I had a good year with my hazel nut tree this year. The tree is 3 or 4 years old and had more nuts than last year.My question is , do you let the nut dry in the shell before taking the nut out and roasting (350 for 20 to 30 mins)When I opened the shell and tried a raw nut (no drying )it was very nice and firm,good crunch, but raw.It was a very large nut ,(filled the shell) Much bigger then store bought ones. After roasting , the nut was soft and not pleasant .I tried roasting for a longer time but to no avail. I wonder if letting them dry and shrinking in the shell they would roast up better?
Some discussion about it here. I did run across a reference elsewhere that noted that hazelnuts will go from firm (at harvest) to spongy to firm in the process of drying, so maybe they need to go through the drying process before roasting? Would be good to hear firsthand from someone about their process.
