Hi.  Have a good '23

Uneven results, some stay hard, some are enjoyable soft.

What differs?  The chestnut 'quality' itself, or soaking, or its size, or the time boiling, the depth of scaring, or else ?    Read the pointy ones are edible and the rounded ends are not

Some recipes call for boiling in an extra large pot with a huge amount of water compared with the volume of nuts in.  I do not get what is the effect*    Your expertise to obtain then very buttery soft, please ?

 

*( as to boil pasta, why suggested in huge amounts of water and not simply submerged ? )

 

 

I like mine slit and roasted.
With a glass of wine ...

3 hours ago, Externet said:

*( as to boil pasta, why suggested in huge amounts of water and not simply submerged ? )

Generally speaking a larger volume allows more constant temperature and less temperature drop when you add ingredients. Also it results in less crowding, less surface effects and related geometric issues.

Thanks. 

I always thought that unevenness in temperature would not be more than ~1C in the water in a boiling water pot.  99C to 100C  and much has to do if covered.  If cooking temperature is so critical, am done with it.  And have my suspicion that in a larger amount of water boiling, temperature gradient would show greater than in a small vessel.

OK.  Leaving the pasta aside for another post,  how to achieve the chestnuts buttery soft ?

26 minutes ago, Externet said:

Thanks. 

I always thought that unevenness in temperature would not be more than ~1C in the water in a boiling water pot.  99C to 100C  and much has to do if covered.  If cooking temperature is so critical, am done with it.  And have my suspicion that in a larger amount of water boiling, temperature gradient would show greater than in a small vessel.

OK.  Leaving the pasta aside for another post,  how to achieve the chestnuts buttery soft ?

I have no experience with boiling chestnuts, as I usually grill them in their shells. I know that some things intrinsically tend to cook more evenly than others, though. Jerusalem artichokes (topinambours in French, aardpeeren in Dutch) are a bastard, some being still hard by the time others are disintegrating. Maybe chestnuts are like that. I suspect a (continental) cookery website will be the best place for advice.

I have a vague memory of them being  skinned first and then parboiled to remove the membrane.

In aid of what?

Probably they were pureed  but I can't  remember now.

I bought some chestnuts a few years back (and I have an open fire)

 

They sat unused for a whole year before I got around to throwing  them out.

 

Didn't even plant any in the ground to replace the chestnut  tree that died  20 years ago.

 

5 hours ago, Externet said:

What differs?  The chestnut 'quality' itself, or soaking, or its size, or the time boiling, the depth of scaring, or else ?

Probably the length and method of storage. If they mixed in one load from two years ago and another that's been left out to dry with a fresh batch, you'll have different results. I don't buy them in the shell anymore: in years past, too many have been mouldy or hard - I found it a waste of money and effort. I do sometimes buy the little foil packet of cooked, shelled chestnuts; they've been a consistently decent quality. Couple of minutes in the toaster oven for snacking. Not bad for puree, either, except we don't have a potato ricer and the food processor leaves them a bit grainy.