Tuesday Tips: How to Clean a Pomegranate

    Happy Tuesday Everyone!  Have you ever eaten a pomegranate?  They are super healthy for you and delicious.  I really I love them, but I must admit they are a bit of a pain to get the seeds out.   The first time I tried to clean out a pomegranate I just cut it and scraped the seeds out by hand.  What a mess!  I had seeds flying every where and the pomegranate juice stained my cutting board, my clothes, my hands.  Urgh.. it was enough to turn me off of pomegranates for good!  Then another method I heard of was to immerse the cut pomegranate under water and try to scrape out the seeds.  It was not successful by any means.  I just ended up wet and most of my seeds lost flavor.    

Then I saw a method of just tapping a cut pomegranate into a large bowl with a wooden spoon.  So I gave it a try.  It was really easy and not messy.  The key is to loosen the seeds first by pushing down on the white pulp/membrane or even squeezing the cut pomegranate a bit  to get the membrane to let go of the seeds.  You don't actually touch the seeds so your fingers don't get too stained. The rest of the method is pretty mess free since you let the bowl handle all the juice and seeds.  So the next time you want to enjoy some delicious pomegranate seeds, just get that bowl and wooden spoon out and tap away.

 

Tools: 

1. Large bowl to catch the falling seeds
2. Wooden Spoon
3. Pairing knife to cut pomegranate in half 
4. A glass or coffee mug (optional)

1.  Score the Pomegranate skin in half using a pairing knife. You just have to cut through the outer skin and then pry it open the rest of the way. 

2.  Take your thumbs and press down around the sections of the seeds or squeeze the cut pomegranate gently to help loosen the seeds up. 

3.  Hold half a pomegranate over a large bowl and tap vigorously with a wooden spoon. Actually, I could not hold the pomegranate and take the photo for the step by step shot so I used a sturdy glass (or a coffee mug) to rest the cut pomegranate on.  This is a great way of not getting the juice all over your hands too because if you hold it in your palm while you hit the other side you will get a stained hand for sure.  Seeds should start to immediately fall out of the pomegranate.  Once you have tapped all the seeds out, pick out any white pulp bits and discard.   Note:  If there are some stubborn seeds still stuck, use a fork or spoon to gently prod them out.  Enjoy the seeds as a snack or in drinks, salads, garnishes or many other variety of ways.

 

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