What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.

Anyone had actual (not theoretical) success with Chinese chestnuts, and if
so, how?

TIA,
Bill

On 07/12/19 08:44, Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

I have always assumed it's the testa (although Wikipedia informs me
there are actually two integuments or seed coats; the inner is the
segment and the outer the testa).

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.

Anyone had actual (not theoretical) success with Chinese chestnuts, and if
so, how?

My usual way of cooking chestnuts has been to cut them in half, put them
cut face down on a microwavable plate, then microwave them for a minute
on full power. Then put them close to a hot grill (still face down so
they don't dry out) for about 8 minutes until the shell is starting to
go black. I have found, however, that over the past couple of years the
membrane does not detach anywhere near as easily as it used to. But it
seems to occur with Italian as well as Chinese chestnuts, so it's just
the source of the nuts.

Maybe I should go back to roasting whole chestnuts on the coal shovel
over an open fire. :-)

--

Jeff

In article ,
Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.

And I am sure that it didn't. I don't know what conditions make it
come off easily.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 07/12/2019 09:04, Jeff Layman wrote:

I have always assumed it's the testa (although Wikipedia informs me
there are actually two integuments or seed coats; the inner is the
segment and the outer the testa).

Someone has been vandalising Wikipedia - it's tegmen, not segment.

--
SRH

In message , Jeff Layman
writes
On 07/12/19 08:44, Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

I have always assumed it's the testa (although Wikipedia informs me
there are actually two integuments or seed coats; the inner is the
segment and the outer the testa).

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.
Anyone had actual (not theoretical) success with Chinese chestnuts,
and if
so, how?

My usual way of cooking chestnuts has been to cut them in half, put
them cut face down on a microwavable plate, then microwave them for a
minute on full power. Then put them close to a hot grill (still face
down so they don't dry out) for about 8 minutes until the shell is
starting to go black. I have found, however, that over the past couple
of years the membrane does not detach anywhere near as easily as it
used to. But it seems to occur with Italian as well as Chinese
chestnuts, so it's just the source of the nuts.

Maybe I should go back to roasting whole chestnuts on the coal shovel
over an open fire. :-)

Indeed.

# "Chestnuts cut face down on a microwavable plate
Then microwaved for a minute on full power" #
somehow seems to lack the essence of the Christmas spirit.
--
Ian

On 07/12/19 13:36, Ian Jackson wrote:
In message , Jeff Layman
writes
On 07/12/19 08:44, Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

I have always assumed it's the testa (although Wikipedia informs me
there are actually two integuments or seed coats; the inner is the
segment and the outer the testa).

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.
Anyone had actual (not theoretical) success with Chinese chestnuts,
and if
so, how?

My usual way of cooking chestnuts has been to cut them in half, put
them cut face down on a microwavable plate, then microwave them for a
minute on full power. Then put them close to a hot grill (still face
down so they don't dry out) for about 8 minutes until the shell is
starting to go black. I have found, however, that over the past couple
of years the membrane does not detach anywhere near as easily as it
used to. But it seems to occur with Italian as well as Chinese
chestnuts, so it's just the source of the nuts.

Maybe I should go back to roasting whole chestnuts on the coal shovel
over an open fire. :-)

Indeed.

Is it still possible to buy hot chestnuts from a street seller? Over 60
years ago I can remember people buying small bags of them just before
entering the cinema. Having bought bags and eaten them at home, the
dubious contents of rather a lot of them would definitely put me off
eating them in the dark!

# "Chestnuts cut face down on a microwavable plate
Then microwaved for a minute on full power" #
somehow seems to lack the essence of the Christmas spirit.

Bah! Humbug! Come to think of it, a bit of tinsel in the microwave at
the same time would definitely liven things up a bit!

--

Jeff

On 07/12/2019 09:50, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.

And I am sure that it didn't. I don't know what conditions make it
come off easily.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

When I was young we lived just outside Hastings and accross the lane
were a few sweet chestnut trees, You would scuff the husks under foot to
open then amd then select the largest nuts which would thenhave an X cut
into one side or the top if they were round, then they were put onto the
Aga hotplate, cut side up for probably 10 mins or so till they started
to open, then we would remove the husk, the inner membrane was usually
dry and either eaten or removed.
I wonder if it's the faster cookung that's the problem.

On 07/12/19 08:44, Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily.Â* I've bought some (Chinese) but
when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past), the
membrane does not come off.Â* I am sure it used to in the good old days when we
peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall treating the
chestnuts before roasting.Â* Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.

Anyone had actual (not theoretical) success with Chinese chestnuts, and if so, how?

I've never noticed a problem when roasting them and
leaving one chestnut unpricked to act as a timer: when
it explodes, the others are done. Cleaning up the mess
is left as an exercise for the student.

If the chestnuts have been dried, then removing the shell
and putting them in a cup of hot water is effective: after
5 mins the skin has rehydrated and lifted off the dry kernel.

On Sat, 7 Dec 2019 20:38:41 +0000, David Hill
wrote:

On 07/12/2019 09:50, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.

And I am sure that it didn't. I don't know what conditions make it
come off easily.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

When I was young we lived just outside Hastings and accross the lane
were a few sweet chestnut trees, You would scuff the husks under foot to
open then amd then select the largest nuts which would thenhave an X cut
into one side or the top if they were round, then they were put onto the
Aga hotplate, cut side up for probably 10 mins or so till they started
to open, then we would remove the husk, the inner membrane was usually
dry and either eaten or removed.
I wonder if it's the faster cookung that's the problem.

Didn't/doen't anyone eat chestnuts raw anymore? Still nothing like
chestnuts that had been put in the ash pan of a coal fire till they
started exploding.

My Mum preferred to put the chestnuts on the hearth, but 50% shot into
the living room and the other 50% shot into the fire!


--
AnthonyL

Why do scientists need to BELIEVE in anything?

On Monday, December 9, 2019 at 1:08:03 PM UTC, AnthonyL wrote:
On Sat, 7 Dec 2019 20:38:41 +0000, David Hill
wrote:

On 07/12/2019 09:50, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Bill Davy wrote:
What is the name of the furry membrane between the good bit and the shell?

And how can I cook them so it comes off easily. I've bought some (Chinese)
but when I roast them (in the oven as open fires were a thing of my past),
the membrane does not come off. I am sure it used to in the good old days
when we peeled very hot chestnuts in front of the fire, and I do not recall
treating the chestnuts before roasting. Online there is much talk of
soaking/simmering/boiling them first.

And I am sure that it didn't. I don't know what conditions make it
come off easily.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

When I was young we lived just outside Hastings and accross the lane
were a few sweet chestnut trees, You would scuff the husks under foot to
open then amd then select the largest nuts which would thenhave an X cut
into one side or the top if they were round, then they were put onto the
Aga hotplate, cut side up for probably 10 mins or so till they started
to open, then we would remove the husk, the inner membrane was usually
dry and either eaten or removed.
I wonder if it's the faster cookung that's the problem.

Didn't/doen't anyone eat chestnuts raw anymore? Still nothing like
chestnuts that had been put in the ash pan of a coal fire till they
started exploding.

My Mum preferred to put the chestnuts on the hearth, but 50% shot into
the living room and the other 50% shot into the fire!

My Dad's approach was to pierce all but one of the chestnuts to relieve the steam pressure, then roast them until the un-pierced one exploded.