How to clean pine nuts?

Pine nuts are not only tasty, but also a very useful product that contains many vitamins and minerals, and decoctions, flour, tinctures and other nut products are used in cosmetology and traditional medicine. But many do not know how to clean pine nuts, and prefer not to mess with this product just because of this.

We click the shell with our teeth

Of course, advising you to gnaw nuts with your teeth is not a good idea, because there is always a risk of damage to the enamel. Therefore, you can only resort to this method at your own risk. How to peel nuts with a minimal chance of damaging your teeth? They should be split in the most vulnerable place - in the middle, do it slowly and smoothly.

This can only be done with healthy teeth without holes and fillings. It must be remembered that if a nerve was previously removed from a tooth, then it becomes especially fragile, it does not need extra loads.

Pine nuts are a very high-calorie product, and you won’t be able to eat them a lot at a time. And to clean a small number of nuts with your teeth for a snack, of course, you can. But what to do if a much larger quantity is needed, for example, for some dish on the festive table?

other methods

The shell of pine nuts remains strong enough at a temperature close to room temperature. But strong heating or, conversely, cooling can make it brittle.

1. Nuts must be put in the freezer for at least a few hours, so that they are evenly cooled. Then, without directly getting out of the bag (so that the shell does not fly apart in all directions), they should be gently crushed with a rolling pin. Do not put too much effort, otherwise the kernels will crack together with the shell. An important point - after freezing, nuts are not stored, and they must be eaten quickly.
2. Pour nuts into a frying pan without adding any oil there, and warm, periodically stirring, for 15-20 minutes. Or instead, pour them in a thin layer on a baking sheet and send for several minutes in the oven, heated to 100-120 degrees. Sometimes, from the warming up, the shell bursts itself, and the only thing left is to get the grains of nuts. But even if she remained intact, she can now be easily split with her fingers.
3. The previous method can be improved - after heating, quickly pour the nuts into a container with very cold water, you can even add ice cubes there.

Like many other seeds, nuts are soaked well with prolonged exposure to liquid. It is enough to soak them in clean water for a period of half a day to a day, and it will not be difficult to clean them. But it is best to peel the nuts from the husk in a dry form - so it will stick much less - that to the very kernel of the nut, that to the fingers.

If necessary, peel nuts at home, any improvised tools can be used - pliers, a crush for garlic, a meat clapper, a hammer.

Recommendations

Of course, the simplest solution, if you want to feast on pine nuts, is to buy them in a peeled form, and not try to clean them yourself. But to buy them on the market by weight, where they were stored is unknown how much and it is unclear in what conditions, it is not worth it. The product must be packaged; pay attention to the integrity of the packaging, packing date and expiration date. And then nuts will only benefit.

The remains of a nutshell can not be thrown out if there is a summer residence or at least a small area. They will be an excellent tool for mulching the soil, that is, to create a protective layer on its surface that will prevent weathering, leaching of the soil, prevent the growth of weeds and the formation of a dried hard crust.The soil will maintain the optimum moisture level for the plant, and temperature drops will become less noticeable.

Obviously, the kernels of nuts retain their taste and beneficial properties much better when they are in the shell; therefore, it is better to peel them at home shortly before they are eaten. Peeled nuts should not be stored for a long time, they acquire a rancid taste.

Cone nuts extraction

As a rule, pine nuts are sold already taken out of the cone. But if suddenly cedar cones fell into your hands, then you need to know how to properly extract seeds from there.

1. It is better to do this with gloves, so that later you do not have to try to clean the hands of tar for several days. For the same reason, you should wear clothes that will not be sorry.
2. From a ripe cone, nuts fall out very easily, they do not need to be picked out. It is enough to twist the cone in your hands, tap it on the wall of the pan or plate, and most of the seeds will spill out into the substituted container.
3. If it happens in nature, then the cones can be entirely placed in a fire, as when baking potatoes. The resin burns out from the fire, and the nuts are easily reached by hand. And when you have a bucket or other large container at hand, you can cook the cones, boiling water will wash all the resin out of them, and the nutshell will be soft and thin.

We advise you to read an article about how to peel hazelnuts and walnuts