The outer shell of the raw cashew nuts has to be removed to produce the edible cashew kernel. The outer shell of the cashew is very hard and it contains a corrosive oil which is harmful for human consumption. The process of steam roasting helps in removal of this hard shell with minimal effort. The raw cashew nuts are put in a drum connected to a mini boiler. The steam from this mini boiler is passed over the cashew nuts placed in the drum for a period of 10 -15 minutes. These cashew nuts are left in the drum for 20 minuets for proper roasting. The roasted cashew nuts are then taken out of the drum and placed in the open air for a period of around 12 hours to let them cool down and help in removal of the cashew shells.
The roasted cashew nuts are then taken to the cutting department to remove the outer shell. This is a complex process and requires highly skilled labor to get maximum unbroken kernel output. This process required each cashew nut to be individually placed between blades of the machine operated manually to remove the outer shell. This process results in production of cashew kernel with soft inner shell. These nuts are then placed in a oven which is constantly maintained at a temperature of about 60 degrees for a period of 24 hours to make the inner shell brittle.
In this stage, cashew kernels are heated to 70-85 degree centigrade. The main purpose of this heating is to eliminate moisture and gumming between cashew kernels and adhearing testa. We use a specially designed chamber to heat the cashews so that, the tempurate control can be attained accurately.
The Cashew kernels after borma is conditioned and ready for peeling. Peeling of the Testa is done in Automatic peeling machine.
The kernels are seperated into wholes, broken and rejections at this stage.
The process of grading is designed to sort the white cashew kernel into different grades. The white kernel is divided into two main types wholes and pieces. The wholes are further divided into 15 grades and the pieces are divided into 9 main grades. The process of sorting wholes and the pieces is based on the size, color and texture of the nuts. The sorting is done based on the set international sizes. These nuts are then once again placed in the oven to make the nuts crispier before they are sent to the packaging department.
Cashew Kernels are fumigated before packing. Then, it is passed through a cleaning line, where dead insects, foreign particles, if any are removed. Finishing touches are given to grades by removing lower grades.
