How to peel pine nuts from the shell

Pine nuts - this is the real Siberian wealth. This is a very useful, tasty and nutritious product. Only 50 grams of purified kernels contain 300 kilocalories - and this, by the way, is a full-fledged dinner! But, despite the high calorie content, pine nuts remain one of the most popular and favorite nuts among Russians. The process of absorbing nuts is overshadowed only by the fact that cleaning nuts causes a lot of trouble.

On sale you can find both peeled and whole pine nuts. When choosing between two species, give preference to nuts in the shell. The fact is that in a natural shell a nut retains more nutritional properties, it lasts longer, and it tastes better in the end!

The benefits of cedar nuts

Before you learn about how to quickly and properly clean the nut from the shell, let's talk about the benefits of this product and the effect it has on the human body.

Siberian cedar is a very large and spreading tree, which begins to bear fruit only 15-20 years after planting. Up to 12 kg of pine nuts can be harvested from a single large tree. This delicacy is not averse to eat not only people, but also animals. The squirrel is stocked up for the winter with pine nuts, because they are very nutritious and help it survive to spring. The composition of the pine nut has various trace elements, vitamins, oils, proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Pine nuts are useful for a growing organism, they are recommended at least sometimes for adolescents, children, pregnant and lactating mothers. The latter, by the way, cedar helps to produce more nutritious milk.

Regular consumption of pine nuts improves the cardiovascular and nervous system, the gastrointestinal tract. Pine nuts are able to fight anemia, they improve immunity, treat blood diseases. Cedar nut contributes to the activation of mental abilities, a person is less tired, works better, does not get tired for longer. For men, pine nut is a symbol of men's health. For traditional medicine recipes, not only the kernels themselves, but also the nutshells are used. It has healing, tannic and anti-inflammatory properties.Pine nut oil is used in cooking as a dressing for salads, in traditional medicine as a wound-healing agent and in cosmetology as a tightening and moisturizing mask.

How to peel pine nuts from the shell

Here are some popular and effective ways to peel pine nuts.

1. Cone. To remove the nuts from the cones, it is scrolled in the hands, crushed, and then gently knock on the table or cup. Ripe nuts usually go out without any problems. Do not forget to wear rubber gloves before this, otherwise the resin from the cones for a long time will remain on the skin of your hands.
2. Crusher. On an industrial scale, the nuts are cleaned with a special wooden crusher. It splits the shell, leaving the nucleolus whole. However, before the nut gets on your table, it will take a long time. Therefore, it is still better to clean the pine nuts yourself, immediately before use.
3. Teeth. The best way to clean nuts is to use your teeth. Nuts should first be soaked in hot water for 10 minutes. The shell will then become soft, and it will be easier to crack the nut.However, you should understand that after soaking the shelf life of the nut is sharply reduced, so you need to soak only as many nuts as you plan to eat. Moist nuts need to bite so that the shell opened at the base. Then turn the nut 30 degrees and squeeze the shells in the middle. The shell will open and the core will be cleared. The process resembles the husking of seeds, but this will require very strong teeth. If these teeth you do not differ, you can use other methods of peeling nuts.
4. Nutcracker The easiest way to peel nuts is to use a walnut nut or garlic press. So that pine nuts do not fly across the room, they are also pre-soaked. Put the nut in hot water for 5 minutes, and then proceed to cleaning. Soaking a nut in water slightly changes its taste, so you can not pour the nuts with water, but simply spread them out on a wet towel, covering them with a second layer of this towel. After such a steam bath, only the walnut shell will evaporate, and the moisture will not enter the core.
5. Hammer. If you want to eat nuts right now, you can try to split them with a hammer.But for such purposes, you need to use a small shoe hammer, which will split the shell, but will not damage the nucleolus. In order not to injure your fingers, you can squeeze the nut with pliers and lightly pin the shell with a hammer. After that, you can open the nut with your nails.
6. Warm cold In order to open the shell of nuts, you can use the principle of temperature difference. To do this, pour the nuts into the pan without oil and heat them. Constantly stir the nuts, so that they do not fry. After that, hot nuts must be poured into ice water. A sharp temperature drop will cause the nucleolus to burst by itself, you will only have to open it. It is very important not to overdo the nuts on fire and in water. With long-term heating, the nuts can lose their nutritional properties, and with a long stay in water they become damp and lose their taste.
7. Oven. It is very easy to clean roasted pine nuts. They are poured on a baking sheet and sent to the oven for half an hour. The heating temperature should be around 200 degrees. When the nuts have cooled, it will be very easy to peel them, the shell goes away with a simple pressure with your fingers.
8. Freezer. Pine nuts should be poured into a plastic bag and put them in the freezer. After a few hours, the nuts are taken out, spread out over the bag so that they form one thin layer. After that, on the nuts you need to walk with a rolling pin, splitting the shell. After such manipulations, leave the nuts thawed, and then manually clean the kernel from the chopped shell. Freezing is done so that in the process of rolling the kernel with a rolling pin, they remain intact. In addition, the frozen shell is less elastic, and therefore more fragile.
9. Salty water. Siberians know that in order for the nuts to be easily cleaned, they must be held in salt water. Dissolve three tablespoons of salt in a liter of warm water and dip the nuts in them. An hour later, the nuts themselves cracked, you do not have to suffer with rolling pins and hammers. The nutlet is then easy to clean with your fingers.

If your child likes pine nuts, give him a special nutcracker. This gift will be particularly relevant on the eve of the New Year.

Pine nuts are a storehouse of vitamins, macro- and microelements, which nature itself gives us with pleasure.To enjoy the benefits of this product, you only need to know how to quickly and effectively chop this moody, hard, but so insanely tasty pine nut.

Video: How to Peel Pine Nuts