After tasting a new brand of packaged almonds I had just bought
I noticed it had a pretty bland flavor and a cardboardy
texture. Toasting them helped a bit (as it always does)
but it was still an inferior almond experienced.

Then I noted the package said "steam pasteurized".
No wonder the texture was permanently destroyed.
They were steamed and so was I. Those things are not
cheap.

I need to make sure I don't fall for this one again.

--
Mort

On Jun 19, 11:40*am, Sqwertz > wrote:
> On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:57:43 -0700, Mort wrote:
> > After tasting a new brand of packaged almonds I had just bought
> > I noticed it had a pretty bland flavor and a cardboardy
> > texture. Toasting them helped a bit (as it always does)
> > but it was still an inferior almond experienced.
>
> > Then I noted the package said "steam pasteurized".
> > No wonder the texture was permanently destroyed.
> > They were steamed and so was I. Those things are not
> > cheap.
>
> > I need to make sure I don't fall for this one again.
>
> Never heard of pasteurizing nuts. *Sounds like they collected them
> off the ground and needed to sterilize them. *Are they Odwalla
> brand? ;-)
>
> -sw

Google pasteurized nuts and you'll see there's a lot of info about it.
And not good.

"Sqwertz" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...

>>> Never heard of pasteurizing nuts. Sounds like they collected them
>>> off the ground and needed to sterilize them. Are they Odwalla
>>> brand? ;-)

>> Google pasteurized nuts and you'll see there's a lot of info about it.
>> And not good.

> It sure hasn't gotten much publicity. It's all news to me. I
> never buy plain almonds except the Marconas and the "smoked"
> varieties, and they're always roasted.

Roasting is a vey good way to increase the goodness of a good product, but
at the same time it's a very good way to hide a product's defects.
It's just like cream, many dishes get adjusted (or better, covered) with
cream to hide that dish's issues.
--
ViLco
and the Family Stone

Sqwertz wrote:

> On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:57:43 -0700, Mort wrote:
>
>> After tasting a new brand of packaged almonds I had just bought
>> I noticed it had a pretty bland flavor and a cardboardy
>> texture. Toasting them helped a bit (as it always does)
>> but it was still an inferior almond experienced.
>>
>> Then I noted the package said "steam pasteurized".
>> No wonder the texture was permanently destroyed.
>> They were steamed and so was I. Those things are not
>> cheap.
>>
>> I need to make sure I don't fall for this one again.
>
> Never heard of pasteurizing nuts. Sounds like they collected them
> off the ground and needed to sterilize them. Are they Odwalla
> brand? ;-)
>


That's another thing. WTF are pasteurizing and nuts doing
in the same sentence? Yet more food safety paranoia?

I toast/roast almost all the nuts I use anyway. I don't
need help with that.

--
Mort

Sqwertz wrote:
>
> On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:57:43 -0700, Mort wrote:
>
> > Then I noted the package said "steam pasteurized".
> > No wonder the texture was permanently destroyed.
> > They were steamed and so was I. Those things are not
> > cheap.
> >
> > I need to make sure I don't fall for this one again.
>
> Never heard of pasteurizing nuts. Sounds like they collected them
> off the ground and needed to sterilize them. Are they Odwalla
> brand? ;-)

Trader Joe's had a big recall of raw almonds a couple
years ago. When almonds returned to the shelf, they
were labelled as "almost raw" because they'd been
blanched to kill bacteria. Recently, I noticed that
the label says "raw" with no qualification. I wonder
whether that means they've reverted to truly raw almonds.

I know there was some protest to TJ's by raw foodists,
to whom any blanching or steaming is anathema.

On Jun 19, 3:05*pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> Sqwertz wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:57:43 -0700, Mort wrote:
>
> > > Then I noted the package said "steam pasteurized".
> > > No wonder the texture was permanently destroyed.
> > > They were steamed and so was I. Those things are not
> > > cheap.
>
> > > I need to make sure I don't fall for this one again.
>
> > Never heard of pasteurizing nuts. *Sounds like they collected them
> > off the ground and needed to sterilize them. *Are they Odwalla
> > brand? ;-)
>
> Trader Joe's had a big recall of raw almonds a couple
> years ago. *When almonds returned to the shelf, they
> were labelled as "almost raw" because they'd been
> blanched to kill bacteria. *Recently, I noticed that
> the label says "raw" with no qualification. *I wonder
> whether that means they've reverted to truly raw almonds.
>
> I know there was some protest to TJ's by raw foodists,
> to whom any blanching or steaming is anathema.

They do the same thing to "raw" pistachios. To my knowledge, you
can't buy truly raw ones.

--Bryan

Food Snob® wrote:
>
> On Jun 19, 3:05 pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> > Sqwertz wrote:
> >
> > > On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:57:43 -0700, Mort wrote:
> >
> > > > Then I noted the package said "steam pasteurized".
> > > > No wonder the texture was permanently destroyed.
> > > > They were steamed and so was I. Those things are not
> > > > cheap.
> >
> > > > I need to make sure I don't fall for this one again.
> >
> > > Never heard of pasteurizing nuts. Sounds like they collected them
> > > off the ground and needed to sterilize them. Are they Odwalla
> > > brand? ;-)
> >
> > Trader Joe's had a big recall of raw almonds a couple
> > years ago. When almonds returned to the shelf, they
> > were labelled as "almost raw" because they'd been
> > blanched to kill bacteria. Recently, I noticed that
> > the label says "raw" with no qualification. I wonder
> > whether that means they've reverted to truly raw almonds.
> >
> > I know there was some protest to TJ's by raw foodists,
> > to whom any blanching or steaming is anathema.
>
> They do the same thing to "raw" pistachios. To my knowledge, you
> can't buy truly raw ones.

Perhaps you're thinking of cashews.

http://www.wisegeek.com/are-raw-cash...-poisonous.htm

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/rawcashew.html