How to crack walnuts at home without damaging the kernels

Features of green nut peel

To get the milk nut inside the shell, you need to get rid of

Nut shelling machine

green casing in which fruits grow and ripen. But if you peel the fruit with unprotected hands, your fingers will very quickly turn a persistent brown color. The green shell contains juglone. This is a natural dye that very quickly turns skin and clothing a rich brown color.

To clean stained fingers from juglone, it is recommended to take a warm bath for your hands with the addition of citric acid or

Peeling a nut with a knife

hydrogen peroxide. It is better to replace citric acid with lemon juice. Using peroxide, you can not make a bath, but treat your fingers with this product and put rubber gloves on your hands. After 15-20 minutes, remove the gloves and wash your hands with laundry soap.

Peeling the peel

You can use a knife to remove the green skin from the nuts. If the fruits are ripe,

then a small cut will help remove the shell. If the nuts have not yet ripened, the green peel of the fruit must be cut into small pieces with a knife. And in order not to think later about how to clean your hands of green walnuts, it is better to do this with household gloves.

But if the matter is done on the street, where it is not possible to use gloves and a knife, you can use the method

which is very familiar to schoolchildren. You need to put the nut on the ground and press it down with your foot. Then you need to roll the fruit, carefully removing the green shell. It is important not to overdo it or use more force than necessary. Otherwise, along with the green peel, there will be

Pressing the nut with your foot

the shell and the valuable nut are crushed. This simple method allows you to quickly and without staining the skin of your hands to peel the walnut fruit.

You can watch the video on how to clean your hands of green nuts.

The final stage of cleaning

After the green shell is removed, it is necessary to complete the cleansing by removing the remnants of the green peel and white veins. After final cleansing, the fruits should be laid out on a dry, flat surface and left for a month and a half. During this period, the milky unripe kernels will reach the desired condition, harden and acquire crispness. Gradually, during drying, the top film on the kernels will no longer be bitter.

Champagne bottle method

The champagne bottle method works flawlessly. This, along with my favorite one described above, is the most effective method I know.

Note that it is important to use a champagne bottle, as it is more stable than others. In addition, its neck is tighter.

Place the nut on the neck with the sharp side down. Without using any force, tap the outside with a hammer.

Without encountering resistance from below, the nut does not crush. The shell cracks, but the kernel inside remains intact.

People's ingenuity knows no bounds. It’s good when you don’t need any special tools, just a bottle and a hammer. Did you know how to peel walnuts using a champagne bottle? Which of the following methods seems most convenient to you? I'd love to read your answers in the comments!

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Chopping nuts correctly

To quickly remove kernels from a dense shell, you must use one of the following tools:

• An ordinary hammer.
• Pliers.
• Knife.
• Special tweezers for cracking nuts.

The simplest and most accessible method is chopping nuts with a hammer. And to prevent the fruits from rolling on the floor, it is recommended to use a plumbing coupling as a stand. The metal product will securely fix the nut and will allow you to not hold it with your hands.

To crack a nut, it is recommended to proceed according to the following procedure:

• Cover the table with newspaper and prepare a bowl for collecting the finished kernels.
• Place the sleeve on the newspaper and place the nut fruit in it, with the sharp end up.
• Gently hit the nut with a hammer, gently cracking the shell.
• In order for the core to remain intact, it is important to accurately calculate the impact force.

You can use special tongs to crack nuts. But this device will not allow you to keep the kernels intact. The most convenient method for obtaining whole butterfly kernels is to use a conical nut cracker. At home, you rarely find a plumbing coupling or a special conical nut cracker on hand. These devices are often replaced with a regular knife.

To peel a nut with a knife, you need to turn the fruit with the rounded side towards you and insert the tip into the hole between the two halves. Holding the nut in your hand, use your free hand to turn the knife counterclockwise or counterclockwise. The shell will split into two under the influence of the knife. To remove the kernels, you need to carefully pry them out of the shell halves.

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

Hammer

It is very easy to break the shell with a hammer, but you need to calculate the force of the blow. Otherwise, the core will be damaged, and the fragments will scatter in different directions.

To properly open the fruit into two halves, it is advisable to use a wooden kitchen hammer. The tree will absorb some of the energy.

If you hit too hard, there will be fewer fragments.

Wire cutters

The lips of the nippers are located along the junction of the shell halves. After this, you need to start gently pressing the handles. The nut is very easy to clean in this way.

This method has a big drawback. Very often one of the halves completely falls apart. In this case, the core is severely damaged.

Pliers

Pliers are used to quickly peel nuts . But this method does not involve pricking the shell. Usually the core is not preserved intact. The kernels will not be damaged only if you break off the shell very carefully and in small pieces. When splitting in this way, the nut is placed in pliers, after which squeezing movements are performed. Because of this, the shell begins to burst. You need to be careful not to pinch the skin on your fingers.

Board with notch

For this method you need to prepare a thick board. A recess is made in it so that a medium-sized nut fits almost completely there (about ¾). After this, take a wooden rolling pin, press it against the board and roll it over the nut. Opening a nut this way is quick and easy, but this method requires proper preparation.

Advice

If the recess in the board is made too small, it will be difficult to clean. Also, due to this splitting, the core is severely damaged.

Knife

You can chop walnuts with a regular knife, but you need to be careful so that it doesn’t fall off and hurt your hand. You need to insert the sharp edge into the small hole located on the flattened side. After this, the knife is turned and the shell is divided into two halves. Often the core also splits in half.

With a little practice, you can learn how to peel a nut without damaging the contents. But this method has a drawback. It is not always possible to clean with a knife. In some cases, only a small part breaks off, and through the small hole it is impossible to get the core. We have to use some other method.

Bottle

To keep the kernels intact, use the method of separating the shell on the bottle. It is necessary to take a thick-walled one to reduce the likelihood of damage. A champagne bottle works great. This method will also require a hammer.

The bottle is placed on the table or clamped between the legs (the procedure is performed while sitting). The nut is placed on the neck so that the flattened side faces up and the sharp side faces the bottom. You need to hit the shell with a hammer several times. Once it cracks, it can be easily removed without damaging the core.

Nut cracker

A nut cracker is a special tool consisting of two metal plates with indentations. It allows you to peel the nut without much damage to the kernel. The fruits need to be placed in the recesses and the handles should begin to be squeezed. The applied pressure breaks the shell.

How to break with your hands?

A person with strong hands will be able to do without additional equipment. Two nuts are placed in the palm and squeezed. But you need to be careful, as it is easy to pierce the skin with a small fragment of the shell.

How to properly peel a walnut: 6 ways to quickly crack the shell

Walnut, rich in vitamins and minerals, is a healthy and irreplaceable product. People managed to appreciate all its benefits and nutritional properties in order to understand its uniqueness and value for the human body.

A large number of cuisines from around the world use this ingredient to prepare delicious and unique dishes. Nuts are added to flour products, soups, hot dishes, sauces and desserts. Before consumption or adding to food, the product is peeled.

Features of walnuts as a food product

Growing on a spreading tree and caressed by the warm rays of the sun, walnut fruits reach their maturity in September - October. The green shell cracks in places and darkens, exposing the kernel in a hard brown shell. The fruits collected at this time have the best taste and a large number of useful elements.

External signs allow gardeners to accurately determine the start time of the walnut harvest.

All parts of the plant, including bark, leaves and amniotic membrane, are rich in biologically active substances. If we talk about fruits, then green unripe nuts contain:

• vitamins C, B1, B2 and PP;
• carotene;
• quinones.

The composition of ripe fruits is supplemented with the following elements:

• sitosterols;
• tannins;
• cellulose;
• fatty oils, including linoleic, oleic, linolenic and palmitic acids;
• cobalt and iron salts.

Thanks to their beneficial components, walnuts are recommended for therapeutic, health and preventive purposes. They are useful for the following diseases:

• atherosclerosis;
• hypertension;
• cardiac ischemia;
• high blood sugar and diabetes;
• inflammatory processes;
• avitaminosis;
• lack of iron in the body;
• problems with constipation.

Walnuts have strong antioxidant properties and anti-cancer effects, remove cholesterol and radionuclides from the body, improve radiation resistance, stimulate the production of melatonin and improve human sleep.

They have high nutritional value - more than 600 kcal per 100 grams of product. Depending on the variety they contain:

• fats - 60–78%;
• proteins - up to 21%;
• carbohydrates - 7–14%.

Nut kernels are added to salads, soups, meat dishes and confectionery. The most beneficial consumption of walnuts is fresh. During heat treatment, the beneficial properties of the fruit are significantly reduced, but the excellent taste remains. In combination with honey (in approximately equal proportions), fresh walnut grains contribute to:

• improving brain activity;
• increasing male potency;
• recovery after serious illnesses and operations.

This recipe is also very often used by athletes to recover after grueling workouts.

Video: benefits of walnuts

Doctors recommend eating 4-5 walnuts (about 20 grams) daily. And for this it is important to ensure the safety of the fruits until the next harvest.

How to properly peel walnuts

To preserve all the beneficial properties of walnuts, they are stored in conditions of average humidity. Such products retain their beneficial properties for a long time. Immediately before eating or adding to a dish, walnuts are peeled.

It is not recommended to store the purified product, since it oxidizes as a result of contact with air.

Walnuts are purchased only unshelled. In this case, the person receives maximum benefit from the product. If brown marks remain on your hands when peeling, you can clean the skin with hydrogen peroxide. The correct way is to break the product carefully, this way the delicate kernels will not be damaged.

Processing walnuts after cleaning

The shelled interior of walnuts may contain excess moisture, which will cause it to spoil. In Transcaucasia, they practice treating the purified kernel with smoke.

Smoke treatment has the following advantages:

1. You can get rid of excess moisture in the kernels.
2. The smoke imparts a rich smoked flavor to the finished product.
3. Treatment allows you to neutralize pathogenic bacteria.
4. Steam treatment prevents premature deterioration of the core.

Another older, but equally effective way to treat the cleaned interior is to dry it in sunlight or in an oven. The prepared product is laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet and left in direct sunlight for several days.

You can dry the core in the oven for 10 minutes. It is laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet, and the oven is heated to 40-50 °C. The metal sheet is placed in the oven and the inside is dried for 2 hours. This processing method allows you to remove excess moisture and kill pathogenic bacteria and mold.

After the specified time has passed, the kernels are transferred to parchment or baking paper in a thin layer. The finished product is left for 2-3 hours at room temperature. As soon as the nuts have cooled, they are transferred to a dry container for storage.

You can dry the peeled kernels naturally by spreading them in a thin layer on a tray in a dry, warm room. Periodically, the finished product must be stirred, allowing the moisture to evaporate. Thus, it is dried for 10 to 20 days.

Afterwards, the finished product is transferred into dry glass jars with tightly screwed lids, into dry bags, fabric bags. You cannot use polyethylene to store walnut kernels. Avoid warm rooms and exposure to direct sunlight. Walnuts contain large amounts of oil, which spoils when exposed to high temperatures and light.

It is good to store nut cores in the refrigerator or freezer. With this method, you can use plastic bags.

The nut seed should not be crushed for storage. This way it spoils faster, acquires an unpleasant odor, and begins to taste bitter.

Quick ways to clean walnuts

The fruit ripens at the end of summer on the walnut tree, during which time the green shell darkens and becomes damaged. The shell may be separated from the fruit that has fallen and broken on the ground. Green shells are difficult to clean, but get rid of them in the beginning. In order to quickly peel walnuts, get rid of the green peel, which contains a large amount of natural dye. If you neglect the rules of cleansing the fetus, then a person’s hands will turn brown. To avoid staining, peeling should be done with rubber gloves. You can break the product using different methods, either by damaging the core or leaving it intact. This can be done using the following tools:

• Knife;
• Pliers;
• Nutcracker;
• High temperature;
• Hammer;
• Boiling water.

Knife as a tool for preserving a whole kernel

By prying off the green peel with a knife, the product is peeled from the outer shell. After removing the green peel, the walnuts are placed in a dark, dry place so that the fruit kernels dry. After this, they proceed to clean the kernels from the shell.

When choosing a knife as a walnut peeling tool, preference is given to a medium-sized knife. The nut is unfolded so that its elongated tip points upward. The tip of the knife is inserted into the recess of the nut, located between the two halves of the shell. At this point the knife is turned while holding the nut firmly with the other hand.

After performing this manipulation, the shell cracks. The kernels are pryed with a knife and carefully removed from the shell.

When using this method of chopping nuts, there is a risk of injury due to the knife blade coming off.

This method is ideal for obtaining whole fruit kernels. Pay special attention not to injure the skin by breaking the product.

Removing the shell from a walnut using pliers

Pliers are used for quick cleaning. However, this method does not allow you to chop the product while keeping the core intact. The kernels remain intact only if you carefully break off small pieces from the shell.

When splitting with pliers, the nut is placed in them and squeezing movements are performed, as a result of which the shell cracks.

How to properly crack a walnut

Having strong hands, they are convinced that it is possible to crack walnuts with their hands without extraneous tools. To do this, place one fruit in each palm, cross your arms, as a result of which the shells of each nut are cracked. This method is only suitable for men who have strong, strong arms.

Nut cracker

To facilitate the process of peeling nuts, a nut cracker was invented. The device is an instrument that splits the shell of the fruit. In order to remove the shell from a walnut, the fruit is clamped with a nut cracker so that the teeth of the tool fit tightly to the shell. After squeezing the handles of the product, the fruit splits.

The positive aspect of using this method is that the shells do not fly apart in different directions. With a small pressing force it is possible to keep the kernels intact.

How to properly clean a product using an oven

Heat treatment allows you to quickly peel the shell from a walnut. To do this, the nuts are placed in the oven. The temperature is set to 200 degrees. In this way they undergo heat treatment for 10 minutes. After the fruit has completely cooled, the shells can be easily pricked.

Boiling water as one of the cleaning methods

Another way to soften the shell under high temperature is to immerse it in boiling water. The product is placed in boiling water for half an hour. During heat treatment, the skins become soaked to such an extent that they can simply be removed with a fork or knife. To do this, find it in a small hole, insert the cutlery with the sharp end and turn it easily. After which not a trace remains of the husk. Fruit skins should be removed quickly.

Peel the nut from the shell

Chopping walnuts is easy - just use one of the methods below. But first, purchased fruits must be disinfected - dirt and microbes collect on the surface, which can get inside when chopping.

There are several options for cleaning shells:

• Scald with boiling water and leave the nuts to soak in hot water for a minute;
• Place in a weak soda solution for a few minutes, then rinse with clean water;
• Use a sponge and laundry soap.

We also recommend: Palm kernel oil and palm oil: the difference

Nut cracker

The fruits are clean and dry - you can proceed! Let's try to properly peel a walnut with a special machine:

• Place the core inside the device;
• Squeeze it and wait for the shell to crack;
• Remove the nut.

A nut cracker can be bought at a large store; the device will cost several hundred rubles. If you don’t have a special device at hand, you can find an analogue - clean with pliers or pliers!

• Place walnut between claws;
• Gently squeeze the handles;
• Wait for the crack and clean off the residue with your hands.

Unusual cleaning methods

Unusual methods include the following:

• To do this, take a bottle of classic Soviet champagne, place the nut exactly under it and hit the fruit with the bottle. The product can be divided into halves by splitting it in half.
• Use a garlic press. This method is suitable for small-sized nuts. The whole fruit is placed inside, after which the handle is pressed. When a cracking sound appears, the handles are compressed less, as a result of which the cores receive targets.

When choosing a method for cleaning walnuts at home, they prefer different methods. The main thing is to remember that the use of any tools must be careful to avoid injury.

Walnuts are a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. Eat healthy fruits and take care of your health.

What can I do to ensure that the film is removed properly?

High temperature methods are used to soften the shell. The simplest and most popular is boiling.

The nuts are boiled in a saucepan for half an hour. After this, the shell becomes soft. It can be easily removed with a knife or fork. Next, you need to peel the skins from the kernels before the nuts dry out.

Walnut is a very healthy, nutritious and tasty product . But due to the need to clean, people often refuse it. All of the listed methods for removing shells are effective for use at home. Therefore, everyone can choose the most suitable one for themselves.

Industrial cleaning

1. The nuts are poured into a drum, where the nuts are filtered from debris.
2. Then the nuts are calibrated by size on a special sieve.
3. The sorted nuts go into the crushing machine according to size.
4. The crusher shafts crack the shells.

There are several ways to free the nut from the shell:

Shelling and peeling: what's the difference?

First, let's figure out what we are going to clean. The walnut has a tasty and healthy kernel enclosed in two shells:

1. Strong and tough shell.
2. Green pulp soaked in odorous, caustic and coloring juice.

The difference in peeling is that in order to crack the shell, a fair amount of mechanical force or cunning is required. But removing the peel is not too difficult, since it is relatively soft, although it fits tightly to the shell of young nuts.

The problem here is different: if you just clean it with your hands, get ready for the fact that very quickly your fingers and palms will first turn khaki, and then a radical black shade. Actually, in the old days, military uniforms were often dyed with just a decoction of the nut - and the dye was quite durable. Therefore, you will either have to work with gloves, or you will need to use some tricks and skills.

Proper storage

Nuts can be stored both in a country house and in a city apartment. But in order to ensure that they do not deteriorate and lose their valuable properties over a long period of time, it is important to select high-quality fruits and provide suitable conditions for their storage.

Which walnuts are suitable for storage?

There is no point in putting aside fruits that are obviously spoiled or those that cannot retain their original properties for a long time. Therefore, it is necessary to sort out the nuts. Fruits with defects are discarded.

Good quality nuts are not difficult to recognize

What to pay attention to when preparing:

• nuts should be thoroughly cleaned of the amniotic membrane (the green leathery-fibrous skin that turns black when dry), if this has not been done previously;
• the shell should not contain cracks, breaks, dark spots or traces of mold;
• the core should be well supported by the septum inside the fruit. Dried nuts can be recognized by the characteristic knock of the kernel against the walls of the shell when shaken;
• You should also pay attention to the weight of the nut. Too light fruits are often empty inside. Depending on the variety, the weight of one nut ranges from 5 to 17 grams. Of these, the core accounts for about half.

The difference between good and bad walnuts is clear

When buying nuts in shell, it makes sense to crack one or two of them to see what they are like inside. The kernels should have a beautiful golden color and a pleasant smell. Black, moldy, and dark yellow kernels with a rancid odor are unsuitable for consumption, and therefore there is no need to store them. Peeled fruits should be purchased only in reliable sealed packaging in specialized stores or supermarkets.

Video: how to choose the right walnuts

How to store walnuts in shell

General rules and useful tips for preparation and storage:

1. It is better to organize nut collection in dry weather. But if the fruits were collected after rain and turned out to be very dirty, they can be washed under running water and then dried. A short stay in water will not harm the fruit.
2. After cleaning the amniotic membrane, the nuts should be thoroughly dried. For the first 1–2 days during daylight hours, the nuts can be left in the fresh air. Sunlight and a light breeze will promote quick drying. At night, the nuts must be brought into the house or barn; outside they will become damp.
3. Over the next 7–12 days, it is recommended to dry the nuts indoors, for example, in the attic. To do this, the floor is covered with cloth or paper, and nuts are poured onto it, in as thin a layer as possible.
4. It is best to use cardboard boxes or canvas bags as storage containers. These materials allow air to pass through well and the fruits do not smear. The storage place should be dry, cool and dark. The recommended air temperature should not exceed 20 °C. But it is better if its value is 10–15 °C.
   

   Walnuts contain a large amount of oil, which is why they quickly spoil at high temperatures.

Walnuts are stored well in a canvas bag

Video: harvesting and proper storage of walnuts

Proper storage of shelled nuts

To save time and effort, many housewives prefer to purchase already peeled fruits. In addition, this method allows you to get a good look at the quality of the nuts and not buy a “pig in a poke.” However, you should know that shelled nuts do not last long, and crushed kernels even less.

Shelled kernels must be whole

• The basic rule of storage is to avoid contact with light and oxygen. This leads to the development of bactericidal microorganisms, rotting and rapid deterioration of the product.
• For storage, use a dry glass or tin container. A paper bag will also work. But kernels in plastic bags deteriorate very quickly.
• To increase shelf life, place the container of nuts in the refrigerator or freezer. The latter option allows the use of plastic bags.
• For better preservation, bake the nuts in the oven.

You should crush the walnut kernels immediately before preparing the dish
. How to dry the nuts:

1. Place the nut kernels on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 1–2 hours at 40–50 °C.
2. Then transfer the nuts to parchment and leave for 30-40 minutes to cool and dry completely.

Video: how to dry and store shelled nuts

Table: shelf life of ripe walnut fruits

Is it possible to store green nuts?

Nuts picked ahead of time spoil very quickly and therefore cannot be stored. However, from unripe fruits you can prepare tasty and healthy infusions and decoctions or make jam. The fruits should be processed immediately after harvest.

Green walnuts cannot be stored

Preparation

To clean the nuts better, you need to do the following:

1. Wait for full ripening. The more mature the nut, the easier it is to peel. Ideally, the shell itself cracks into four parts, and the nut in the shell falls out to the ground. The disadvantage of this method is that the riper the nut, the more willingly woodpeckers and other pests will feast on it, and the kernel itself can rot. So if you want to save most of the harvest, you will have to choose a balance between ripeness and preservation.
2. Dry the nuts in the sun. The drier the peel, the easier it comes off. The problem here is that it can begin to rot - and rotting from the pulp of the shell can spread to the kernel itself.

If you shake a walnut with ripe fruits, about half will fall to the ground without the peel. All further methods will concern only those fruits that fell from the branch along with the peel.

Hand protection

If having green-brown (and if there are a lot of nuts, black) fingers is not part of your plans, you should take some measures in advance:

• Wear gloves. Rubber ones are best, although household thread ones with a rubberized working surface will also work. This is the most reliable way. It is important to remember: the slightest defect in the gloves and your hands will gradually take on a khaki shade.
• Lubricate your hands with oil or cream. This advice is often found, but it is of little use: any coating will quickly come off during work.
• In general, do not handle the pulp of the nut peel with your hands. There are several cleaning methods that do not involve your hands.

If you do not have allergies, the peel will not cause any harm. All damage will be purely aesthetic. Black-brown or greenish fingers for a gardener growing walnuts are the same occupational hazard as yellow nails for an auto electrician working with battery acid.

How to clean: step-by-step instructions

With a knife

The easiest cleaning method involves using a knife. Peeling is carried out in the following ways: the nut in the peel is taken in hand.

1. A cross-shaped incision is made on one side. Simply slash with a knife twice at an angle of 90 degrees. There is no need to be afraid of damaging the kernel: the shell of a ripe nut is strong, and a knife will not cut it. And if the shell has not yet hardened, there is no need to peel such nuts, they are still immature.
2. The nut is pinched with your fingers and gently squeezed.
3. The edges of the cut separate and the nut in the shell falls out of the shell.