Good friend, Shane Stuart, rolled into Hickory with his Suttle’s Nut Farm truck 2 weekends ago with my favorite fresh chestnuts, South Carolina grown North American chestnuts. 

“How’re things looking this year, Shane?” 

“Great! Last year we harvested 6000 pounds. This year we have 9000 pounds.”

I picked up a 2 pound bag and have been loving them for evening dessert, especially as the nights get cooler.

Roasted chestnuts have been a warm, richly flavorful rite of winter all my life. And though I’ve seen and used different methods of roasting, the easiest, most practical way I’ve found to roast chestnuts is with a toaster oven.  

As shown in the step-by-step picture book conventional oven/toaster oven chestnut roasting directions you can get by clicking this link or any picture below, here are four tips before actually getting to the roasting:

1. I like using a toaster oven for convenience and power savings, but if you don’t have a toaster oven, a conventional kitchen oven will work just as well. Also note: if you’re using American chestnuts, which are half the size of Italian chestnuts, cut roasting time in half.
2. When buying fresh chestnuts, select those that are firm to the touch – the shell should not give when squeezed with your thumb as shown in the picture below. Also, choose those chestnuts that are heavier rather than lighter in weight and don’t have any signs of mold or small round wormholes in their shells. 

3. To prevent chestnuts from exploding while roasting and avoid a nasty mess to clean up (you bet, I know this from experience), make sure to cut into the shells before roasting chestnuts. 

4. If you’re not roasting fresh chestnuts the same day you bought them, put them in a plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator for at least 1 week. Just beware that the meat of the chestnut inside the shell dries out steadily over time.

If you live in the Hickory area, check out the Suttle’s Farm Fresh Nut truck loaded with nuts grown in South Carolina and parked at 2231 N. Center St. (Rt. 127).

Most of all, roast on and enjoy!