In the store, the hand reaches out to ready-to-eat, shelled walnuts, but their cost is often twice as much as regular ones. It is much more profitable to peel walnuts from shells and husks yourself, especially since this will be easy to do with the methods listed below.
Mechanical methods for removing shells
Walnuts are easy to peel with a little physical effort. For this you can use:
- hammer;
- nutcracker;
- pliers or pliers;
- door;
- knife (you can use a can or screwdriver).
These methods are good because of their accessibility - every home has a heavy object that can crack nuts. If you have interior doors installed, you can carefully squeeze the fruit between the jamb and the sash. In this case, no effort will be required from you - just push the door so that it closes, and the shell will easily crack. You should not use this method often, because the beauty of the door may suffer and the hinges may become loose.
Good to have in the house special device for cracking nuts, it is often called a nutcracker. If you often make salads or baked goods with the kernels of these fruits, go to any hardware store and purchase this item. You should not replace the nut cracker with a press for preparing garlic paste, as these are completely different tools. The design of the press may not withstand the load from the hard shell.
Instead of a nutcracker, ordinary pliers or pliers will help you crack the walnuts. Just a little effort is enough and the shell will crack easily. However, you should not use the tools frequently, as their handles may become loose from heavy work. When you crack the nuts with this tool, place the pliers with them in your palm. This way, the shell will not scatter all over the room, but will remain in your hand.
If you need to peel the fruits of a wild tree (they have a very dense shell, small size and elongated shape), then it is best to use a hammer. They should hit the nuts to break the shells. To avoid littering the entire kitchen with shells and losing the kernels, place the fruits in a small canvas bag or thick plastic bag. This will also help you speed up the cleansing process.
Another way to make the process of chopping with a hammer easier is suitable for those who recently had a celebration with champagne. Don't throw away the bottle, you will need it as an ideal stand for nuts - place them on the neck and hit the shell with a hammer. If you did everything correctly, the hard shell will break up into several even parts. The main thing is that the blow is accurate, then the cleaning process will be quick and safe.
Another quick but traumatic method is cracking the shell with a knife. To do this, select a knife with a blade made of dense, thick steel and insert its tip into the gap between the halves of the shell. Turn the knife slightly and remove the hard shell. The advantage of this method is that the kernels are smooth and neat. You can also remove them using a knife. The disadvantage of this method is the possibility of injury from a slipped blade.
Thermal methods to facilitate cleaning
Experienced housewives know that using high temperature can soften the shell of any nut. After this, there will be no problem splitting it. Walnuts can be processed as follows:
- Place in boiling water and keep in it for about 30 minutes. During this time, the hard shell will be well soaked and can be removed with a fork or a simple knife. If you use this method, find a barely visible crack at the top and bottom of the fruit, insert the blade there and gently turn.
- If you need to peel a large batch of nuts, then it is best to choose a different method - scatter them on a baking sheet and heat to 200 degrees in the oven. You need to bake the fruits for 10 minutes, after which you can even break the thick shells using an ordinary wooden board. Please note that you need to start cleaning only after the fruit has completely cooled.
These methods are best chosen if you do not want to scare your neighbors with scary sounds and you do not have enough strength to use mechanical methods for removing shells.
How to remove brown husks and why to do it
Each core is covered with a thin film of dark color. It can be used to determine how long the nut was stored after being collected from the tree:
- at fresh fruits she is beige;
- in stale ones it is dark brown.
This thin film can give the kernel an unpleasant bitter taste that many people do not like. If the shell was removed industrially, then the film, as a rule, remains on the kernel. It is almost impossible to remove it from peeled kernels bought in a store, since during transportation they knead and turn into crumbs.
It is easiest to peel young walnuts from this husk. Their kernels can be washed in boiling water, which is enough to completely remove the thin skin. As a result, you will get light kernels with a pleasant milky taste. These are the nuts that should be added to baked goods and salads.
Stale fruits require longer processing after being released from the shell. You can clean the husks in one of the following ways:
- soaking in boiling water;
- frying in a pan;
- baking in the oven.
For any of these procedures, only 5 minutes are enough, after which the peel can be removed quickly. IN as a last resort use a small brush to help remove any dark husk particles.
Storage of finished kernels
If you want to always have peeled kernels on hand, then you need to learn how to store them correctly. It is not recommended to leave kernels without shells and especially husks for a long time, since during storage walnuts lose some of their vitamins and microelements.
In the refrigerator, the finished kernels will not deteriorate within 9 months, but by the end of this period they will no longer be a source of large amounts of vitamins. It's a good idea to place the shelled nuts in the freezer so they can be used within two years. Clean kernels must be placed in any container (preferably glass or plastic) and placed in the refrigerator. Remember, if you washed the kernels, you should dry them before storing.
Walnuts are inherently almost unique due to their beneficial properties. They contain a lot of vitamins and other useful substances. They are almost three-quarters fat, which, of course, contains a lot of protein. They are very high in calories, which makes them useful not only for people involved in sports, but also for those who lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle. In addition, they are also used in cosmetic and even medical purposes. Thanks to the elements in their composition, they are able to cure many different ailments, and are also used for their prevention. Various recipes quite a lot, so anyone can find them on the Internet without any problems. At the same time, peeling a walnut is not the most pleasant process, so in this article we will tell you how to peel walnuts.
In fact, the question “How to peel walnuts” is quite relevant. If you are engaged self-cultivation nuts and you have the task of peeling the freshly picked fruits, then there will be no problems with the husks. If the film has already dried, then the process becomes a little more complicated. You will need to fry the nuts a little, then blow on them with three hands, as a result of which the husks simply fly off. There is also an important point here - try not to let the nuts get too hot, because... Because of this, up to half of the nutrients are lost.
So how to split Walnut Without damaging the kernel, this is quite a difficult task; you should not hit the nut with a hammer or try to split it with a door. Of course, you can try to lightly tap the shell with a hammer until a few cracks appear, and then release the kernel out. However, the chances of not calculating the force are quite high.
If you carefully examine the nut, you will notice a small crack at the joint. Just take a knife in one hand, a nut in the other and insert the knife into this crack. By turning it to the side, the shell will split into two parts, and all you have to do is free the whole kernel out.
If you are unable to carefully peel a walnut using this method, simply warm it up a little in the oven.
The complexity of the process can also be influenced by what type of nut you are dealing with, as well as the degree of ripeness of the fruit. In both cases, the difference lies in the thickness of the shell. You can also crack walnuts at home using pliers, but the risk of splitting the kernel is quite high.
We have all seen shelled walnuts for sale on the shelves. The kernels are practically perfect. The difference is that in industrial scale shelling nuts is not complex process, unlike at home. Recently, the nut business has become quite popular, and the income from sales is stable and high. The only catch is that initially you need to invest a fairly large amount of money to buy the land or lease it, as well as purchase enough a large number of seedlings. All this pays off only after a year, so this option of earning money does not suit everyone. It is not surprising that people who are professional growers often purchase a cleaning device. walnuts.
Now you know how to clean nuts on an industrial scale, but the machine is quite expensive and this option is definitely not suitable for home use, unless, of course, you are a millionaire.
To peel walnuts at home without putting in much effort, you can purchase special peeling tongs. They are relatively inexpensive and will allow you to quickly peel the shells of nuts while leaving the kernels intact.
How to quickly peel walnuts: Video
When you bought fruits at the market or in a store, do not rush to start chopping, first disinfect them. Most often, nuts are sold on the market uncovered, right in bags, and dirt and bacteria quickly settle on them.
Therefore, before eating, nuts are prepared using any of the following methods:
- wash with laundry soap. Apply soap to a soft foam sponge and rub the shells, then rinse the soap with water;
- scalded with boiling water. Boil a pan of water and place the fruits in it for 1-2 minutes, then rinse with cold water;
- processed in soda solution. Dilute in ordinary water tbsp soda per liter of liquid. Soak the nuts for 1-2 minutes, then rinse under water.
After any processing method, the fruits need to be given time to dry. Place them on newspaper or paper napkins and leave for 1-2 days. When there is no water on the surface, you can start chopping.
Attention!
Nuts can be dried in the oven if you put them for 1-2 hours at temperatures up to 100 degrees.
How to peel a walnut from its shell
If we subdivide the methods of splitting fruits according to the principle of action, we get mechanical and thermal methods. Each method is considered effective and leads to a positive result: the nucleolus is extracted intact and unharmed. Choose the one that will be optimal for you.
Mechanical methods
Under the influence of physical force, even a hard shell cannot withstand it and cracks. It is unlikely that you will be able to crack the nuts with your hands, but with improvised means it is possible:
- nut cracker The most effective method is to crack the nuts using a special device. It can be bought in household goods; the nut cracker is not expensive, about 100-200 rubles. Insert the nut inside the device and squeeze, the shell will crack;
- pliers or pliers. If you don’t have a nut cracker, no problem. The device will completely replace tools. Hold the fruit between the claws and press;
- with a hammer. Place the fruits in a plastic bag. You can use a cloth flap or towel. Place the bag on a hard, flat surface and tap the contents with a hammer. Do not hit too hard, otherwise the kernel will begin to crumble. It is enough to apply 2-3 blows to a ripe fruit, and the shell will crack. If you have a round ring at home where you can place a nut, then place the fruit in it so that the sharp part is on top. Hit the tip of the fruit and then break the skin with a screwdriver;
- door. Try to get the kernels in the following way: place the fruit in the shell in the gap between the door and the jamb. Close the door and then open it again. Be careful: it is easy to get your fingers caught in the door.
Do not turn the fruit into flour; as soon as you see that the shell is cracked, carefully open it with a knife. The core will be intact and undamaged.
Thermal methods
At high temperatures, the shell loses its hardness and becomes more pliable. This factor can be used and nucleoli can be extracted in several ways:
- soak in boiling water. Place the fruits in a pan of boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. When time has passed, simply insert a knife into the hole in the shell and try to turn it. Crack the shell and remove the kernels;
- bake in the oven. First, preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the nuts on a dry baking sheet. Place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes. Fruits should not be exposed to high temperatures, as their taste will deteriorate. Remove the roasted nuts and allow them time to cool. Then tap a little with a hammer, the shell will open on its own without effort;
- in a frying pan. Place the frying pan on the fire, do not add oil to it. Heat a frying pan, then add dry nuts. Fry for 10 minutes, stir. When the nuts have cooled, crack the shell with a knife.
Thermal methods are effective, but still require the use of physical force, albeit small. If you can’t crack already roasted nuts the first time, it’s better not to repeat it, but use mechanical methods.
How to peel green walnuts
If you have seen how walnuts grow, then you know that at first the fruit is covered with a green skin. It performs a protective function, but removing it will require strength. In addition to being durable, the skin contains a coloring pigment. As a result, your hands turn brown, and it is very difficult to wash them afterwards. To remove color from leather, use the following:
- laundry soap. Lather a hard whisk and rub the dirtiest places;
- hydrogen peroxide. Buy a diluted peroxide solution at the pharmacy, apply to cotton wool and wipe the skin. The dye will remain on the swab. Take a clean disc and continue removing the color;
- soda. Wet your hands in water and apply a little baking soda. Rub the powder onto your skin, then rinse.
On a note!
Instead of soda, you can use regular soda table salt or any cosmetic scrub.
When the skin on your hands brightens and the brown spots from the peel disappear, lubricate your hands generously with cream to prevent dryness. To avoid having to remove traces of peeling, wear thick rubber or textile gloves before the process. They will absorb the color and your hands will remain clean.
There are several methods for removing the green peel from a walnut:
- using a nut peeler. You don’t often see such a device in stores, but in places where fruits are grown, the device is actively used. The fruit is inserted into the peeler between the grooves and squeezed, as a result the outer shell cracks;
- with a knife. Take a small sharp knife so that it is convenient to work with. Make deep cuts in the skin and peel it off like peeling a potato. It will take a lot of time to clean, but each nut will be processed as it should;
- fast way. When there is no nut sheller and no free time, place the unshelled nut on the ground. Step on it with your foot, but not with all your weight, but carefully. As soon as you feel that the shell is cracked, lift the fruit and peel it. Prepare your shoes: the soles should not be dirty.
When you remove the green shell, dry the fruits at room temperature within 5-6 weeks. Just scatter them on a flat surface or put them in a box. This way the fruits will reach final maturity.
Do I need to wash it?
When you take out the nut kernels, there may be small debris left on them from the splitting, or bacteria that were accidentally introduced during cleaning. It is necessary to process nuts, this is the only way they will be stored for a long time and retain their useful qualities. The simplest option is to pour boiling water over the kernels; the pathogenic microflora instantly dies at elevated temperatures, and the peel particles are washed off.
Some housewives advise soaking the kernels briefly in cool, salted water. Take a saucepan and prepare a salt solution in it at the rate of tsp. salt per liter of water. Place nuts in water and leave for 10-20 minutes. Disinfection occurs, in addition, the fruits acquire a richer taste after saline solution. When time has passed, place the kernels in a colander and rinse off the remaining salt with plain water.
How to dry
Moisture for walnuts destructive. If water gets in or the kernels are poorly dried, mold will form on the surface over time and the kernel will begin to rot. Under no circumstances should it be eaten as food, as it is dangerous to health; you can immediately throw the moldy fruits in the trash. Therefore, when you have disinfected the kernels, be sure to dry them thoroughly.
Use the oven to dry. On a baking sheet, without oil, place the kernels in one row and place in an oven already preheated to 150 degrees. Open the door slightly if yours gets too hot. Soak the nuts for at least 5-10 minutes, then take one, cool and taste. It should be pleasant, not burnt, but with a baked taste and aroma.
On a note!
Be careful, a hot nut has a completely different taste, not the same as a cooled one. Always cool the kernels after roasting to avoid overcooking.
Walnuts can be roasted in a frying pan. Take cast iron frying pan and heat it up. Sprinkle the nuts onto the hot surface without stirring. When the nuts are hot, turn them over with a wooden or silicone spatula. Don't put too many nuts in the pan; it will be difficult to mix them. Leave the heat on medium. The total time it takes to calcinate is 7-10 minutes. Do not let the nuts burn.
Do you have a microwave at home? Use it to dry walnuts. Place the fruit in a heatproof bowl and microwave for a couple of minutes. Cover the cup with a plate to prevent the nuts from scattering. Then cool the nuts and taste. They acquire a pleasant aroma and an interesting aftertaste.
How to peel nut kernels
There is a thin film on the nucleoli, which gives the bitter taste. The film can be removed; it is easily removed from fried fruits. Just put the nuts in a bag and rustle them a little. The dry skin will fall off on its own, and the kernel will become clean.
If the nuts are young and slightly unripe, then the film is not so easy to peel off. Soak the fruits in warm salted water for 20 minutes and then rinse with clean water. After washing, place the nuts on paper to dry. The film will disappear, and there will be no more bitterness in the taste.
How to store shelled walnuts and how much
For storage, select only those fruits that look healthy. It is desirable that the size of the kernels be the same; there should be no damage or signs of mold on the surface. If you store walnuts in shells, make sure that there are no cracks in the shells. If nuts a small amount of, shake each fruit: the characteristic sound of the nucleolus rolling should be heard, this means that it is normal.
Store peeled and unshelled nuts in a dark, dry place with a cool temperature. This could be a storage room, a glassed-in balcony, a kitchen drawer, or a veranda. The main condition is the absence of water and elevated temperature. When stored in a warm place, nuts quickly lose their taste and become moldy. Pour the nuts into glass jar, a tin box.
Peeled nuts can be stored in plastic bag or under vacuum.
The shelf life of peeled nuts at room temperature is no more than 2-3 weeks; if the temperature is kept in the range from 10 to 20 degrees, then the shelf life will be longer by 2 weeks.
Some housewives advise freezing peeled nuts, which can be preserved for up to 3 months. Taste qualities And beneficial features are not getting worse. When you want to eat fresh fruits, take out the bag with the preparation from freezer and after a couple of hours enjoy the nuts. Unshelled nuts are stored much longer than peeled ones - up to 3 months. You can put them in glass containers, but just close the lid tightly so that moisture does not get into the jar from the air.
When eating nuts every day, do not forget that it is better not to eat more than 10 of them, as they are high in calories. Then you will be able to feel the benefits of the fruits for yourself: in just a couple of weeks regular use The functioning of the body will improve, and the state of health will return to normal. Take a couple of nuts for a snack at work or before training, they will instantly satisfy your hunger, and the feeling of fullness will remain for a long time.
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As children, we absolutely did not think about how to peel walnuts or the same hazelnut correctly: we found a nut we liked, hit it with something heavy, and now a delicious kernel is already in the palm of our hand. Unfortunately, in modern city apartments this method of peeling nuts is unlikely to work. So we have to invent ways to make peeling walnuts at home not only easy, but also as safe as possible.
When asked how to quickly peel walnuts, many prefer to do it the good old way: simply by cracking the shell, using a kitchen knife or ordinary household scissors.
This method of peeling walnuts is not only not very correct, but also dangerous: by slightly increasing the pressure, you can injure your hands or damage the blade of the tool you are using. It's much better to play it safe and try one or more following methods cleaning:
That's all simple, but, of course, effective ways How to properly remove shells from nut kernels. But that's not all: next you need to clean the kernels from the husk covering them - a thin skin that can be easily removed from a young fruit, but much more effort will be required to process those kernels that have already been sitting for a while.
Video “Quick cleaning method”
From the video you will learn how to quickly peel nuts.
Removing the husks from nuts
Many believe that there is no answer to the question of how to quickly peel a nut kernel from the husk: you need to monotonously process each kernel separately. In fact, this is not true at all. There are several ways that allow you to get rid of the skin without much hassle:
Culinary experts agree that using methods involving heating in the oven or in a frying pan is more preferable: such products last longer, are less likely to be damaged by pests, and heat treatment has a positive effect on taste.
In addition, you can easily determine the quality of the kernels at the processing stage: nuts of low quality or with signs of spoilage will emit bad smell mustiness or rot. It is better to throw away such specimens immediately without regret - eating them is dangerous to health. But a high-quality, healthy nut will open up in a new way, and become even tastier, more nutritious and healthier!
The difficulty of eating walnuts is that the shell is quite dense and difficult to crack. This point largely prevents the sufficient use of this useful and accessible product to many of our readers. The question of how to quickly and correctly crack walnuts at home becomes more acute before the holidays, when it is necessary to prepare a sufficient number of kernels for the celebration. Harvesting nut fruits has always been a profitable and guaranteed income, but industrial enterprises prefer to purchase ready-made and already peeled raw materials.
As a small digression, we will reveal a few secrets of farmers who are professionally involved in harvesting. With their help, you can better understand the features of this type of activity or provide for yourself at home high quality product nutrition, since kernels are a component of many confectionery and are considered one of the best ingredients in cooking.
There are a number of ways you can easily, quickly and efficiently crack walnuts at home, with or without a variety of available equipment. However, to put this work on stream, you need to understand the varieties that are used for harvesting. The thickness and hardness of the peel and, accordingly, the choice of cleaning method depend on the variety.
Varieties of walnuts: features of choice
Walnut refers to cultivated trees, cultivated for growing fruits. The nut family, growing in temperate latitudes, has at least 20 species of trees, which differ in the consumer properties of the resulting fruits. The tree bears fruit with cyprus drupes, so before harvesting and purchasing, you need to take into account the size of the fruit and the characteristics of the peel. It is recommended to choose large-fruited varieties with a rather fragile fruit rind; they are in greatest demand among confectionery enterprises and are usually easy to process.
On sale you can find rock nuts, Volzhsky, Toporovsky, Pridnestrovsky, and low-growing early-fruiting varieties. The most popular variety is Ideal, which produces fruits the size of a matchbox, and Tien Shan, whose fruits, when properly cultivated, reach the size chicken egg. Black walnut is considered the most common and unpretentious, at the same time very useful for treating a number of diseases.
Unripe fruits have long been the raw material for tasty and healthy nut liqueurs. For the preparation of medicinal and cosmetics waste not used for food is also used.
Harvesting walnuts
Choosing a method for cleaning walnuts depends on the availability of equipment and the quantity you need to process. The gold standard is the whole form of the fleshy and lightly dried core, which is purchased at a higher price and is also a favorite product on the market. home desk. We recommend preparing chopped nuts with whole kernels, and only then taking steps to grind them for personal use or hand over the product to the purveyors.
Stage 1: Preparing for cleaning at home
The first stage is the sorting of raw materials. Usually it does not take much time; the fruits are collected from the same tree or from a planting; accordingly, they have similar characteristics. The main task is to separate raw materials based on the size and structure of the peel. Small fruits, large ones and nuts that have a “muscular” and very dense shell should be processed separately.
Large-fruited walnuts
The hard crust requires additional preparation and is not so easy to crack. “Fine” is also quite difficult to split due to its small size. These fruits will have to be further prepared before cleaning. The more fragile peel of those nuts that were peeled after harvesting by heating in the oven, roasting or drying. The fruits are also better peeled in the season with warm and hot August; in this case, they reach maturity, and the peel remains dense, but acquires the necessary fragility.
Stage 2: preparation of raw materials
Preparation of raw materials includes boiling or drying them in the oven. This step is necessary in the following cases:
- small-fruited and hard large-fruited raw materials;
- large volumes of workpieces in the absence of specialized tools; to increase cleaning speed.
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Natural sun drying
Preparation options:
- natural drying in the sun;
- pouring boiling water over the raw materials for 10 minutes;
- heating the fruits in the oven for 10 minutes at a temperature of 200C (in small volumes, in the summer kitchen you can dry the nuts in large frying pans);
- soak in hot salted water for 30 minutes (salt is added by eye, as when preparing food, 1 tablespoon or dessert spoon for 2-3 liters of water, it is better to use rock salt).
Stage 3: shell splitting
The third stage and the choice of method for splitting the shell at home depends on the volume of the workpiece and the availability of specialized tools.
Nuts can be cracked:
- by using sharp knife;
- hammer;
- using a nut cracker;
- bottles and hammer.
Method 1: splitting with a knife and a hammer
Using a sharp knife, the raw materials are cleaned after preliminary preparation(boiling, frying or soaking), piercing between the halves in the middle part. Hammering is a relatively quick and easy cleaning method with fairly high quality. In an evening you can clean up to 6 kg of finished raw materials, 35% of which will be kernels. In other words, to obtain 2 kg of nut kernels using the hammer cleaning method, 5-6 hours of work are required. You can clean them a little faster if you use a knife after preliminary preparation.
Method 2: splitting on the bottle
One of the most interesting and affordable ways to obtain whole nut kernels, which are the highest quality raw materials, is bottle cracking. A bottle of beer or champagne is used for this. IN in this case The choice of neck depends on the size of the fruit. For regular size, imported beer bottles are chosen. For large-fruited ones - a champagne bottle, for small-fruited ones - water bottles.
The basic principle used in this method cleaning consists of uniform distribution of impact force. Also, the recoil effect from the neck on which the nut fruit is installed has a significant influence. The base of the nut is placed on the neck. If everything is done correctly and thoughtfully, even a dense peel will be easier to prick, while keeping the core intact.
Method 3: cracking with a nut cracker
You can find a number of devices for cleaning nuts on sale. The most effective is the Nutcracker or bottle V-shaped nut cracker. The high efficiency of this device lies in the distribution of the force transmitted from the handles to almost the entire surface of the nut peel, as a result, even with slight pressure, it splits while maintaining an intact core.
Nutcracker Nutcracker
The effectiveness of these nut crackers may vary due to their shape. It is worth choosing a model that “envelops” the entire nut. Due to this, you will have to apply less force during work, and you can chop the fruits in less time.
Step 4: Sorting the chopped nuts
The chopped nuts are cleaned of the lintels, which are a separate harvesting product, and the peel. Some manufacturers accept not only the core and lintels, but also the peel, which is used to produce various eco-fillers and make scrubs. Chipped nuts can be stored at home for at least several months until the next season.
Conclusion
You can choose for yourself how to properly and quickly chop walnuts using one of the proposed methods. Also watch the video showing step by step process. This will help you make your own nutrition richer, maintain good spirits and a sharp mind until old age.
Walnuts help prevent Alzheimer's disease, protect blood vessels from atherosclerosis and preserve vision. This product is a natural energy booster, and when combined with prunes, it allows you to protect yourself from radiation, which is especially important for owners of private houses with poor-quality underground ventilation, living in areas with uranium deposits.
