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Roasting chestnuts leisurely in a little cast iron pot over a roaring fireplace would be romantic, wouldn’t it? My winter evenings usually include tripping over a problematic Roomba and wrangling my two cats out of the garbage can, so my romantic winter evenings give more air fryer than open-fire anyway. Air fryer roasting is just the type of easy and fast I'm looking for during the holidays; it takes the waiting out of the equation so you can get right to cracking chestnut shells and watching Die Hard in your PJs.
When I was younger, we would make oven-roasted chestnuts. It’s a classic method, but even that can take 20 to 30 minutes. The air fryer’s circulating fan and significantly smaller space heats up faster and gets the chestnuts cooked through in a fraction of the time. Some recipes will tell you to soak the nuts before roasting them because it makes them easier to peel, but that’s unnecessary. I did both soaked and unsoaked, and they roasted with the same peeling ease. What really matters is how you score them.
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How to roast chestnuts in the air fryer
1. Score the chestnuts
I buy chestnuts from my local Shoprite, and they’re in great condition right now. Later in the season the offerings can become a little dry. Using a small paring knife, or ideally a small serrated paring knife, carefully cut a large slit across the entire rounded belly of each chestnut. Some chestnuts have two flat sides. They’re probably trolling us because they know what we’re up to. Just pick a side.
My reasoning for the round side is because it has more surface area and the shape makes the shell open up during roasting. You can score a second slit across the first one; it’s not completely necessary but it can help. I tried slicing across the chestnut equatorially and top-to-tail. Both work but if you're only making one slice then I suggest equatorially. The most important thing is to make large slices the entire length of the chestnut. None of this tiny “x” nonsense.
The scoring will allow the steam to escape the chestnut while roasting so none of them pop, but the edges of the large slices will peel back and make it easier to remove the meat.
2. Load the air fryer
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Put the chestnuts in the air fryer basket with the scored side facing up. This will allow the shell to peel back without being hindered by the tray underneath.
3. Cook the chestnuts
Roast the chestnuts on the “air fry” setting for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the shells are noticeably peeling back and the edges are toasted.
Let the chestnuts cool completely. You’ll hear them crackle as they’re cooling. That’s a good sign. Pile the chestnuts into a bowl and bring an empty with you to the coffee table as a “shell bowl.” Pinch the ends of the chestnut to wiggle the shell loose and crack it open using the peeled back shell. They’ll mostly come out in one piece, thanks to the large scoring method. Click play, and tell McClane I said “hello.”
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