The History of Mike’s Boiled Peanuts, well it all started when I couldn’t find any good boiled peanuts where I live and I discussed this with friends. One had to drive out of town an hour or so to find good southern style boiled peanuts. Shure you could buy them from the store in a can that came from out of state or even from a gas station crock pot (usually the same canned peanuts), but…there is
nothing better than fresh daily, hot boiled peanuts from a vendor that specializes in the art of southern boiled peanuts, who’s efforts and reputation in the local community are on the line. Then a good friend suggested I could sell them. After much time spent in carful consideration of the possibility I decided to see if I could figure out how to cook some of the best tasting boiled peanuts I ever sucked, shucked and chomped! I am retired from the engineering field and I love to cook, so it sounded like fun. At this point I would ask the academic’s to please forgive my writing skills or the lack there of displayed in this writing, remember I was in engineering…. At first it was just another research project, problem solving and marketing research effort, it soon took on its own momentum and I enjoyed it. I had a blast looking into what really happens when you boil a peanut in and out of the shell and how to get the best flavor from the process. After 18 months of trial and error. Trying out different methods and recipes. Trying different varieties of peanuts. Researching the chemistry of boiling peanuts and building prototype cookers. Giving away hundreds of pounds of boiled peanuts to locals and friends to see if the local pallet agreed with mine on what was the best. Until, eventually I ended up with what I sell today. I’m glad I did because I ended up no where near where I started. The work involved turned out to be much more than I bargained for. I finally brought the right nut to the best process. The process and equipment I came up with produces the very best boiled peanut I have ever tasted. They are cooked till just done, not over cooked, El Dontae, if you will, firm to the tooth but not crunchy. They are seasoned with just enough salt and spices to compliment the naturally nutty, buttery, sweet flavors of the peanut. I hope you enjoy them too. Thank you for taking the time to let me share my passion with you. Please checkout the rest of my FB page for more info about the humble peanut and "Mike's Boiled Peanut Wagon!"
Mike Davis
