I roll with the skillet on the stove top crowd - no oil - and low and slow. And those pesky little critters WILL turn on a dime and get burned and black the minute you turn your back on them! I have been throwing toasted almond slivers in everything lately, so I have been practicing quite a bit. I like the stove top method while I am cooking something else - that way I do not forget about them. Too many oven roasted nuts have gone unattended and forgotton in my kitchen.
In a commercial kitchen the ovens are turned on and set and run all day. So you have to pretty much learn to use the ovens at the temps they are set to. On my first day at a new job as a sous chef for a well known chef in Portland and I was toasting some sliced almonds. So I put them in the oven and was asked by someone nearby for some help. After a few minutes my new boss was standing behind me with my sheet pan full of burnt almonds. He didn't say anything just handed them to me and walked off. I burnt them two more times with my new boss there everytime to hand them to me with a deadpan look. So I stood next to the oven the whole time and ended up with perfectly toasted slice almonds. I had been toasting nuts for a few years at that point with good results. But, I didn't want to look like I was just standing around and that was my problem. At the end of the day he told me " Don't go feeling special, we have all had days like yours today".
I find them easiest not to burn in the oven. 350º F, light colored metal pan, shake them every 3 to 4 minutes until they are done. Don't leave the kitchen until they're done. I only burn nuts on the stovetop or if I am multi-tasking!
obsessively watch over the nuts when they're toasting in the oven, Mostly I just toast them on a skillet, constantly stirring them. this ensures that they get your full attention and fulfills a certain quirk of constantly stirring a dish to give oneself the satisfaction that something is indeed cooking!
obsessively watch over the nuts when they're toasting in the oven, Mostly I just toast them on a skillet, constantly stirring them. this ensures that they get your full attention and fulfills a certain quirk of constantly stirring a dish to give oneself the satisfaction that something is indeed cooking!
this is definitely NOT meant to be a snide remark -- but I always set a timer for about a minute less than I think they will take. Then I watch them like a hawk for the remaining minute, if they need it.
I use a 350 oven for about 8 minutes, and only use a light colored metal pan. II think the dark surfaced baking sheets result in a darker finished product.
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I have used the mw but thing it yields a less tasty toast.
I use a 350 oven for about 8 minutes, and only use a light colored metal pan. II think the dark surfaced baking sheets result in a darker finished product.