Chestnuts-How to Identify, Peel, and Cook Easily

Identification of chestnuts will be shown. How to peel them a couple different ways, one being much easier than the other. How to find bad nuts and how to cook the good ones.

[ekh]

Excellent video!!! We used in in our homeschool today as a wonderful learning tool. Thank you!

[make]

Thank you for showing us just how easy it is to expel those little gems out  of their shell, I'm most grateful.

[ninaschwartz]

Thank you, Tony.  I just discovered a chestnut tree on my property, but I didn't know what to do with them.  You did a great job showing everything I needed to know.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

[camom]

I love that you showed several methods so we can see the difference. I am so glad that you revealed just how similar the buckeye looks in comparison...something I will be able to determine from your amazing video. Thanks!!

[WindwalkerZ]

I love chestnut but hate having to cut the X's in the shell, not knowing whether the nut is good until you open them and struggling to remove the stubborn skin from the good ones before you can eat them. Tried your method last night and it worked like a charm! Now I can totally enjoy roasted chestnuts this season with none of the hassle. Thank you Brother!

[RobinWilson]

Great method thanks! I have 22 Chinese Chestnut trees planted in 1975. This is a good year for chestnuts in West Virginia. I found that if I take the boiled nuts and put them in cold water for a short time so they can be handled that more of the nuts pop out of their skin on their own. I also like the idea of boiling them after they are pealed rather than bake them because it is easy to over bake them and they become hard.

[velvetanderson]

Thank you for taking the time to go through all of this and explaining processes for us! Definately subscribing! I bought chestnuts a while ago and they have all gone bad...day before Thanksgiving, was going to make stuffing with them in it.
Off topic: my father stacked wood in such a way that it would dispense if he took from a random mid section, instead of leaving a hole that caused the upper part to fall over. If you know the secret to this art, I'd be forever grateful for this knowledge. Thank you

[categirskisgirsk]

Thank you for identifying buckeyes. I was out walking and found many beautiful nuts on the ground that I thought was a chestnut.

[jamesellsworth]

I wish I had seen this explanation years ago: peeling 'x' cut shells was t-i-m-e consuming and difficult. Your plier pop-out method on boiled, halved shells is great! Thanks.

[gowiththeflo]

very educational video. thanks for the info. i just roasted some BEFORE viewing your video and some came out too dry and hard to eat. I'm going to boil the ones in which the inner skin stubbornly didn't want to come off. hopefully it'll work. I'll know better next time and remember your advice. happy holidays.

[livesimplifiedlife]

Thank you for sharing, that popping technique seems like a time saver. :)

[deemee]

What temperature did you roast them for ... top or bottom shelf in the oven ? Looks good never had one.

[steveontiveros]

Thank you for posting this videos, I just subscribed . Around Christmas time the stores usually carries these, I never knew how cook or use these . I bit into one raw and and couldn't understand why people ate these things lol . That was 15 years ago, now I can't wait to try these again ! Thank you again ! Are you still making videos ?, I noticed you haven't made one for a while .

[charleneledger]

Hi all .Just wanted to say that in the uk we identify the chestnuts as the Sweet Chestnut, the EDIBLE variety which grows within a hairy hedgehog type husk, which has spear shaped leaves of around 6 to 8 inches when mature and a serrated edge .
The other being the Horse Chestnut AKA (CONKER) which is generally seen as NOT EDIBLE, this grows within a smoother husk with much fewer rose like thorns .
Although not edible the Horse Chestnut itself has been used through history as a soap substitute either by mashing the kernal and forming back into a bar of soap, alternatively the fruiting shoots containg many small white to pinkish flowers can be rubbed over the skin to create cleansing lather . has more tear drop shaped leaf.

[ginos]

That was awesome! Thanks. The whole time I was watching that I was eating chestnuts. Definitely gona try the boil for a minute method text time.

[Deathpool]

There are also horse chestnuts often found in Europe (I've seen them in Italy and the Netherlands) that have a spiny shell like the edible ones, but is not edible like the buckeye. Another good way to tell is if it has a point on the end it should be edible (always good to be able to identify the tree before eating any nuts); both the buckeye and the horse chestnut have rounder, smoother bottoms.

Edit: Great video btw...I have always boiled them but am going to try roasting them in cast iron on the stove top tonight. I like how you cut them in half, never done that but looks super easy.

[stopit]

They look so good. I really want to try your chestnuts!

[LaneyandherGermanShepherds]

Can i leave them in the thronie shell ? I am going to go get my neighbors tree. I was going to go grab some and someone cleaned them all up .
Their are lots .I was wondering if i can throw them in a box till i have time to clean them

[Potatohamcasserole]

I did the cut and x, but I think just cutting them in half like he did would have saved me a lot of time and it looks way safer. They are simmering now :)

[nj]

Some good info. The American chestnuts are susceptible to the chestnut blight and are a rare tree to find, it's more common to find the Chinese chestnut growing and they are a rounded tree in growth. The American chestnut tree grew tall and straight. The bug is the chestnut weevil grub. All chestnut tree varieties will get the grub. It leaves a small hole when it exits the nut.