How do I cook chestnuts? And if you come on here to tell me I should have bought vacuum packed, I will kick you.

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So I bought chestnuts. Nuts, in shells, not by any means ready to eat. How do I cook them please?

Yes, I am aware I should have bought vacuum packed or tinned. No, I cannot go back out.

TIA

according to Harry Potter, you get a mini-dragon to roast them for you

From memory - you cut a slice in the nut somwhere then roast them in the oven. The cut bit helps you to peel it.

slice the very tip off, then a slit down the flat side and pop them in the oven.

Stab a little hole in each one on the flat side then put them in a medium oven for about 20 mins.

For how long? At what temp? Am not a cook...

Thanks fairytale you get a kick.

why do you cut the tip off lunar ?

sorry! just was watching the half blood prince when dh was at work late last week, and thought i could do with a mini-dragon

the lazy method:
put a few of them onto a plate with a little water, microwave for a min, peel when still warm, add to stuffing...

My mum and dad always go collecting. Chestnuts are on the menu all winter. Mum peels and boils them (20 min?). They are then eaten with lots of salt.

The oven has had very mixed results, despite cutting the skins, they are prone to explode. Also, people have to deal with the shells on their plates, with a knife & fork (if served as part of a meal)

Oh, it's usually much easier to get them vacuum packed or tinned....

taking the tip off makes the skins peel away more than just a slit.

I used to do (literally) sacks of them for a charity hot chestnut stall each christmas, and we always did "tip and slit".

I use a little corn on the cob fork thing to make a hole in the end then roast at 170 for about 15 mins. You have to let them cool a bit before trying to peel though as the shells are a bit brittle. Think taking the tip off is probably a better idea.

i asked this question on here a few weeks ago! and am now an expert :o

pre heat oven to 250.

cut a slit in each chestnut as it stops them exploding and makes them easy to peel. stab it right through but dont break the shell on the other side IYSWIM?

roast for 15 minutes.

peel within a couple of minutes as after a few minutes the shells start to adhere to the nut and it makes it really hard.

yummy :o i LOVE them!

LunarSG - doing 'tip and slit' sounds rude!!

You can eat them raw - they just taste nicer cooked.

We always used to boil them when I was growing up (we used to have chestnuts often, just to eat as a snack on their own: yum). I'm afraid though I can't help with how long to boil them for.

I tried roasting them this time, and it worked pretty well, although I did burn one lot. Cutting off the tip as well as putting a slit in the side did seem to make them peel more easily - and even though they were still hot to handle, dry hot chestnuts from the oven were easier to handle than wet, hot ones from the saucepan.

Last time I roasted them, I forgot to nick them. Opened oven door and got bits of hot chestnut in the eyes. Not nice. Reminded me of the time I cooked a tart from a French recipe and wanted the top to brown, so dusted with icing sugar. So far, so good.

Then forgot and used oven on fan oven setting. Opened the door, and got a face/eyeful of hot icing sugar dust blown at me.