How to peel walnuts without damaging the kernel

Content

1 Preparing nuts for cleaning
2 How to quickly peel walnuts
3 What is the best way to peel green walnuts?
4 Processing walnuts after cleaning
5 Conclusion

Often, when cleaning a Volosh (walnut) nut, its kernel is damaged. This is not very good if you need to keep the kernels intact, without chips or crumbs. There are several proven ways to peel walnuts without damaging the kernels.

Preparing nuts for cleaning

If the fruits were collected while still unripe, with remnants of a thick emerald-colored peel, they are left in the sun and allowed to dry thoroughly. After which the blackened soft skin will separate without problems, it is easy to clean.

Preparing nut seeds for cleaning, methods:

Wash with a sponge and soap.
Treat with soda.
Pour over boiling water.

To obtain whole kernels, choose large fruits with thin shells. They are laid out on a dry cloth or newspaper and left to dry naturally for 1-2 weeks. Then pour boiling water over it to soften the shell.This makes it easier to remove.

You can dry the nut fruits in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then peel the shells.

Important! You cannot simmer them in the oven for a long time, as the inside can be damaged, and it is difficult to clean the overdried shell.

The nut seeds collected in the fall are washed with a foam sponge and soap. Afterwards, the soap solution is washed off with running water, and the fruits are left to dry for 2-3 days.

To soften the shells, they are soaked in a soda solution (1 tablespoon of powder per 1 liter of water) and kept for no more than 5 minutes. Afterwards they are washed and left to drain and dry for 2 days. This type of shell is easier to clean.

How to quickly peel walnuts

The shell is quite easy to clean using force and special tools. You need to get some pliers; a regular hammer or other heavy metal object will do.

How to properly crack walnuts with a nut cracker

This device must be purchased if you love nut crops at home; this product regularly appears on the table. A nut cracker is a special tongs, the ends of which have a special hollow where the nut is placed. There are special protrusions inside the funnel that allow you to securely fix nuts of different sizes.

To check the quality of the device, you can take a round, strong walnut with a hard shell. It is placed in tongs and pressed until a characteristic crunch is heard. At this point, the nut can be removed and peeled. If the inside is damaged, next time the handles of the nut cracker are not squeezed so hard. With practice, you can determine how much force to apply to the fruit in order to quickly peel it while keeping the core intact.

Attention! Once you get the hang of it, you can easily and quickly split large volumes of walnuts without damaging the kernel.

How to peel a walnut using the soaking method

You can quickly clean the shell, separating it from the core, by soaking the fruit. To do this, fill the basin with boiling water or very hot water. Walnuts are placed in it for several hours. This way the fruits will steam, the shell will become softer, after which it will be easy to clean. The membranes holding the nut core together will also soften.

After soaking, the liquid is allowed to drain to remove excess moisture. At the base of the fruit, at its widest part, a slight discrepancy between the halves is found. You can place a knife in it, turning it around its axis, and split the halves. Afterwards, the softened internal membranes are removed and the core is carefully removed.

This cleaning method is only suitable for thin-shelled, fairly large nuts.

Important! Small, tough walnuts are often cracked using a hammer. In this case, it will not be possible to remove even, undamaged halves of the “butterfly”.

How to crack a walnut using roasting

Thermal treatments help clean the shell without damaging the inside. In addition to soaking in boiling water, nut fruits can be roasted in the oven.

How to do it:

Preheat the oven to a temperature of + 200 Cᵒ.
Place nuts on a baking sheet in one layer.
Place it in the oven for 10 minutes.
After that, take out the baking sheet and leave the contents to cool.

Important! You should not fry the nuts for more than 10 minutes. This will spoil the taste of the inside, making them more difficult to clean.

Calcination in the oven can be replaced by a simpler method - frying in a frying pan.You need to heat it over the fire, add nuts. Stirring, fry them for no more than 10 minutes. Then let it cool.

The cooled product can be cleaned using a hammer, nut cracker, or knife. The shell is easier to separate, does not crumble, and does not break the inside.

How to properly crack a walnut with a hammer

This method makes it difficult to peel the nut and keep the kernels intact. You need to get used to hitting the shell with a hammer so as not to end up with a mess of shells and core.

You can peel walnuts on a board with a recess for the fruit. This device is easy to make yourself. They also clean the solid product on a champagne bottle. A nut is placed on its neck, fixed in the recess, and gently hit with a hammer. You should act very carefully and carefully so as not to break the bottle itself.

Important! It is safer to work on a board.

The nut is inserted into the recess of the board or placed on a flat surface, holding it with your hands. Use a hammer on the upper sharp part of the fruit. Don't hit too hard. This can damage the core. Gently hit the top of the nut until it splits in half. In this case, it is possible to clean it easily, keeping the core halves intact.

How to crack walnuts at home using a door

The nut is clamped between the door jamb and its edge. Then they begin to slowly close the sash until a characteristic crunch appears. It is important not to overdo it and not turn the product into mush. As soon as the peel crunches, the nut is removed from the sash.

Important! It is quite problematic to obtain entire halves of the core in this way.

How to crack walnuts with a knife

For peeling walnuts at home, a knife with a sharp end, the blade of which is made of durable, rigid steel, is suitable. Before peeling, the peel can be steamed with boiling water or heated in the oven. As soon as the fruit has cooled, they begin to peel it. The sharp end is used to penetrate the hole in the wide lower part. The knife is carefully turned clockwise until a crunch appears. As soon as a characteristic sound is heard, the halves of the nut are separated from each other, and then the halves of the kernel are cleaned.

How to easily crack a walnut using a bottle

For this method, you need to take a bottle with a wide, strong neck made of thick glass. A champagne bottle will do. Place a nut in the recess on the neck and fix it in a vertical position. In this case, the thinner, sharp part should be at the top. They hit it with a small hammer. Act on the top gently, as if patting. Don't hit too hard or with a big swing. You can damage the bottle, and your hands or eyes with splinters. You need to get used to this method.

Another cleaning option uses the bottom of the bottle. The nut is placed on a flat surface and covered with the concave bottom of a thick glass bottle. It is necessary to gently press on the shell until it cracks. Afterwards you can remove and clean the kernels.

How to peel walnuts with pliers

For cleaning walnuts at home, a simple construction tool - pliers - is suitable. Their structure is very similar to a nutcracker. The action of these tools is similar. Place the nut in the top of the pliers and begin squeezing the handles until it cracks. There is no need to press too hard; you can crush the fruit into a cake.As soon as a crunch is heard, the core is taken out and shelled, removing entire halves of the kernels.

What is the best way to peel green walnuts?

Unripe walnuts are in a dense green shell, which is quite difficult to peel and remove. Its juice stains skin and fabrics, so it is recommended to work with gloves. Before peeling, the nut must be dried for a week, then the blackened, dry peel is easier to remove with a knife. They just cut it off.

You can clean the sandpaper on asphalt. The nut is placed on the ground and crushed with the foot. The peel peels off easily, leaving a bare shell.

Important! The main thing is not to lean on the fruit with your whole body, it is easy to crush, and in this case it is impossible to clean the core.

Nuts with a dried shell can be easily cleaned using a steel dishwasher. The thick layer of wrapper is removed with a knife or hands, and the remaining films are cleaned with a washcloth.

Once the nut is completely freed from the green peel, it must be dried. Green fruits have tasteless, soft kernels. Walnuts are laid out on a dry surface in one layer and left for 3-4 weeks to fully ripen and dry. During this time, the kernel will harden, excess moisture will leave, the taste will become more intense, and the membranes and membranes will lose their bitterness. This product is much easier to clean.

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:

You can get rid of excess moisture in the kernels.
The smoke imparts a rich smoked flavor to the finished product.
Treatment allows you to neutralize pathogenic bacteria.
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.

Conclusion

Peeling walnuts without damaging the kernel is difficult. This can be done if you use the necessary tools. Having practiced and filled your hand, you can quickly remove nut kernels without chipping or damage.