Uses. Literature.
CHAPTER XVI.
PECAN KERNELS.
Pecan nuts are used in a variety of ways. Not so very long since they were used almost entirely for dessert purposes, now they are largely used in making pastries and confections of different kinds. Based on these uses, new industries for supplying the kernels have been developed. The kernels are now put on the market in glass jars of different kinds and sizes, usually retailing at from 50 cents to 75 cents per pound. This is perhaps the most convenient form in which to buy them, but unfortunately, they are too frequently old and rancid. When stock is carried through the heat of summer in the ordinary jar, this is invariably the case, and some new method of packing them must be introduced if this way of disposing of the product is to increase in favor, as it should. Certain experiments now under way give promise that the kernels can be kept fresh and free from rancidity indefinitely.
For the present, at least, the only certain way of procuring good, fresh pecan kernels is to procure fresh nuts—those which have been kept over in cold-storage are good—and crack them at the time when they are needed. For the household, an ordinary pair of nut-crackers will answer, but they should be of a particular type. The jaws should be formed with sharp-cutting edges.
Nut-Crackers.
In the accompanying illustration, four kinds of nut-crackers are shown. The two at the right are reversible. The best pair is represented at the extreme left of the engraving. The bars are square, the grooves in them are curved inward leaving the teeth sharp and pointed out flush with the edge.
