How to peel pine nuts from the shell

Pine nuts are the real Siberian wealth. This is a very healthy, tasty and nutritious product. Only 50 grams of peeled kernels contains 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 peeling nuts is 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 the natural shell, the nut retains more nutritional properties, is stored longer, and it is tastier in the end!

The benefits of pine nuts

Before learning about the methods for quick and proper peeling of nuts from nutshells, we’ll talk about the benefits of this product and the effect it has on the human body.

Siberian cedar is a very large and sprawling tree that begins to bear fruit only 15-20 years after planting. From one large tree, you can collect up to 12 kg of pine nuts. This delicacy is not averse to enjoy not only people, but also animals. The squirrel is stocked for the winter with pine nuts, as they are very nutritious and help her survive until spring. The composition of pine nuts contains various trace elements, vitamins, oils, proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Pine nuts are useful for a growing body, they are recommended at least sometimes to eat teenagers, children, pregnant and lactating mothers. The last, by the way, pine nuts helps to produce more nutritious milk.

Regular consumption of pine nuts improves the work of the cardiovascular and nervous system, the gastrointestinal tract. Pine nuts are able to fight anemia, they improve immunity, treat blood diseases. Cedar nut helps to activate mental abilities, a person gets tired less, works better, does not get tired any longer. For the stronger sex, pine nuts are a symbol of men's health. For recipes of traditional medicine, not only the kernels themselves, but also the nutshell are used. It has healing, tanning and anti-inflammatory properties. Pine nut oil is used in cooking as dressing for salads, in traditional medicine as a wound healing agent and in cosmetology as a lifting 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 cone, it is scrolled in the hands, crushed, and then gently tapped on the table or cup. Ripe nuts usually go outside without any problems. Do not forget to wear rubber gloves before this, otherwise the resin from the cones will remain on the skin of the hands for a long time.
2. Crusher. On an industrial scale, nuts are cleaned with a special wooden crusher. She breaks the shell, leaving the nucleolus intact. However, before the nut gets on your table, a lot of time will pass. Therefore, pine nuts are still better to clean on their own, immediately before use.
3. Teeth. The best way to clean nuts is to use your teeth. Nuts must 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 drastically reduced, so you need to soak exactly as many nuts as you plan to eat. A wet nut should be bitten so that the shell at the base opens. Then turn the nut 30 degrees and squeeze the shell in the middle.The shell will open and the core will be peeled. The process resembles the husking of seeds, but this will require very strong teeth. If you do not differ in such teeth, you can use other methods of peeling nuts.
4. Nutcracker. The easiest way to peel nuts is to use a nutcracker or garlic press. So that pine nuts do not fly all over the room, they are also pre-soaked. Place the nut in hot water for 5 minutes, and then proceed to clean. Soaking a nut in water slightly changes its taste, so you can not fill the nuts with water, but simply lay them 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 moisture will not get into the kernel.
5. Hammer. If you want to enjoy nuts right now, you can try chopping 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 damage your fingers, you can pinch the nut with pliers and gently chop 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 nuts into the pan without oil and heat them. Stir the nuts constantly so that they are not toasted. After that, hot nuts should be poured into water with ice. A sharp temperature drop will cause the nucleolus to burst itself, you just have to open it. It is very important not to overdo nuts on fire and in water. With prolonged heating, nuts can lose their nutritional properties, and with a long stay in the water they will become damp and lose their taste.
7. Oven. Roasted pine nuts are easy to clean. They are poured onto a baking sheet and sent to the oven for half an hour. The heating temperature should be about 200 degrees. When the nuts have cooled, it will be very easy to clean them, the shell leaves 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 removed, distributed over the package so that they form one thin layer. After that, you need to walk on the nuts with a rolling pin, cracking the shell. After such manipulations, leave the nuts to thaw, and then manually peel the kernels from chopped shells. Freezing is done so that in the process of rolling out the rolling pin the kernels remain intact. In addition, a frozen shell is less elastic, and therefore more fragile.
9. Salty water. Siberians know that in order for nuts to be easily cleaned, they need to 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 crack, you do not have to suffer with rolling pins and hammers. After that, the nut is easy to clean with your fingers.

If your child loves pine nuts, give him a special nutcracker in the form of a nutcracker. This gift will be especially relevant on New Year's Eve.

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 efficiently crack this capricious, hard, but insanely delicious pine nut.

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