Time to throw a little bit of something different on the RecTeq. We’re gearing up for a some chicken wings, and I can’t let a decent weekend pass without at least firing up the smoker for something. MrsForensicBBQ and I were heading to the grocer and holy supply of nuts. I mean, sure. Thanksgiving/Christmas were coming up, but I don’t think I’ve ever really taken in the amount of nuts that would be supplied – and inevitably purchased. The pistachio gift giving has been a thing for as long as I can remember, but my goodness.
Oh, maybe I should try smoking some. So this is my latest edition of “Does it smoke?”. One was significantly better than the other, stay tuned to find out!
The Prep Table
I recall from my Smoked Cheez-It experiment quite some time ago – the mix of seasonings and a worcestershire binder worked pretty well. So we’re going to do that with these ones. We’ll toss the peanuts/cashews in a bowl with the worcestershire, some cajun seasoning and of course – my smoky roasted garlic. Let it smoke until it grabs color. Sounds like a plan!
The other experiment will be a honey-roasted. I’ll again, mix up a bowl of cashew/peanuts with some vanilla, maple syrup (habanero-enhanced, but not at all spicy), honey, and a bit of cinnamon. After the higher-temp cook, we’ll sprinkle some sugar on there and round out our day.
So as we mixed up our savory, we’re going to lay these out on a makeshift foil boat and let it go.
These will go at about 250F for.. oh, maybe an hour. We’ll see what the colors look like. I also re-heated a bowl of my Wild Boar Chili – and later on a roasted garlic bulb for MrsForensicBBQ while these were cooking. Love the space and versatility the RecTeq Bull gives.
The Process
So yeah, the color grabbed – some more than others, but we’re good. These went for maybe just a little bit longer than an hour. I’d give it a toss every 15-20 minutes or so, but I waited until the bleached look of the cashew was no longer.
As mentioned, the sweet was going to be cooked at about 350F. These were going to be a quick cook and I’ll try not to burn the sugars.
Close up photos are always pretty cool. Since you can’t taste the results as you read this, might as well get a little eye candy.
The Result
Had the savory in their warm, still a little soft phase and they were pretty good. Did not grab as much flavor as I’d hoped – either with the seasoning or the smoke. Sure, it had a little bit of flavor, but wasn’t the flavor bomb I would’ve liked. Jarred these up, we’ll give some out, but here’s hoping the honey-roasted cousin was going to be better.
The honey-roasted cousin was absolutely better. These were about a 15 minute cook, and I should’ve done a better toss mid-way through, cause I did get some burning on there. After pulling it from the RecTeq, I sprinkled with some sugar, tossed. Sugar, tossed. And maybe a little bit more sugar. The warm bite was good, the cooled bite was even better. These ones won the day, but anytime I’m outside at the grill – I win the day.
MrsForensicBBQ and I had to say bye to our lone gray cat – Onion. First animal we got together, and although I put up quite the fight to say ‘no more’ (I lost) .. this one hung out in my office as I typed so many of these posts.