Commercial Crackeries and Storage of Pecans 139 



SOAKING PECANS FOR CRACKING 



The shells of pecans that have been allowed to dry out 

 after harvesting will generally break with only one or two 

 long cracks, and the kernels will shatter badly when ran 

 through the commercial crackers. Soaking makes the shell 

 brittle so that it cracks in numerous places and the meat 

 tough so that it will not crumble. One method is to dip the 

 nuts in water just below the boiling point for fifteen or 

 twenty minutes. The nuts are then taken out and their 

 surfaces allowed to dry before being cracked. This gives 

 good results so far as cracking of the shells and picking out 

 the kernels are concerned, but the hot water has a decided 

 tendency to darken the meats. 



Another method of soaking is to place the pecans in a 

 large tank of water, turn on enough cold water to cover them, 

 and allow them to soak five or six hours. The water is then 

 drained off, the top of the tank closed, and the pecans allowed 

 to remain in this damp atmosphere for one to five days before 

 cracking. The best results are usually secured from the 

 third to the fifth day, because by this time the moisture has 

 penetrated the shell and livened and toughened the kernel. 



Still another method is to place the dry pecans in a room 

 lined with tin or some other waterproof material. The nuts 

 are sprinkled with water as they are brought in and allowed 

 to remain in this room where the atmosphere is heavily 

 charged with moisture for several days before cracking. 



When the pecans have been thoroughly soaked, it is neces- 

 sary to dry out the excess moisture from the meats before they 

 are packed. This can be done best by placing them in trays 24 

 inches wide, 36 inches long, 4 inches deep, and made of l-by-4 

 material. The bottom of the tray is covered with ordinary 



