The Tropical Fruit Forum

I've had them dried and sugared, very good that way. I've never had them fresh. I ordered some seeds recently, no idea how they will go, the reports I've heard is that they are difficult to germinate.

I have 3 gargantuan macadamia trees and live in Queensland, and have eaten them all my life. I don't even bother collecting the nuts anymore, and really only keep them around as they are a good food source for the local cockatoo population.

Just because the outer husk has browned and split does not mean the nut is ripe. Sometimes they will fall off with the husks starting to split while semi-green.The husks will turn brown quickly.The best thing to do is  examine the actual shell of the nut itself; check that there are no dark spots, this means that the nut has fallen out of its husk before becoming ripe.

Discard any nuts that rattle audibly when shaken; these will;l be shriveled and chewy and not nice.

If you find one inside a brown husk and it does not slip out of the husk with very great ease, the nut is probably not ripe.  Check to see if the husk has shrunk and is pushing out the nut; this is a good sign the nut is ripe. You should be able to pries off the husk will very little resistance. 

Macadamia will store for in the shell a long time. If you're unsure as to whether or not they are ripe, it is perfectly acceptable to leave them sit for months. You're always going to be at risk of eating too early than too late.

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