cashews

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If you're buying " raw " cashews at a health food store, they probably

aren't. That goes for cashew butter too.

 

 

Martha

 

From " What a Raw Fooder Should Know about Nuts "

 

http://www.chetday.com/nutprocessing.html

 

Cashews

The cashew nut tree is a tropical tree in the plant family Anacardiacae.

Other plants in the same family include the mango, the pistachio, and

some less pleasant plants: poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.

 

The raw cashew nut is enclosed in a tough, leathery shell that contains

caustic, toxic substances including cardol and anacardic acid (similar

to the active ingredients of poison ivy). Despite their caustic nature,

these compounds have economic value and are used in industry. Together

they are extracted in processing, as cashew nut shell liquid, referred

to as CNSL.

 

Thus the challenge in cashew processing is to separate the edible nut

from the toxic CNSL. Because of this, cashews require more extensive

processing than other nuts. From the raw-fooder perspective, the

important points in processing are as follows. 1) Pre-conditioning: the

in-shell nuts are piled in heaps and kept wet with water for 1-2 days,

-or- the in-shell nuts are steamed for 8-10 minutes. 2) Pre-treatment:

the in-shell nuts are then immersed in a hot oil bath, kept at 170-200

deg C, for about 90 seconds. The oil bath removes some of the CNSL, and

conditions the nut for shelling. Following the oil bath, the nuts may be

placed in a heated centrifuge for further CNSL extraction. 3) Shelling:

mechanical or manual (Indian factories use mostly manual labor) 4)

Drying: the kernels are dried to a moisture content of 3%, in special

chambers, at 70 degrees C, for about 6 hours. 5) Peeling - manual (as

needed), or other process. One process calls for freezing the kernels,

then peeling them automatically in a revolving drum.

 

Note that Orkos, the well-known supplier for instinctive eaters in

France, sells shelled cashews that are apparently truly raw. Also, if

you live in or visit certain tropical countries, you may be able to

obtain raw, in-shell cashews (but then you face the difficult,

potentially dangerous, problem of how to shell them, yourself).

 

Remarks: not sproutable; cashews ferment quickly if you try to sprout them.

 

Recommendations: the " raw " cashew may be steamed, deep-fried, and

partially baked. They are devitalized.