Exploding Chestnuts

Nothing like chestnuts to get everyone in the mood for Christmas. We've bought and enjoyed them plenty of times in the past...always hot in a bag and ready to eat. This time, for the first time ever, we decided to cook our own. Graham put them under the grill in the top oven. After some minutes, I heard a huge bang, went into the kitchen and discovered that the chestnuts were exploding! I opened the oven door to see that he'd put them on a baking tray about 1 cm below the grill. It looked like a massacre in there. After at least a big, ten minute whinge at him, he decided to cook some more in the main oven on a lower heat. Some minutes later, I heard the chestnuts exploding once again and opened the main oven door to see yet another massacre. Time for another heated debate!! Then Graham realised what the problem was....chestnuts should be pricked before putting them into the oven so that the steam can escape and so that they won't explode. Oh well, you live and learn. After spending almost an hour getting rid of all traces of chestnuts from the oven, I think we'll just buy them ready cooked in the future.