Nuts, seeds and legumes are packed with healthy fats, protein and minerals, but to get that all good stuff assimilated into your body, it is recommended that you prepare them by soaking them. See, nuts, legumes and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors to keep them from sprouting until nature delivers the sun and rain that they need to grow. Have you heard people, maybe even yourself, say “nuts or beans are hard on my stomach”? Well, this is why. By soaking, enzyme inhibitors are neutralized, the beneficial enzymes are activated and the vitamin content increases. Soaking makes seeds, nuts and legumes easier to digest and the nutrients more easily absorbed.
Tools
Dehydrator
Recommended Soaking Times
Make sure all nuts are raw before you begin.
plant-based
Almonds*: 8-12 hours
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Cashews*: 2 hours
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Buckwheat: 6-8 hours
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Hazelnuts: 6-8 hours
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Macadamia Nuts: The verdict is out on this one, some say soak, some say don’t. We sometimes choose to soak them for 2-4 hours.
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Pecans: 6-8 hours
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Pine Nuts: 6-8 hours
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Pumpkin Seeds (aka Pepitas): 6-8 hours
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Sesame Seeds: The verdict is out on this one too, some say soak, some say don’t. I usually toast them for flavor, but if you choose to soak, 4-6 hours should do. Have a tightly woven strainer available or a cheesecloth to strain without losing your seeds down the drain.
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Sunflower Seeds: 6-8 hours
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Walnuts: 6-8 hours
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Lentils: 8-12 hours
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Green Peas: 12 hours
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Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans: 12 hours
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Quinoa: 6-8 hours
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Lentils: 8-12 hours
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO RE: SOAKING AND COOKING LEGUMESplant-based
Do not soak
Flax Seeds (become mucilaginous when mixed with water, but this makes them a nice egg replacer for dairy-free baking)
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Hulled Hemp Seeds
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Brazil Nuts: No need to soak, little to no enzyme inhibitors
plant-based
Recommended Dehydrating Times
Make sure that you fully dehydrate your nuts so no moisture is left. You don’t want your nuts to mold, you want them tasty and crunchy. 12-24 hours for all nuts. Just taste them every 6hrs to see if they are dry and crunchy enough.
Let’s get started.
First, if a recipe calls for soaked nuts, measure them post-soaking. Dry nuts usually yield about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup more when soaked.
To soak nuts and seeds, dissolve 1 Tbsp sea salt in a bowl of 2-3 cups of pure, warm water. Add your nuts. Make sure there is enough water to cover them. Follow the guidelines above for soaking times. Once soaking time is reached. Toss the soak water (don’t consume this) and rinse your nuts well.
Sally Fallon explains that using salt to soak nuts “…helps activate enzymes that de-activate the enzyme inhibitors. For grains, we soak in an acidic solution to get rid of phytic acid. Nuts do not contain much phytic acid but do contain high levels of enzyme inhibitors. The method imitates the way the native peoples in Central America treated their nuts and seeds–by soaking them in seawater and then dehydrating them.”
Soaking seeds and nuts is easy and you don’t need a dehydrator to prepare your nuts for easy digestion. You can store soaked nuts in your refrigerator for 2-5 days.
To stock your pantry with soaked nuts, however, you will need to dehydrate them. This obviously requires a dehydrator, which can be purchased online.
Dehydrator nuts and seeds in a dehydrator set to a temperature of 95-100°F. I recommend the Excalibur
Make your life easier. Soak nuts and seeds in large batches when you return from shopping trips, then dehydrate them and store them in airtight glass jars
Not ready for a dehydrator?
You can try setting your oven temp to the lowest setting (use a cooking thermometer to monitor temperatures so they stay around 115°F) with the door open to dry your nuts. This isn’t the most energy efficient method, and I haven’t tried it, but I imagine that it could work.
Many recipes call for soaked nuts or seeds without dehydrating because that plump, creamy texture is necessary. This is often the case with cashews, so we usually don’t end up soaking or dehydrating cashews for storing since soaking times for cashews are so short. Don’t oversoak your cashews—you’ll be sorry. They can get a bit slimy and their taste can become yucky if they are oversoaked. But soaked properly and they are a dream replacement for dairy products. When we know we need cashews to make a cream sauce for example, we will just get them soaking a couple hours before we start our recipe.
Always in our pantry soaked and dehydrated:
Almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts.
These seem to be the go-to nuts.
Recommended appliance:
Excalibur 3500 Deluxe Series 5 Tray Food Dehydrator
I know that a dehydrator is expensive—I bought one for my own kitchen after all. But please know that it is an incredible investment and a reliable appliance that you will have for a very long time. I use the dehydrator every week to make snacks to keep in my purse, at my desk at work or in my car so when hunger hits, I am not tempted to purchase or eat junk.
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*Sadly, U.S.-grown raw almonds are no longer available commercially. Since 2007, all U.S. almonds must be “pasteurized,” meaning fumigated with chemicals—or steamed, if organic. Most times, cashews labeled raw, are unfortunately not since they undergo two separate heatings at harvest. To get truly raw almonds and cashews with all their enzymes and vitamins intact, you must get them directly from the farmer or at Sunfood Nutrition.
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References:
1. Smallfootprintfamily.com
2. Sally Fallon, westonaprice.org
3. TheNourishingGourmet.com
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8 Comments to “Soaking and Dehydrating Nuts, Legumes, Grains and Seeds”
A question about the temperature of drying the nuts. I was under the impression that heating them destroyed the enzymes. Does the heat that you have the dryer or oven heated to not do this?
Thank you
Liora~
You are correct in that heating foods above certain temperatures destroys the life of the food. There are many reports on ideal drying/dehydrating temps to maintain beneficial enzymes and nutrients. I’ve seen temps ranging from 90°F to 145°F as safe. I like to stick around 95°F-100°F when preparing raw foods and for this I use a dehydrator. Personally, I still eat baked foods (prepared at higher temps), knowing that the digestive enzymes are compromised. To help my digestive system, I tend to take a lot of digestive enzyme capsules or eat fermented foods (like homemade kimchi) before I consume cooked foods. Hope that helps!
I note that for soaking grains, Sally Fallon recommends using an acidic solution. What type of solution will work for this? lemon juice? or…?
A simple pinch of sea salt sprinkled into the water will do.
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