Growing peanuts - and then?

I grew peanuts for the first time, and it was very easy.
But I had no idea how to process them, and now they seem to be off.
I don't like raw peanuts, but roasting a bigger quantity seems to be a lot of work.
How is it done?
What do you do with your peanuts?

Here in Japan they leave them out in the sun to dry for a couple of weeks after harvest until the shells get hard, then store them in a dark drafty barn until processing.

I would think the easiest way to process is making peanut butter!

Feeding some to your local crows isn't a bad shout either if you're looking for passive livestock guardians.

Roasting a big batch isn't as much work as it sounds honestly. Spread them out on a tray, 180C for about 15-20 minutes, shake halfway through. The shells tell you when they're done. Once you've got roasted ones you can make peanut butter pretty easily too, just blitz them in a food processor until smooth.

Nicola Bludau wrote: But I had no idea how to process them, and now they seem to be off.

Peanuts are well known for growing a mold that is a carcinogen for humans (Kidney if I recall, but I'd have to look it up.)

So if they seem to be "off", I am not sure I would turn them into human food, but start again and have a plan for the processing - drying and roasting stages, and this should kill or immobilize the mold spores for safe storage.

At the very least, I'd do some up-to-date research on the issue. I am not in the right eco-system to grow them, so I have not personal experience with this.

Boiled peanuts are great.
You can just boil them in salty water in the papery shell. Or with Cajun seasoning. A southern USA thing I think.
Best with fresh peanuts, ok with dried ones.
It’s a super tasty snacktivity

Sorry to hear that your peanuts are a bit off.

Do they look okay?

It would be a shame to spend a lot of time roasting peanuts that have gone bad.

Look them over carefully.

It has been a long time since I grew peanuts though the drying process sounds right.

What do you mean, "off"?
I've grown peanuts for years, I hang the whole plants until they're dry--I put them in my little attached greenhouse, but a covered porch works too, Just keep an eye out for mice. Then I pluck the pods off the plants, which can either be composted or fed to goats. I put every tenth peanut pod into a separate bowl to save for seed. That way the plants that are most productive are overrepresented in the seed stash, but most plants are in there to keep diversity up, all but the duds that had less than ten pods. If I have room I save these still in the pod. The rest I shell. I used to roast them with some oil and then salt them--but the salt always mostly fell off and collected in the bottom of the container. Then I found instructions to soak the peanuts in saltwater before roasting, and this works--I don't remember details but you can google it and find a video with instructions. It's really not a lot of trouble. I've never tried to make peanut butter, because we have an old weak blender and because dang, I can't devote that much space to growing peanuts.

Another vote for boiling peanuts. All you'll need is salt, water, and time, but a pressure cooker will save you on the time. Cook them in the shells and then pop 'em open to enjoy. I prefer them hot, but they're still good cold taken straight from the fridge.

If you haven't had them boiled before, you won't regret it. They're soft, savory, and delicious.

So you mean for making peanut butter I have to shell them by hand?? That is a labour-intensive peanut butter!

Not a peanut expert here by any means. I feel that peanuts are not worth growing for a lot of people, at least for eating. Although super easy to grow (they fix nitrogen), they are super hard to clean and then you have to shell them and the shells are kinda hard.

We grew them once a cover crop in our clay. Cleaned some.... Sorted. Dried some. Not worth it in terms of eating. I suppose if we had sandy soil, it would be okay, and even then, maybe. Made some boiled (green) peanuts with earlier crop (this is before they form skins).

I would concur with boiling peanuts. At least they are easy to shell. Use LOTS of salt, just like the recipes say.

I wonder what went wrong for Tanya. I found them easy to grow (except when the rabbits got at them) and easy to shell, easy to save seed. And I have clay soil, though well modified.