Many people love pine nuts, but the process of peeling them often causes problems: removing the strong shell from a large number of small nuts is difficult and time-consuming. Of course, you can peel pine nuts at home without special equipment using your teeth, but this method is only suitable if you need to remove the shells from 2-3 nuts. If you need to clean a lot of grains, you can seriously damage your tooth enamel. In this case, you should consider which methods are best to use so as not to cause harm to the teeth, and without spending a lot of time and effort.
Method number 1: With teeth
If there are no suitable tools at hand, some people use their own teeth. To do this, you just need to bite the nut into two parts, turning it towards you with the wide side, and throw away the empty half of the shell with the narrow end.
The pine nut has a wide and narrow end. They bite it from the wide side.
The half with the wide tip and the core itself remain sandwiched between the teeth. It should be turned with the core towards you, and then removed with your teeth.
This process of extracting pine nuts is reminiscent of the cracking of seeds.
You can peel nuts with your teeth if you have very strong enamel or you don’t mind your own teeth. It is very easy to spoil them, and treatment at the dentist is long, expensive and unpleasant. It is especially not recommended to use this method if you have a lot of nuts to peel.
How to clean hazelnuts on an industrial scale
Previously, kernels in production were cleaned manually. This took a lot of time, causing the cost of the finished product to increase significantly. Currently, special machines have been developed for cleaning hazelnuts. Each device uses its own method.
Processing has its downsides. With such cleaning, hazelnuts lose some of their beneficial properties, and the integrity of the nuts is greatly compromised. The whole process occurs in several stages:
- drying fruits in shells,
- separating them by size (sorting),
- shelling,
- drying the finished product.
The nuts go to production, from where they are sent to a sorting point. There they are poured into a cone-shaped bunker. Through the holes, the fruits enter an elevator consisting of several stages, which transfers them to a calibration sieve. From there, the nuts fall onto a conveyor belt, where, depending on their size, they fall into the crushing shafts of the hopper, which alternately rotate in opposite directions and split the hazelnuts.
There are four cleaning methods used in production:
- vacuum method,
- soaking and frying,
- mechanical cleaning,
- cleaning using a calibrating and crushing apparatus.
Vacuum method:
- Fruits are loaded into the container.
- The device is hermetically sealed and air is pumped in to create pressure inside.
- A sharp pressure drop occurs and the shell cracks.
- The air is released, the kernels are taken out and sent to a sorting point.
To work with such equipment, you must undergo special training. If the device does not operate properly, an explosion may occur.
Soaking and frying:
- The fruits are soaked in water using large containers.
- Then they are placed in ovens for a few seconds. This is enough, since the temperature there is 600–900 degrees.
- Pressure is created inside the shell and it bursts.
With this processing, the largest percentage of whole kernels is obtained.
Mechanical method:
- The fruits are poured into a cone-shaped hopper.
- They are fed one at a time into the shell cracking device. The compression ratio is adjustable.
- The cleaned kernels end up in a special container.
This is a very long process. Currently used less frequently than others. It requires a lot of work experience. At the exit, the nuts remain in the form of halves and quarters, rarely whole.
Cleaning using a calibrating and crushing apparatus:
- After calibration, the fruits enter the crushing hopper, where the shells crack.
- Then the kernels fall onto special sieves.
- With a large air flow, they pass through holes corresponding to their size.
In this way, nuts can not only be shelled, but also sorted by size.
After shelling the hazelnuts, they are sent to drying chambers. There the products are left for 14–16 hours at a temperature of 30–60 degrees. After drying, the kernels are sent to a winnowing machine and again to calibration machines. They are peeled on a winnowing fan.
Method No. 2: Soaking in cold water
If you soak pine nuts in water for at least 8 hours, their shells will soften and become as soft as the shells of sunflower seeds.
Tip: You can use regular tap water. The taste of the nuts does not deteriorate, so you can safely fill them with water all night.
In the morning, drain the liquid and dry the nuts on a paper towel for 15-20 minutes. Then they are cleaned with teeth in the same way as described in the first method.
How to properly extract nuts from a pine cone
To clear pine nuts from ripe cones as quickly as possible, you don’t need any special equipment. The ripened cone itself easily “gives away” the long-awaited fruits, with the slightest pressure. There are times when it is still necessary to apply more thorough mechanical action.
Let's approach the process correctly:
- We put on gloves - there is resin on the cone, which is very difficult to wash off your hands
- Already stained with resin? Then lubricate your hands with rich cream or sunflower oil.
- Prepare two containers: a bucket for the husks and a bowl for the kernels
- If the nuts do not fall out of the cone themselves, you can slightly twist it or rub it, holding it over a husk bucket
- You can resort to light tapping with a hammer. The cone is placed on a wooden board (it is covered with cling film so as not to get stained with resin).
Method number 3: Soaking in boiling water
If you need to peel the nuts quickly, without waiting for the shells to soften in cold water, you can pour boiling water over them. In this case, the shell will become soft within 3-5 minutes.
The disadvantage of this method is that when in contact with boiling water, the nuts lose some of their vitamins and nutrients. But the process of extracting nuclei is much faster.
So, the nuts are poured with boiling water from a kettle, and after 3-5 minutes they are thrown into a colander. Then dry it with a kitchen towel and click your teeth.
If you need to clean a large number of kernels, and you don’t want to spoil your teeth, you can crush the nuts with a rolling pin.
To do this, they are laid out on the table, covered with a thin cotton towel and gently pressed on top with a rolling pin until a characteristic crunch appears.
The nuts are covered with a towel and crushed with a rolling pin.
In this way, you can crack 8-15 nuts at once. It is recommended to use it if cedar oil or any dish will be made from the kernels in the future.
What to look for when buying nuts
The duration of storage depends on the ability to choose the right nuts. A high-quality product is much easier to preserve
What should you pay attention to when choosing?
- Fresh pine cone seeds have a brown skin. The paler and yellower its color, the older the seed.
- The peeled grains of the new harvest have a light cream color, closer to milky.
- Integrity of nut kernels. They should be whole, not crushed. If the seed is flattened, it means that some of the oil has been squeezed out of it, but not to the pulp. Sometimes they try to sell such a nut as a whole one. The product is not suitable for storage.
- Seeds from cones, immediately after shelling, smell pleasantly like resin. Shelled grains and peeled kernels have a weaker, but the same characteristic aroma. If the product has an intense, chemical scent, it has been treated with a fragrance to remove the musty smell.
The season for collecting pine cones is at the beginning of autumn. It is better to buy nuts from the new harvest from the end of October.
Pay attention not only to the date, but also to the place of harvest. It is recommended to choose Russian-made products
Chinese pine nuts made from pine cones are much inferior in quality.
Method #4: Using scissors and a toothpick
If you don’t want to soak the nuts in water and bite them with your teeth, you can take regular kitchen scissors and a toothpick.
The cleaning process occurs as follows:
- You need to take the scissors in one hand and the nut in the other.
- Place the nut between the blades of the scissors, with the wide side facing you.
- Gently press the shell with scissors until it splits into two halves.
- Remove the kernel and discard the shells.
- If the kernel cannot be removed with your fingers, pry it out with a toothpick.
Scissors must be used carefully so as not to cut the delicate nucleolus.
This method allows you to clean quite quickly - in just 10 minutes you can get a large handful of tasty grains.
Method number 5: Garlic press
If you have a garlic press at home, you can use it to peel pine nuts.
Using a garlic press.
To do this, you will need to place one nut in a container where garlic cloves are usually placed, and lightly press down the handle of the device. You need to press it gently until it clicks. If you overdo it, you can ruin the core. Therefore, it is important to fill your hand and calculate the required compression force.
There are different models of garlic presses, so the speed and efficiency of cleaning may depend on the design of the device.
Method number 6: Pliers
You can also peel pine nuts from their shells at home using pliers. This tool is no less convenient than a garlic press or kitchen scissors. It has grooved internal surfaces that prevent the nut from slipping and allows you to easily crack its shell. To do this, place the nut between the jaws and lightly squeeze the tool.
Attention: Do not squeeze the pliers too hard: this will lead to destruction of the core.
If the tool has a small hole designed for gripping round objects that corresponds to the diameter of a pine nut, then it is better to place it in this hole and squeeze the handles. This will allow you to easily crack the shell without damaging the kernel.
Practical advice
You can process nuts in completely different ways. The main condition is that the method should be convenient for you. It should also be remembered that the peeled product spoils very quickly, so it is recommended to peel the nuts immediately before eating them. Let's consider useful recommendations and tips:
Due to the high content of fatty substances in nuts, long-term storage will not be advisable for peeled kernels. The fact is that over time, this product acquires a bitter taste, losing all its beneficial properties for the body. When purchasing pine nuts, you should make sure that their expiration date has not yet expired. After purchasing nuts in a store or after processing, they should be washed in warm water and then dried a little. This must be done in order to remove fine dust from the shell. Additionally, safety and cleanliness are essential before consuming foods. If you processed the nuts using water, they should be thoroughly dried. It is advisable to do this in the fresh air or in a well-ventilated, warm room. For the most uniform drying, it is recommended to turn the nuts periodically. Under no circumstances should nuts be stored wet as they will become moldy.
Please note that not only the kernels, but also the shell itself contains vitamins, microelements, and other useful substances. You can dry such waste raw materials and then use them to prepare various medicinal tinctures, inhalations and lotions.
Such home remedies have a very pleasant taste and contain vitamins E and B, as well as resins and fatty acids. Such compositions are used for the treatment of colds, rheumatism, and other joint diseases. To prevent the nuts from rolling on the table surface during processing, they must be placed in the hole of a wrench with a large diameter. After this, use a hammer or rolling pin to carefully crack the shell, using your hands to remove any remaining residue. If you are going to extract nut kernels from cones in large quantities, then you need to do this with gloves. This way you will avoid unpleasant resin sticking to your hands. Gutted cones, processing waste, and scales can be used as fertilizer for growing indoor plants, as well as for seedlings in the garden. In addition, these wastes are used in the field of cosmetology for baths, as well as as a hair rinse.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that cedar kernels are used for food both raw and fried. In addition, they can be used in cooking to make a wide variety of dishes. In folk medicine you can find recipes for preparing a honey-nut mixture, which is taken in the morning on an empty stomach to replenish your body with energy, as well as useful vitamins and substances.
Method number 7: Millstone
In the regions of Russia where pine nuts grow, local residents use special millstones. This device is intended for making flour at home from grain crops, and it is also suitable for quickly cleaning nuts.
Cleaning nuts on a millstone.
Translated from the Khakass and Chuvash languages, such millstones are called “terben”. The device consists of two round blocks made from a large diameter tree trunk. Nuts are placed on one stationary block, and another rotating block is placed on top, which is driven manually. The gaps are adjusted using washers.
The nut shells are destroyed as a result of friction of the block surfaces. The kernels remain intact due to a special gap between the millstones, the height of which corresponds to their size.
The productivity of the device is 10-15 kg of peeled kernels per day.
Features of use
For specific pathologies and conditions of the body, nuts are used in different dosages; the duration of treatment with decoctions and tinctures may also vary.
During pregnancy
Cedar kernels help improve a woman’s condition with toxicosis and reduce the degree of perception of foreign odors. The amino acids in the composition promote the proper development of the fetus, vitamins increase the mother’s immunity and fight emerging infections. For normal functioning of the body of a pregnant woman, it is necessary to consume no more than 2 tablespoons of nuts per day. Before use, consultation with a doctor is required.
During lactation
Cedar kernels help improve lactation, purify milk and enrich the mother’s body with the necessary vitamins and minerals. Doctors do not recommend eating nuts immediately after childbirth; you need to add them to your diet after 2-3 months after the birth of the child. You should eat no more than 60 g of product per day.
When losing weight
Nuts help the body feel full and eat less food. In addition, the vitamins and fiber in their composition restore metabolism and cleanse the intestines. During the period of weight loss, it is better to consume cedar kernels in their pure form or in salads. The norm per day is no more than 50 g.
For diabetes
Nuts help reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, normalize the functioning of the liver and heart. This greatly improves the condition of a diabetic patient. In addition, the product has healing properties and helps restore wounds and cuts that take too long to heal in diabetes. You need to consume up to 30 g of seeds per day.
For gastrointestinal diseases
If you have stomach diseases, the product should be used with caution; it is better to consult your doctor first. In case of acute development of pathologies, it is necessary to use no more than 15 g of seeds per day
In case of acute development of pathologies, it is necessary to use no more than 15 g of seeds per day.
If adverse reactions develop, you should stop using them.
Method No. 8: Mechanized millstones
To speed up the process of cleaning grains and increase the productivity of hand millstones, people involved in the extraction and processing of pine nuts use mechanical millstones. The average productivity of such a device is 0.5 kg of grains in 2 minutes. This indicator depends on the size of the millstones, the volume of the loading bowl, the power of the unit, as well as some other characteristics.
The millstones of this device are made of durable stainless steel. Their surface has notches that create friction and ensure the destruction of the shell.
Method number 9: Machine for peeling pine nuts
If you don’t know how to properly make millstones at home, you can purchase a special machine for cleaning pine nuts at the crafts fair. This simple equipment is called a “nutcracker”. In appearance and operating principle, it resembles a manual meat grinder.
Note: The disadvantage of nutcracker is that it will not clean all the loaded grains the first time. Therefore, they must be sifted through a large sieve, which separates the peeled kernels from the unpeeled ones. The latter are loaded into the machine and processed again.
The productivity of the nutcracker is about 50 g of kernels in 5 minutes.
How to remove debris and husks from shelled nuts
During the cleaning process, debris and scales are mixed with the nuts, which requires additional cleaning. The procedure can be carried out in several ways.
- Sieve or round sieve. Two screening elements with cell diameters of 7 mm and 3 mm are used. The first time sifting is done using a coarse sieve, and then a fine sieve.
- No special tools. A tarpaulin is laid out in the yard and nuts are thrown onto it from a distance of 5 meters with an ordinary shovel. Light debris will not be able to reach its destination, so only clean product will remain on the tarp.
- Water. Pour nuts into a bowl of water. The garbage will not sink and will remain on the surface. It is collected, but the nuts will require additional drying.
Method No. 10: Animal nail trimmers
You can buy pliers at the pet store that are designed for trimming dog nails. This device is made of durable metal, and thanks to the sharp cutting parts, it easily cuts the shells into 2 parts without damaging the grain.
All that is required after dividing the shell into 2 parts is to remove the kernel and enjoy its taste.
Advice: If you are a big fan of pine, walnuts and other types of nuts, then you should take care of purchasing a universal nut cracker. Using a device equipped with holes of various diameters, you can easily and quickly crack nuts of any size.
Universal nut cracker.
Medicinal properties
No wonder cedar is known as the king of Siberian forests. It gives people not only healthy nuts and wood for construction. People use all parts of the plant to maintain health - nut shells, cones, pine needles. The prepared remedies help cope with many diseases.
Digestive system
Walnut shells have a complex healing effect on the digestive organs:
- astringent;
- pain reliever;
- anti-inflammatory.
Decoctions are useful to drink for stomach ulcers, colitis, enteritis, and dysbacteriosis. Medicine from the shell is used for diarrhea of various origins. Due to its choleretic effect, it is used to treat the liver and gall bladder.
Respiratory system
Medicinal forms of cedar shells exhibit healing properties for coughs and colds. Essential oils relieve inflammation of the respiratory tract during bronchitis, pharyngitis, and acute respiratory infections. Vitamin C speeds up recovery by stimulating the immune system. Alcohol tincture is used after consulting a doctor.
It is useful to rinse the mouth with a decoction of the shells for inflammation of the mucous membranes - stomatitis, gingivitis, bleeding gums.
Diseases of the spine and joints
To treat rheumatism and radiculitis, compresses or rubbing with vodka-based tincture of shells are used. For sore joints, it is also recommended to drink decoctions and infusions. After internal use, they normalize the water-salt balance in cases of gout and arthrosis. They saturate the bones with calcium, relieve inflammation, and reduce pain.
Women's diseases
Medicine knows that nut shells have anti-cancer properties. Infusions are used to treat cancer. Helps cope with adnexitis and endometriosis. Used in gynecology for benign neoplasms and cysts. Helps normalize the menstrual cycle.
Skin problems
A decoction of the shell is used to wash and wipe skin rashes - eczema, lichen, acne. They make lotions for furunculosis, herpes, burns, and allergic rashes. Children can have baths for diaper rash and diathesis.
