How to make pistachios open

Why are pistachio nuts often sold with cracks?

Pistachios are covered with a hard and dense shell, which is quite difficult to split when closed. But nature itself makes this task easier, because when 70-90% of fruits are fully ripe, the shell bursts on its own for natural reasons .
This crack is also used to determine the maturity of the nut itself. Anyone can peel a nut from a half-open shell, so the manufacturer does not particularly focus on this and collects nuts in shell from trees using harvesting machines; the nuts are roasted and salted in the same form. The natural crack allows heat and spices to pass well to the kernel, and the processing process itself does not require complex manipulations for additional cleaning. This saves time in preparing the product for sale and affects its cost.

The shell opens in mature and large specimens; some nuts remain closed and are often found in packaging. Some manufacturers sort unopened nuts and process them in a special apparatus in order to crack them.

How to easily open closed pistachios? You definitely didn’t know this ingenious method!

Pistachio is a fairly strong nut, which is enclosed in a strong and hard shell. When there is a gap, the fruit can be opened with a fingernail or half a shell from another nut. But more often the question is how to open pistachios if they are closed and there are no visible cracks. In this case, a hammer or nut tongs will come to the rescue.

Why are nuts sold in shells?

To roast and salt walnuts or cashews, manufacturers first open the shells. But this rule does not apply to pistachios. In 80-90% of fruits, the shell splits when ripe.

After harvesters collect the nuts from the trees, they can be salted and roasted, but with the hard shells still attached. Natural splitting allows salt and heat to reach the core, eliminating the purification process. This saves time and money required to process the product.

Shell as a sign of maturity

Typically, the shell opens naturally only on mature and large fruits. Only a small percentage of pistachios remain unopened - they are often found in packages. Some producers select unopened fruits to split them in a special machine.

Typically, a natural crack in the shell indicates the maturity of the nut. However, the differences in flavor between open and unopened pistachios are subtle.

Reference! Unopened nuts are useful as a snack because they need to be peeled, which slows down the rate of eating.

Peeling fruit from shell

You can use special tongs to split an unopened pistachio without cracking. In the absence of such, ordinary pliers or a garlic press will do. The main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise the nut will turn into crumbs. You can also break the durable shell with a hammer.

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It is convenient to open fruits that have at least a small crack using a coin or a shell from a split pistachio. It needs to be inserted into the slot and turned to the side. The shell will open completely and the nut will fall out into your hand.

Manual opening is the most environmentally friendly, safe, and at the same time expensive method.

Other methods involve using industrial machines to crack the unopened fruit, soaking in water and then drying, and even using ice to split the shell.

Carefully! Trying to open nuts with your teeth will not lead to anything good. The pistachio has a fairly hard skin. Neither implants nor your own teeth are designed to withstand such a load.

How to peel

To use pistachios for culinary purposes, it is necessary to peel not only the shell, but also the inner skin (husk). Then the kernels will be better and more tender. To do this you need:

Place nuts on a baking sheet.
Place the pan in the oven preheated to 200⁰.
Make sure that the kernels do not burn. Periodically remove, stir and bake in the oven again.
Remove after 15 minutes.
Roll the nuts on a waffle towel to completely remove the husks from the kernels.

You can use another method: pour boiling water over the fruits and leave for 4 minutes. Drain the liquid and fill the container with pistachios with ice water. After these manipulations, the peel will be removed with the same ease.

How to prepare salted nuts

Pistachio kernels are used in many cuisines around the world. Green nuts are an excellent addition to main dishes and desserts. They are also delicious as a snack. You can prepare the salty delicacy at home, for this you will need:

nuts;
salt;
pot;
baking sheet or frying pan.

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During the cooking process you must:

Prepare a supersaturated salt solution for pickling nuts.
Place the fruits in it. There is no need to clean them.
Keep at room temperature for two hours.
Remove from the solution and dry on a towel.
Fry in a frying pan or bake in the oven. You can also cook nuts over a regular fire, so they will be saturated with smoke and will be even more flavorful.

Summing up

Usually, when the kernel ripens, it splits the outer shell itself, producing a characteristic sound. But there are also closed pistachios, which can only be opened mechanically. The kernel in them is smaller and often wrinkled. To open pistachios without cracking, tongs or pliers are often used.

How to open pistachios correctly? You definitely didn’t know this ingenious method!

Pistachios are an incredible source of nutrients. Moreover, these nuts have a unique taste and aroma. They can be eaten fresh or roasted. But cleaning pistachios becomes a real nightmare for many.

With the help of this video, you will learn how to easily and very quickly open these delicious nuts. It’s strange that such an idea didn’t come to my mind earlier - it’s so elementary!

HOW TO OPEN PISTACHIOS

Look how simply and deftly this man peels pistachios. No broken nails or unopened nuts for you, with this method you can clean a whole bunch of them.

Recipes with pistachios will now become more accessible, because peeling the nuts was the most unpleasant part of this process.

See also: Wow! Now I always do this before frying eggs!

Take advantage of this wonderful discovery! Tell your friends how to properly peel pistachios.

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Step-by-step instructions: how to peel the shell at home?

How to split unopened fruits with pliers?

The diameter of the pistachio is not very large, so it can easily fit into the recess that is in the metal part of the pliers:
This method is good because the cracked shell does not fly apart, but goes straight into the hand.

But there is a danger that pliers can accidentally pinch the skin on your hand, so it is important to be careful when knowing how to crack a closed nut with pliers.

Garlic press

Most garlic press models have a special recess on the handles for cracking nuts, but pistachios are too small and cannot be cleaned this way.

Therefore, the nut in the shell should be placed in a niche where garlic is usually placed, covered and lightly pressed. The main thing is not to overdo it with the pressing force, otherwise you may end up with nut crumbs instead of a peeled kernel. This method is quite safe and simple; the shells do not scatter around the kitchen, but remain in the garlic press.

Nut cracker when there is no crack

The pistachio shell can be cracked using the same principle as other thick-shelled nuts using this device. Place the pistachio in the nut cracker and press the lever until the shell cracks. After this, the nut can be easily peeled.

Hands

Squeeze both halves of the shell so that the crack widens. This should be done until the crack expands to its maximum size, after which you can easily peel the nut.

You can also open the pistachio with your fingernail, inserting it into the slot and turning, or using a piece of shell. Taking half of the already open pistachio shell, insert it edgewise into the hole of the closed nut and turn, repeating the movement as when twisting with a screwdriver. In this case, the shell should be placed across the gap. Once this is done, the shell opens easily and the nut can be removed.

Mixer

If you need to peel a large number of pistachios in a short time, you can use this technology. You will need a mixer with a strong whisk and several walnuts in shell:

With a coin

This method is suitable for pistachios whose shells have at least a small crack. You need to take a pistachio in one hand, place the coin edgewise into the crack and turn it, the pistachio will open.

Should you brush your teeth?

It’s not worth testing your teeth for strength by opening nuts with them. Neither natural teeth nor implants are designed to withstand such a load.

The pistachio shell is quite hard and can be harmful, damaging the enamel, the tooth itself or the gum.

Step-by-step instructions: how to remove the husk?

Using boiling water

Drying and peeling open nuts

Most nuts crack when ripe, but whole, firm pistachios are also found. It is much more difficult to peel an uncracked nut from the shell, but preliminary preparation, in the form of soaking and additional drying, can make this process easier.

For especially strong specimens, or nuts whose shells do not have the slightest cracks, you can use the following additional tools: a nut cracker, a hammer, pliers, and a garlic press.

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The best ways to open a pistachio with or without a crack. Subtleties of the process

Pistachios are the fruits of a tree, less often a shrub, of the species Pistachio (Pistachio tree) (lat. Pistácia véra), belonging to the genus Pistachio (Pistacia) of the Sumachy family (Anacardiaceae). In its natural environment, the pistachio tree can be found on the slopes of the mountains of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, also in Syria, Iran and northern Afghanistan. Pistachio is cultivated in the United States, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Tunisia, China and Madagascar. The world leaders in production are the USA and Iran.

What is

The plant grows as a multi-stemmed tree or shrub. It has a low, dense crown with an ash-gray trunk covered with deep cracks. The root system is two-tiered, powerful, capable of growing to a depth of 15 m and a width of up to 40 m.

The leaves of the tree are simple, leathery, entire, and have a waxy coating. Unisexual flowers are located in axillary panicles, and the ovary is supported on short tripartite columns.

The fruits are ovoid, slightly angular, 25 mm in size. The tree blooms in March–April with an inconspicuous red-yellow color. The leathery shell of the nuts is yellow, red or purple. The oily kernel has a greenish tint, has high taste and an unforgettable aroma. This is a long-lived plant, as pistachios grow for about 500 years.

Pistachio trees are divided into male and female. Pollen from one male tree can pollinate a dozen female pistachios. The fruits of a plant are called nuts only in cooking, and botanists call them seeds. They ripen in the fall. Unripe pistachio is life-threatening as it contains essential oils in large quantities. You should wait until the shell opens under the influence of ultraviolet light and makes a characteristic click.

Growing, collecting and processing fruits

Pistachios are propagated by seed or cuttings. The trees are grown on huge plantations, and then collected and processed using special equipment.

The nuts grow in large clusters that look like bunches of grapes. The first harvest from a young tree can be harvested no earlier than after 6-8 years. Pistachios ripen at the end of September, and at the same time they begin to be harvested. This is done using special combines.

The collected nuts are sent to a factory where they are immediately processed, as they can spoil very quickly.

The technological process of industrial processing of pistachios is as follows:

Peeling and sorting, during which the husks and empty shells are separated from nuts suitable for further consumption. To do this, they are soaked, as a result of which the good nuts sink to the bottom, and the unnecessary debris floats to the surface.
Drying, during which excess moisture is removed from the nuts. This helps prevent the appearance of fungus and spoilage of the product.
Storage is carried out in huge silos, which maintain cool temperatures and low humidity. Thanks to the content of pistachios in such conditions, they can be stored for a year.

The required number of nuts is selected from the storage bins and sent to sorting, where large pistachios are separated from small ones. This process is carried out in the sorting workshop using calibrating machines.

Next, pistachios with slightly open shells are separated from closed ones using special equipment. After this, using a high-tech scanner, nuts with various defects are rejected. They are then sent along a conveyor belt to be sorted again, where workers remove the remaining bad nuts by hand.

The last stage is pasteurization at a temperature of 112 degrees. This process removes excess moisture and kills the fungus. Afterwards, the finished pistachios are packaged and sent from the factory for sale. Some of the nuts that are planned to be sold fried or salted are pre-roasted and processed in spices.

For your information: Due to their high taste, pistachio fruits on the world market are valued at 3-4 times more expensive than walnuts and almonds.

Recommendations for consuming pistachios during lactation

So, can you eat pistachios while breastfeeding? Undoubtedly, this product can be included in the diet of nursing mothers, but it will only be useful if the young mother observes moderation in its use.

It is difficult to find a person who would not appreciate the taste of pistachios. But in Russia, few people know what a pistachio tree looks like and where it grows. The reason is that only in some regions of our country there are suitable conditions for the growth of the species.

The food market has 12 types of main pistachio varieties. Most of which are grown in Iran. All varieties have a thin shell that spontaneously opens when ripe, large nut sizes, high yields, and resistance to diseases and harmful insects. These include:

The common pistachio, unlike the blunt-leaved pistachio, is not an ornamental plant, but produces tasty fruits that are consumed fried, raw and salted. Widely used in cooking and folk medicine. The approximate timing of fruiting of the common pistachio is 9-10 years after sowing.

Areas of application of pistachios

All parts of the pistachio - leaves, wood, fruits, resin - can be used by people for their needs.

The pistachio tree has wood that is highly durable. Due to this, it is used to make furniture and other wood products.
The resin, which is released from tree trunks after special notches are applied to them, is used to make high-quality varnishes. It is extracted only from male trees, since they have less value compared to female ones.

Pistachio resin.
The leaves are used in the manufacture of medicines. And due to the high content of tannins in their composition, they are also used in the leather and textile industries. These tannins can also be used to make paints.
Nuts are eaten as a snack or added to various dishes and desserts.
The shell contains many useful substances, which is why medicinal tinctures are made from it. At home, shells can be used as material for crafts and drainage for indoor plants. The substances contained in their composition have pronounced soil-protective properties.
The oil is an indispensable ingredient in the manufacture of some medicines, cosmetics and perfumes, varnishes and paints. Pistachio oil is used in cooking and also in making sausages.

Pistachio oil.
The cake that remains after pressing the nuts to obtain oil is used as feed for poultry and livestock.

How many pistachios can you eat during breastfeeding and when should they be introduced into the diet?

In order to protect yourself as much as possible from side effects, you must follow a number of recommendations.

A young mother can try to introduce pistachios into her diet for the first time only when the child is six months old.

This is due to the fact that until six months of age, the baby’s digestive system is not yet fully formed and even a small amount of a new product can cause an allergic reaction or digestive problems.

First, you should try eating a small handful of pistachios and monitor the baby’s reaction for 1-2 days. If there is no redness on his skin and his stool maintains its consistency, then you can slightly increase the number of nuts you eat per day.

The maximum allowed intake is no more than 100 grams of pistachios per day, and it is advisable to divide this volume into 2-3 doses. Pediatricians recommend eating nuts not every day, but with an interval of 1-2 days, so you can eat 300-400 grams of the product per week.

Application

Pistachios are eaten raw, roasted, and salted. They are used:

Pistachio leaves contain many tannins, which are used for tanning and the production of medicines. After pressing the oil, the cake is eaten by livestock and birds, and the branches serve as decorative decorations.

Pistachio oil is in great demand both in nutrition and in cosmetology. It is used in aromatherapy and in the treatment of many diseases. It is used to treat tuberculosis, jaundice, and normalize the functioning of the heart and liver.

As a cosmetic product, it has a beneficial effect on the skin, protects from ultraviolet radiation and wind, eliminates freckles and age spots, is perfectly absorbed and leaves no marks. Therefore, it is used for massage, added to creams and balms, it relieves inflammation and heals small wounds. Wonderfully strengthens hair, giving it smoothness and healthy shine. Perfectly nourishes nails and cuticles, softens the skin of the hands.

How are pistachios used?

Thanks to their taste and beneficial composition, pistachios have long won the love of consumers. These nuts are popular as a snack for beer.

. But besides this, pistachios are eaten in different forms.

Pistachio ice cream, pistachio candies

- popular sweets using this nut. Pistachios are combined with meat dishes and salads. They will help add a delicious aroma to any dish.

In addition, pistachios are also used in cosmetology.

. More precisely, not the nuts themselves, but the oil that is made from them. Pistachio oil helps whiten the skin, so it is included in whitening products that help get rid of age spots and freckles.

For hair

Pistachio oil
is used in its pure form, or combined with other oils, for example, jojoba oil. Pistachio oil helps make hair shinier and stronger, has a strengthening effect on hair follicles, and therefore helps combat the cause of hair loss.

With the help of pistachio oil, you can get rid of facial wrinkles and refresh your complexion. For facial skin, pistachio oil is used as a base oil, to which essential oils are added - chamomile, rose, orange, etc.

Pistachio oil is also beneficial for nails

. It is used, as in the case of skin, as a base oil to which other oils are added. The mixture of oils is applied to the nail plate and massaged. This procedure will help strengthen your nails and make them less fragile.

The health benefits of pistachios are as undeniable as they are for their appearance. In ancient times, these nuts were used to treat diseases, but how do pistachios affect various internal organ systems? More on this later.

Are pistachios harmful to health?

Pistachios have many beneficial properties, but will eating pistachios cause harm? It is worth remembering that these nuts are a strong allergen. Therefore, if a person is prone to allergies, you should refrain from eating pistachios, or introduce these nuts into your diet carefully.

Eating pistachios in large quantities will not bring benefits to the body - nausea and dizziness will appear, since it is a high-calorie product. Just a small amount of pistachios will help lower cholesterol levels. If you eat a large amount of these nuts, it will affect your figure.

In other cases, you can eat these healthy nuts, since the benefits of eating them are much greater than the harm.

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Harmful properties

Due to the high calorie content, pistachios are not recommended for overweight people to consume in large quantities.

Tip: It is recommended to eat no more than 20-25 pistachio kernels during the day. This portion is enough to saturate the body with essential nutrients and not cause weight gain.

Since this nut is a strong allergen, its consumption can lead to the development of a severe allergic reaction, and even anaphylactic shock.

It is also not recommended to abuse pistachios for people with hypertension, since this product can harm their health - lead to increased blood pressure, nausea and dizziness. And since this nut has laxative properties, you should refrain from consuming it during diarrhea.