peel them while they are still warm.
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Then nothing stands in the way of a hot chestnut soup.
Chestnuts should not be stored for long after purchase, but should be stored in a dark and cool place, as they do not keep for long.
As
Bayern 1
explains, you can do a little freshness test: If you put the chestnuts in a bowl of water, light, spoiled nuts will float to the surface of the water.
