----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Kleisner"

> "Theola Walden Baker" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I've read that commercial nuts are put in dryers to hasten the drying
and
> > packaging process.  I don't know what temps they undergo or whether such
> > drying would be akin to light cooking, but surmise that this is what
Kirt
> > may have in mind when he says that truly raw nuts are hard to find.
>
> Do you have a book, article, or link to substantiate that
> most nuts are dried at high temperatures, Theola or Kirt?
> Give some examples, Kirt, based on research and empirical
> facts. What temperature do the nuts reach during drying?
> Note: I'm not asking the temperature of surrounding air.

Well, Bruce, I was going to suggest 1) that you re-read my message,
especially the part that says "I don't know what temps they undergo or
whether such drying would be akin to light cooking" and 2) that you do the
research yourself.  :-)

However, out of my own curiosity I called Commercial Dehydrator Systems
http://www.dryer.com/history.html
Toll Free: 1-800-369-4283
whose site says: "CDS provides Tunnel Dryers, Traying Lines and ancillary
support equipment, as well as Belt Dryers and Bin Dryers for Almonds,
Hazelnuts, Pistachios Walnuts, and Bark."

In a nutshell, here is what Rod Stone of the company told me.  Forced hot
air blows through the porous nutshells to dry the nutmeats inside.
Solid-shell nuts (ex. filberts/hazelnuts) start the drying process at 90
degrees.  Split-shell nuts (ex. walnuts) are begun at 100 degrees.  This
gives the nuts inside the shell some time to dry & shrink so the nutshell
outside doesn't dry out too fast and shrink faster than the nut inside
causing the nutshell to crack open.  Whew.  Then for all nuts the temp is
raised to 120 degrees max.  That's ambient air temp.  Above 120 degrees, the
oil cells within the nutmeats will burst, causing rancidity to develop.  The
nutmeats inside the shell heat to within about 5 degrees of the 120, so 115
degrees, Rod said.  Total drying time takes about 36 hours.

Theola