Orange combines a bright, refreshing taste with rich chemical composition and health benefits. This citrus is very popular as a dessert and an independent dish, but it is not always possible to serve it beautifully. It is often difficult to peel an orange without damaging the pulp or getting dirty with juice. In fact, there is nothing complicated about it if you choose the right citrus and follow the step-by-step instructions.
Selecting and preparing an orange
The easiest way to peel a ripe fruit. Its ripeness is evidenced by the smooth peel of a uniform, rich orange color, without spots or “splashes” of other shades. In pale and greenish oranges, the peel fits very tightly to the pulp; peeling them without getting splashed with juice is almost impossible. The same can be said about citrus fruits with “wrinkled” and “lumpy” rinds.
Another criterion by which to evaluate how easy it will be to peel an orange is its weight. When it is obviously heavier or lighter than citrus fruits of the same size, it is better to refuse the purchase.In the first case, the pulp had clearly begun to rot and turn into an unappetizing mush; in the second, it had dried out and lost its juiciness.
Unripe, overripe, spoiled oranges not only have a poor taste, they are also difficult to peel
Preparing the orange before peeling it is an optional step. But some believe that after it the process goes easier, and the pulp becomes juicier. The citrus is untwisted on a cutting board, table top, or other horizontal surface for 10-15 seconds, lightly pressing but not pressing with an open palm.
How to quickly and easily peel an orange
There are several ways to peel an orange quickly, simply and accurately. But some of them require additional “devices”, so they are not always used.
How to peel an orange quickly and without splashing
When the aesthetics of the result does not play a special role, you can peel the citrus with any knife with a fairly thin and sharp blade, leaving white films on the slices and part of the dense “layer” between them and the zest. To do this, first of all, cut off the “bottom” and “lid” of the stalk. The remaining crust should ideally be removed with one solid strip, but this does not always work, especially in the absence of practice. There is nothing wrong with peeling an orange by cutting off the peel in several strips.
The fruit is held in the hands and gradually turned. They move in a spiral, removing with a knife not only the zest, but also as much of the white layer underneath as possible. The approximate thickness of the “cut” is 2-4 mm. Potatoes are peeled in the same way, so everyone has the necessary “basic skill.”
They eat an orange, cutting it into small slices and, as it were, “turning out” each one, while simultaneously removing the remnants of the white layer under the peel.
How to quickly peel the film from an orange
The white film on the slices makes the orange more “unsightly.” Some people generally believe that it is unsuitable for food. But removing it manually from each slice is inconvenient - it takes a lot of time, and the pulp is damaged.
To peel an orange quickly, without splashing the juice or getting your hands dirty, you will need a sharp knife with a fairly thin blade, without a rounded tip, and a flat plate, dish or cutting board.
The algorithm of actions is simple:
- Wash and dry your hands and the orange itself thoroughly.
- Cut off the “bottom” and “lid”, creating a “flat” in the form of a circle with a diameter of 2-3 cm. This will provide the citrus with the necessary stability. This operation also allows you to evaluate the thickness of the crust so that the pulp is minimally affected in the process.
- Place the citrus on a plate or other horizontal surface. Moving in a circle and from top to bottom, remove the peel and the layer underneath in layers 2-2.5 cm wide. At the same time, this method allows you to clean citrus from white films. The sharper and thinner the knife blade, the less juice is released during the process.
- Carefully place the fruit on its side and cut out each slice one by one, running the tip of the knife blade between the white film and the pulp.
If you peel an orange with a knife, the resulting “fillet” is very suitable for decorating baked goods and other desserts
How to peel an orange without a knife
A “basic” method that allows you to peel an orange without any additional equipment. The quality of the citrus plays a big role here. It is problematic to manually peel fruits with both very thick and particularly thin peels, which are clearly unripe. And for oranges with wrinkled, dried out peel, this is almost impossible without noticeable damage to the pulp and splashes of juice.
You won’t be able to keep your hands clean when trying to peel citrus without a knife or other equipment. With any mechanical damage to the zest, it releases “juice”, saturated with essential oils and “responsible” for the characteristic aroma. If you peel a lot of fruit at once, it will even turn your fingertips and nail holes a pale yellow. Moreover, getting rid of an unwanted shade is not easy - you will have to wash your hands at least 3-4 times.
How to properly peel an orange by hand, without a knife or other equipment:
- Scald the citrus with boiling water and wipe dry. After this, if you wait a couple of minutes, it will be easier to peel - the peel will begin to separate from the pulp.
- Use the nail of your thumb or index finger (whichever is more convenient) to pick up the peel of the orange stalk and tear it with a sharp, but smooth and continuous movement. There it is easiest to “lift” it without damaging the pulp or getting splashed with juice. Despite the approximately equal thickness of the “layer,” the “reliability of attachment” of the peel to the citrus is the least likely here.
- A fresh and ripe orange can be peeled by peeling it with one strip in a spiral, from the stalk to the “base”. Most often it turns out to tear off individual strips or even small pieces. There is nothing wrong with this, the main thing is not to damage the flesh.
In principle, unripe oranges can also be peeled in this way. But most often, when the peel is removed, in addition to the film on the slices, a fairly dense white “layer” remains. It is unlikely that you will be able to remove it without damaging the pulp or getting splashed with juice - you will have to cut the citrus into slices with a knife and eat it like that.
The procedure for cleaning citrus by hand is familiar to everyone since childhood.
How to Peel an Orange in 10 Seconds
A funny and quite effective “trick” that allows you to peel an orange really quickly (a video shot by those who practice it confirms this). But no one guarantees that you will be able to avoid splashing juice on yourself and those around you. The aesthetics of the result is also a big question. This method is used only if you plan to eat the pulp soon.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- Wash the orange and your hands and dry thoroughly.
- Cut off the “lid” and “bottom”, capturing not only the peel and the white layer underneath, but also a little film from the pulp to determine the position of the segments.
- Using a sharp thin knife, make a longitudinal cut to the center of the citrus. Ideally, you want to get exactly between two slices without damaging their flesh, but this requires some practice.
- Insert the thumbs of both hands into the cut.
- With a sharp, fairly strong “jerk” in different directions, it’s like “turning” the orange inside out. If everything is done correctly, the result will be a series of whole, separated segments on a continuous “layer” of peel.Something similar happens if you cut citrus into circles, and then tear the peel and “unfold” it into a strip.
This method of peeling an orange is not suitable for either unripe or overripe citrus fruits. In the first case, in order to “turn out” the strong peel that fits tightly to the slices, you will have to make significant efforts, and the flesh will certainly become wrinkled. In the second, it is already soft, even with slight pressure with your fingers, the “opening” orange will splash juice on both the one who is trying to peel it and those around him.
How to peel an orange with a spoon
A useful life hack that allows you to peel an orange with minimal damage to the pulp. The peel is removed from it in two whole halves. Therefore, the method is in demand, for example, by gardeners who use them as “pots” for growing seedlings, and by housewives for original serving of fruit salad and ice cream.
Peeling an orange with a spoon is not difficult; long practice is not required to develop the skills:
- Make a transverse cut approximately in the middle of the citrus, trying to capture only the peel and the white “layer” on it, but not the film on the slices.
- Carefully insert a teaspoon or its handle into the cut and “walk” it in a circle, separating the crust from the pulp.
- Repeat the same with the second half. If everything is done correctly, the peel is separated from the segments almost completely; it is held together with the orange only by the remnants of the white “layer” at the stalk and base.
- Remove the peel halves by taking the citrus in your hands and turning them in different directions.
When peeling an orange with a spoon, the risk of splashing juice or getting unsightly yellow juice stains on your hands is minimized
Conclusion
Carefully and quickly peeling an orange from peels and films is quite possible. Step-by-step instructions will help you get acquainted with the different methods in detail, and the video will add clarity. In principle, the methods are suitable for any citrus fruit, but if the aesthetics of the result is important, you need to choose the right fruit.
