Peeling Pomegranates

There are few things that I enjoy as much as when it is pomegranate season. This last crop I must have enjoyed over 25 of them and like my pumpkin carving with that much practice I have become really good at peeling pomegranates. I have then decided to do a blog on how I treat each one. Every pomegranate I peel is with the goal of tapping out every single seed without slicing into any of them. My technique is to peel as much of it as possible without cutting a seed, breaking it into chunks and then stripping those chunks of the glorious fruit.

1.
Start by cutting into the top. My weapon of choice is a small curved parring knife. When you cut in, start high, go about half to three quarters and then pull up. This is the important part of the technique, you slice in some, and then pull the knife up to rip the rest.

2.
After you slice the top off, work all around the edges. Don't worry about going all the way down the sides, but try to pull it back as much to the seeds as possible.

3.
The next step is to hollow out the top. Take the point of the knife and cut a small cone out of the center to get that hard bud out.

4.
Proceed onward to stick the knife in the edges of the middle, shallowly and peel back until the top middle is all clear.

5.
The next step is to attack the bottom. Slice in and pull up. Start shallow and go deeper until you pull back to the seeds. Work the sides a but remember it doesn't have to go the whole way up the sides

6.
Next you want to make shallow cut lines, just deep enough to almost break the skin along the seperation points of each of the chunks. The chunks will have a small skin inbetween each one that run up and down the fruit. Make cut lines in there

7.
Now you can take it and delicately split it apart. Seeds will shake loose when you do this and you should have a dish or container to catch them when they fall.

8.
After it is separated you can pull smaller pieces off in the same fashion.

9.
Use your hands to peel back skin and peel to make klumps of seeds.

10.
Now you can easily use your hands to apply gentle pressure to the seeds to loosen them from the rind and roll them off and into a container

11.
Or you may notice that the chunks are in triangular clumps, making it easy to peel the seeds off with your mouth in a few bits lie eatting little pieces of corn.

Where I am from pomegranate season is over, but when they are back I hope these techniques help you enjoy pomegranates more.