Simple moisture content calculation

This simple way of determining the moisture content of your nuts using a microwave is adapted from Hazelnut Growers Handbook 1998 (Hazelnut Growers of Australia Ltd).

You will need:

• Accurate scales
• A sample of nuts (the exact number is not important, 40-50 is fine)
• A microwave
• A microwave-proof plate or container

Method:

1. Weigh the plate/container.
2. Crack the nut sample, keeping the shell and kernel together. Include all nut material including blanks and mouldy kernels.
3. Place the nut material on the plate, and weigh the plate plus the nuts to find the weight of the nuts. This is your wet weight.
4. Place in the microwave and heat for 1 minute on high power. Longer than 1 minute usually results in the nuts being burned. Re-weigh the nuts and record the results.
5. Repeat the process, weighing and recording the result, until the weight of the sample does not change with further heating. This may take 5 to ten bursts of heat. This final weight is the dry weight.
6. The difference in weight between the wet weight and the dry weight is the total weight of moisture removed.

% moisture =	(wet weight – dry weight)	x 100
	dry weight