When it comes to shelled pecans, in addition to visual cues such as mold or any other organic growth, you should use your nose and taste. If walnuts smell stale or like used cooking oil, they are stale. The same if they have developed a bitter or stale taste. To find out if your shelled pecans are damaged, you'll need to open them.
If they look dry or there is a network formation, they are gone. How do you know if shelled pecans are bad? Stale pecans often develop a bitter, unpleasant taste; if pecans develop a bad smell or taste, or if mold appears, they should be discarded. A bad nut should have no cracks in its shell and should be fresh and shelled. If you notice a hole or a crumpled nut, discard it.
If shelled walnuts are shelled, they are probably rotten. If they don't have a shell, pecans are likely to be stale because they've been exposed to oxygen. You know that walnuts are stale when they start to taste strong and bitter. Sometimes they also develop a strange smell that may remind you of old paint, nail polish remover, or something like that.
Another sign that pecans are bad, even if they look and feel fresh, is that walnuts develop a strong bitter or sour taste. When the oil in a nut goes rancid, it turns bitter and seeps into the rest of the nut, which causes it to taste horrible, which means that any nut with a bitter taste has gone bad. Things are different with shelled pecans. You never know if they're good or not until you open them.
All you can do is shake them to see if they sound or not. If pecans feel light and empty, discard them, as they are most likely dry or spoiled. Keep in mind that stale pecans aren't necessarily unsafe to eat, but their nutritional value may decrease slightly. Pecans are a great option for a healthy snack, but they can be expensive, so getting the most out of them is essential.
Store pecans in an airtight container or in a well-sealed freezer bag in a cold, dark place. Pecans spoil quickly if exposed to heat, moisture, or outdoors, so they should be stored in a sealed container or bag when you are not actively consuming them. Pecans can spoil very easily if not properly stored, so if you want to get the most out of pecans, you'll need to know how to preserve them. When it comes to pecans in shell, you know what you're dealing with once you open them.
If you expect to store shelled pecans for more than half a year, consider transferring them to the fridge or freezer. The best way to freeze pecans is in small batches with freezer-safe containers, such as plastic containers or bags. You can easily get a few years out of pecans as long as you store them properly in a cold, dark, dry environment where they don't go rancid. While shelled pecans generally have a longer shelf life than shelled pecans when it comes to the pantry or freezer, they actually last much less time in the refrigerator.
If you buy pre-packaged pecans, they'll come with a date, and this is the manufacturer's estimate of how long the walnuts will stay fresh. Shelled pecans can last up to a year in the refrigerator, while shelled pecans will only last about 9 months at most under the same conditions, so you should consider this difference when buying pecans. If you find pecans in your container that have one or more of these characteristics, you should not eat any of them and throw away the pecans as soon as possible. It's worth mentioning that you should never store your pecans in a humid environment because if somehow moisture reaches your pecans, it can ruin their quality.
Store pecans can be peeled or shelled, and the shelf life of the two types is slightly different. .
