Any way to buy macadamia nuts that are not already somewhat spoiled?

[Rangen]

Like the smell of corked wine, the smell and taste of stale coffee, or the smell of rancid oil/fat, once you start to recognize the flat, unpleasant taste in nuts that have gone off, you never forget it. You can't un-taste it.

The worst-afflicted is macadamia nuts. When fresh, they have a mild, pleasant flavor, slightly sweet in the way that fresh scallops are sweet. Charming and delightful. When they have gone off even just a little, they're unpleasant to eat, the slightly-rancid taste building up until your mouth tastes bad, and you realize you've been had.

The thing is: I have not had a properly fresh macadamia nut since Mauna Loa stopped packing them in vacuum cans. The pouches and plastic jars that they sell now just don't seem to preserve them properly. Even when I order them direct from Mauna Loa, they taste just a bit spoiled right when they arrive.

Drives me nuts. Is there any way to get actually still-fresh macadamia nuts, or is that a thing of the past, or perhaps reserved for visitors to Hawaii?

 

[MarcelNL]

I know what you mean, and frankly...macadamia when stale are not worth their price!
My only advice is to communicate with your previous supplier or to shop around trying to find fresh ones....buying stale nuts is similarly crazy to buying stale roasted coffee IMO...

 

[Jovidah]

I guess this explains why I never cared for macadamia nuts.

 

[Michi]

I guess this explains why I never cared for macadamia nuts.

No such problem here, but they grow locally. We have a macadamia tree in the garden

 

[M1k3]

No such problem here, but they grow locally. We have a macadamia tree in the garden

 

[RonB]

I don't think many people know that nuts will go rancid. 5 Guys here in the US gives away salted and roasted peanuts in the shell, and they are almost always rancid.

 

[Jovidah]

I don't think many people know that nuts will go rancid. 5 Guys here in the US gives away salted and roasted peanuts in the shell, and they are almost always rancid.

There's some really good jokes in there but it would just start another 5 page discussion on male behavior in the unpopular opinions thread...

 

[Rangen]

I don't think many people know that nuts will go rancid. 5 Guys here in the US gives away salted and roasted peanuts in the shell, and they are almost always rancid.

Ugh. I was on a flight once, and I was hungry. In hideous modern fashion, they came around to sell us snacks instead of serving food. I was being strict low-carb, and the only thing within those constraints was a large bag of peanuts. I spent the $8. They were rancid; inedible; worse than the ones on the shelves in the airport concourse convenience stores.

I don't really understand why more people don't taste this. It doesn't seem that subtle.

I have written to Mauna Loa. I don't imagine it will have much of an effect, but I'm pretty curious what they will say in response.

 

[WildBoar]

Damn, don't think I've had them any other way than in the vacuum-sealed cans. It's sad if they did away with that process.

 

[Dan-]

Have you tried ordering from Nuts.com ?

No such problem here, but they grow locally. We have a macadamia tree in the garden

Don’t you get tired of digging them out of the ground?

 

[refcast]

There's this small California producer of macadamia nuts that tasted better than Mauna loa, I'd have to recall who it was though

 

[Rangen]

There's this small California producer of macadamia nuts that tasted better than Mauna loa, I'd have to recall who it was though

And I'd have to encourage you in the strongest possible terms to recall who it was.

 

[Rangen]

Have you tried ordering from Nuts.com ?

No, are they good?

 

[Dan-]

We order other nuts and raisins from there, and they haven’t been rancid. Might be worth a test.

 

[refcast]

https://mcmaniglegrove.csaware.com/raw-macadamia-nuts-C11150
They're out of stock....good sign, which means they must have been good to others, but bad sign cause they're out of stock

Better than Mauna loa. Almost no powder on them, no spoiled butter flavor, no staleness. Tasted more floral delicate, stronger crunch actually, lighter oil feel (so like, less saturated fat, more unsaturated fat), felt fresher, almost like an amazing bread and butter combo

 

[boomchakabowwow]

my Wife bought a bag from Costco that was pretty awesome. I stored portions in the freezer. they are so fatty I imagine they go rancid quicker than the average nut. thankfully, I dont love them. like, yea. but not love

I love Pinon nuts, that those things go bad fast as well.

 

[MarcelNL]

something completely different, but anyone else using Kemiri nuts in sauces etc too?

 

[Michi]

Don’t you get tired of digging them out of the ground?

I don’t get it. Dig what out of the ground?

 

[Dan-]

This is a fig tree, sure, but you can clearly see it growing upside-down.

 

[Michi]

This is a fig tree, sure, but you can clearly see it growing upside-down.

Fortunately, our tree is growing right side up

 

[boomchakabowwow]

I don’t get it. Dig what out of the ground?

what are we digging? gah..I'm confused

 

[Dan-]

I was failing to make a joke about living upside-down in the southern hemisphere but couldn’t find or make a picture of a tree with its leaves and fruit in the ground.

 

[WildBoar]

Of course they grow into the ground in Australia. If they didn't the poisonous spiders and snakes would kill them.

 

[Michi]

I was failing to make a joke about living upside-down in the southern hemisphere but couldn’t find or make a picture of a tree with its leaves and fruit in the ground.

If it’s any consolation, I have a sink where the water always spins in the clockwise direction

 

[Rangen]

We order other nuts and raisins from there, and they haven’t been rancid. Might be worth a test.

Test initiated.

 

[sumis]

i always store nuts in the fridge, in an airtight box.

before i did, every time i reached for a nuts they smelled or tasted off …

.

 

[Rangen]

Have you tried ordering from Nuts.com ?

Nuts.com order arrived. They sure ship fast. Ordered Monday, arrived Tuesday, and it's not as though I paid extra for express shipping. Still haven't had a response to my note to Mauna Loa. Maybe they're searching for the right way to say "yeah, we kind of suck these days."

Nuts.com verdict: Significantly fresher-tasting than the ones I got from Mauna Loa, but there's still just a bit of that stale flavor that coats the mouth and acts as a long-lived aftertaste. Might be OK with the right palate-cleansing beverage; I'll try that when the hour arrives.

I didn't throw them away, as I did the Mauna Loa ones, which is a good sign. I will not reorder though.

The pistachios I got in the same order were excellent. Those, I will be reordering.

 

[Dan-]

High standards indeed. It was worth a shot.

 

[Rangen]

High standards indeed. It was worth a shot.

It was. I am an engineer; we think failed experiments are still worth doing, because you learn things. Anyway, it wasn't a failure, because these pistachios are better than any I've had since I left California.

 

[ITKKF]

Best quality I have tasted were macadamia in shell, with a small tool to remove it, similar to this: Macadamia Twist | Australian in-shell nuts. May be you can find similar in USA too.