Selfsufficientish.com

Hi,

My grandad has a tree growing in his back garden and we collected the nuts from them just after christmas. Grandad says they are cob nuts, are these the same as hazelnuts (which is just what they taste like) only a little smaller than the ones you get in the shop? I still have some now in their shells and ate one the other day, they were lovely still and I'm wondering how long they last before going "off".

I was thinking of baking with them, nice cheesecake or in flapjack or something.

Thanks very much

fluffy
x

I think you can freeze nuts if you need to keep them fresh for longer, but they seem to last ages especially if you keep them somewhere cool and dark. If they do go a bit "rancid" flavoured if you pop the kernels on a tray in a coolish oven for a while that seems to freshen them up

all the best
sue

... and yes, cobnuts and hazelnuts are the same thing.

Mike

Yes, hazelnuts come in two forms cobnuts (round) and filberts (longer and pointier). I think they keep pretty well while in the shell (as long as you keep them somewhere cool and dry) but they'll go off quite quickly when shelled.

We keep ours (not, sadly home picked) in the freezer and they're really nice as a snack - they don't seem to really freeze but it highlights their sweetness and they're yummy.

We have two cobnuts, full of nuts, the nuts are always eaten fresh straight from the tree, by bloody grey squirrels. We have never managed to get even one, they eat them so young.

On the rare occasions I manage to nab a hazel nut before our red squirrels I have been known to crack them two years later and they are still good and edible. However they are so small I rarely bother about them and just let the red squirrels have them, in the hope they will leave my walnuts alone! (They don't, but most years there are enough to keep both us and the squirrels happy ).

well thanks for all your replies everyone. Thjey definitely are tasty and I feel lucky now that we have managed to nab any. I am keeping them in a kilner jar in the pantry so I hope they will last for a while yet! Thanks all again for your replies now I can tell my grandad they are hazelnuts.

Love fluffy
x