Artisan Methods: How We Dehydrate Our Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia nuts are one of Hawaii’s most popular exports. These tender and tasty nuts have the highest levels of good-for-your-heart monounsaturated fats (MUFA) of any other nut. MUFAs lower cholesterol and blood pressure and are also shown to lower triglycerides.

gourmet, dehydrated macadamia nuts

At Hawaii’s Local Buzz, we choose to dehydrate our nuts rather than roast them (a method the big companies prefer for its efficiency). Dehydrated macadamia nuts are less mushy and more flavorful than their roasted counterparts. Macadamia nuts can’t legally be sold raw because high moisture content makes them susceptible to mold. Dehydrating macadamia nuts eliminates the moisture just as well as roasting, leaving the best parts of the nut behind without sacrificing the crunch and unique flavor of the nut to the roasting process.

We take meticulous care to ensure our dehydrated macadamia nuts are of the highest quality. Here is how we do it:

  1. Bath time. First, our macadamia nuts soak in a sterile bath. Due to their high fat content, the best nuts float to the top. These are the nuts that progress to the second step.
  2. Drying. The best nuts are relocated to a climate controlled room where they’re dried. The temperature never exceeds 100°F so the nuts dry slowly. This yields evenly dehydrated macadamia nuts at 3-5% water content.
  3. Super-drying. Now, we raise the temperature to 135°F to kill any harmful fungal spores and to reduce the moisture content to less than 1%.

Each step in the dehydration process takes from two to five days, depending on the quantity of the nuts. The macadamia nuts we use are grown, harvested and processed right here on the Big Island of Hawaii, never imported. We think our macadamia nuts are so good that, from the very first bite, you’ll regret that you‘ll ever have to reach the bottom of the bag. If you don’t agree, we’ll refund your purchase price.

Visit Hawaii’s Local Buzz to order your dehydrated macadamia nuts today.

Image Source: Hawaii’s Local Buzz

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