After reading about them in this thread I picked up some raw peanuts and want to make boiled peanuts.
So what do I do to them?
Is it as simple as boiling them in water?
In or out of the shells? I hope you say “out” because mine are already shelled.
Please help this hopeless Yankee…
You want to make some? You can’t just run out to any convenience store and get a bag? Man, what kind of place do you live in?
You’re not off to a good start, though. Part of the boiled peanut experience is the shelling them–often done gathered around the pot, bowl, bag, whatever receptacle–to reveal the succulent morsels therein contained–after they have been boiled.
This time of year there should be plenty of feathered friends who can help make this whole premature shelling incident go away…
allrecipies.com has these basic instructions for Cajun Boiled Peanuts (my favorite variety), cooked in a crock pot:
I’m partial to Old Bay when it comes to dry crab boil.
Curses! I’m heartbroken that I bought the wrong kind of peanuts. 
Guess I’ll find another use for this bunch & go back to the store in search of unshelled peanuts.
Old Bay Crab Boil - got some
jalapenos - got some
crockpot big enough to fit 5 pounds of peanuts??? Where on earth do you find such a monster?
Or is 5 pounds smaller than I’m picturing?
Hmmm…my cite leaves a lot be be desired, it would seem. I could’ve sworn the link I took to get that info implied that a crockpot was used, but you’re right, the proportions don’t match up with crockpot cooking. It also looks like the salt was left out of that cajun recipe. Most other recipes call for a cup of salt or more for 5 lbs of raw peanuts. Would 6 ounces of Old Bay contain enough salt to flavor an entire 5 lb batch?
Freakin’ Texas. No boiled peanuts anywhere. Just more proof that Texas isn’t really Southern. I can’t wait to get some when I head back to North Florida in August.
As far as makin’ 'em, first you got to find yourself a convenient corner on a fairly well-traveled state highway. If it’s near a Suwanee Swifty, that’s good ‘cause then you can go get more beer. Then you and a bunch of yor friends set up lawn chair and spray paint some plywood to read “Hot Boiled P-Nuts”. Git a really big cast iron pot, lots of unshelled peanuts, and salt. And just keep that pot boilin’ all day long. The longer the peanuts boil, the better they are…
Old Bay Seasoning??? :eek: Gaaahhh!
Take it from another good ol’ Son of Carolina, you don’t need nuthin’ in your boiled peanuts but salt. Lotsa, lotsa salt. You want to basically boil them nuts in brine, and simmer until they’re ready ta fall apart. Some folks liken ta add garlic or onion, and a little black pepper, and that’s OK with me, but not too much…
But Old Bay? You’ll ruin yer peanuts if you use that. Sounds like some new age author found the simple down home recipe and had to “fix it up” and make it hers, cause peanuts, garlic and salt were too damn simple for her fancy book.
I remember the old negro lady selling boiled peanuts and sweet potato pies door to door, who used to come every week when I was a young boy. Man, those peanuts were the best snacks in the world, and they weren’t seasoned with anything but salt and garlic. I haven’t had a good bag of boiled peanuts in nearly 30 years.
Out here in Fornicalia, all we get is Edamame. If I offered boiled soybeans to my folks in Carolina or Georgia, they’d laugh me outta the kitchen. In my home town, soybeans are fodder for real food: pigs, cows and chickens.
You want young immature peanuts, ideally —some call them green peanuts — where, when you open the shells, the peanut part doesn’t occupy the whole inside of the shell. You can use fully developed peanuts but they don’t work as good.
And yeah, what bughunter said, just boil 'em (bawl 'em, as my uncle would say) with lotsa salt.
Boil them until the shells are soft and some of them almost mushy like a wet soda cracker (they won’t all get that soft). The peanuts themselves should just about melt in your mouth with no trace of crunch. They should register as peas, not as nuts.
Um, motorgirl, have you ever actually tasted boiled peanuts? Or, do they just sound good to you. 'Cause I for one, would hate to waste the money on five pounds of raw peanuts only to discover that I hate boiled peanuts.
Which brings us to the reason native “Yankees” can never be considered true Southerners: I despise the damn things. And I love peanuts in just about every other shape and form. But someone urged me to try them down here and…
Where’s that pukey smilie again?
Just think it over. Consider asking a southern Doper to FedEx you some before you go ruining five pounds of delicious peanuts. MHO
Hey Motorgirl I’ve never ever seen boiled peanuts done without the shell. Hell they are so good, sometimes I even eat the shell too. And like they’ve said…best to buy them green, boil them to they are mushy and use plenty of salt. By all means leave the Old Bay out, that’s for your seafood.
Good boiled peanuts are nectars of the Gods, so forget anything that **Dogzilla ** said negative about them.
Oh yeah and here in the Deep South, you can even buy them in the can at the supermarket, but I’m not so sure how they would taste.
Don’t make me go down to the bait/tackle/convenience store on route 92 (between Fairburn GA, and Douglasville GA) just to harrass the nice lady who makes my favorite spicy cajun variety for her recipe. Salty is good, but salty and spicy is devine.
This thread includes some recipes and other links regarding the curiosity that is the boiled pea.
I didn’t have any this year in Savannah, but I did see a few signs for them.