One of my favorite things about the winter is that it is pomegranate season! I love to snack on the seeds (actually their proper name is "Arils"), and although you can buy them already seeded they are REALLY expensive.
At our local grocery store they range between $6-8 for 4 oz container (about 1/2 a pomegrante's worth!) On the other hand, you can get an 8 pack of pomegranates for about $14 at Costco! (That works out to about 87 cents for 4 oz of arils!)
At our local grocery store they range between $6-8 for 4 oz container (about 1/2 a pomegrante's worth!) On the other hand, you can get an 8 pack of pomegranates for about $14 at Costco! (That works out to about 87 cents for 4 oz of arils!)
I know a lot people shy away from pomegranates because of the huge messy nightmare involved in getting the seeds out. For years I have struggled to remove the seeds by using the standard "peel it, break it into pieces, and submerge it in water.. let the white skins float to the top.. blah blah blah"method.
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It would take me at LEAST 8-10 minutes to seed a single fruit and my
fingers would be a sticky mess from popping the little arils out.
But one day my life changed, when a friend of mine posted this Lifehacker video to her Facebook page. Before you watch it, be warned.. the video is WAY.TOO.LONG.. so let me sum it up for you.
But one day my life changed, when a friend of mine posted this Lifehacker video to her Facebook page. Before you watch it, be warned.. the video is WAY.TOO.LONG.. so let me sum it up for you.
Seriously. I can now seed an entire pomegranate in under 60 seconds.
You are going to need a paring knife, wooden spoon or other pretty heavy utensil (I like the back of a butter knife since it has a lot of "oomph"), a large bowl and pomegranates. I also wear and apron since pomegranate juice stains!
You are going to need a paring knife, wooden spoon or other pretty heavy utensil (I like the back of a butter knife since it has a lot of "oomph"), a large bowl and pomegranates. I also wear and apron since pomegranate juice stains!
How to Seed a Pomegranate
in Under a Minute
Step 1:
Loosen the seeds from the membranes by gently rolling the fruit on the counter.
SHALLOWLY score the skin of the pomegranate so you don't cut open any seeds. You should be barely penetrating the surface.
The score should run perpendicular to the direction of the stem
Step 3:
Carefully TWIST open the fruit. Like when you are opening a peach. This will keep all your seeds in tact.
Step 4:
While holding the cut side down, use your spoon/knife/hammer (kidding!) to knock the loosened seeds away from the membranes.
When you are done you will end up with a hollow pomegranate:
And a whole lot of ARILS!
So there you have it.. The fastest, easiest and CHEAPEST way to enjoy pomegranates!
I store my seeds in a tupperware in the fridge for up to a week. If you want to stock up on them and enjoy them all summer long you can freeze them the arils well. Just spread them on a cookie sheet in the freezer and when they are hard, pour them into a zip-top bag. (Don't freeze the seeds directly in the bag or they will stick together in a big chunk!) They will last 3-4 months frozen.
I know some people think this method is too messy, but here are a few tips I have figured out:
Use a LARGE bowl and hold the cut pomegranate down low, the splatter is directed downward, so the closer you are to the bottom of the bowl, the better.
If you are getting a lot of splatter upward or outward, the skin of the pomegranate is breaking or the seeds are coming out 'mushed', that means you are hitting it too hard.
If you are finding the seeds aren't coming out without a real beating, you may need to loosen them more (by rolling them on the counter and pressing with the heel of your hand.) They should release with a firm 'tap.'
If you are getting a lot of membranes along with your arils, you can still put them in a bowl of water and allow the white material to float to the surface. I still do that in order to rinse the seeds.
I store my seeds in a tupperware in the fridge for up to a week. If you want to stock up on them and enjoy them all summer long you can freeze them the arils well. Just spread them on a cookie sheet in the freezer and when they are hard, pour them into a zip-top bag. (Don't freeze the seeds directly in the bag or they will stick together in a big chunk!) They will last 3-4 months frozen.
I know some people think this method is too messy, but here are a few tips I have figured out:
Use a LARGE bowl and hold the cut pomegranate down low, the splatter is directed downward, so the closer you are to the bottom of the bowl, the better.
If you are getting a lot of splatter upward or outward, the skin of the pomegranate is breaking or the seeds are coming out 'mushed', that means you are hitting it too hard.
If you are finding the seeds aren't coming out without a real beating, you may need to loosen them more (by rolling them on the counter and pressing with the heel of your hand.) They should release with a firm 'tap.'
If you are getting a lot of membranes along with your arils, you can still put them in a bowl of water and allow the white material to float to the surface. I still do that in order to rinse the seeds.
So I hope that helps any other Pomegranate aficionados who are cheap like me!
Sharing this post at some of my favorite link parties.
Sharing this post at some of my favorite link parties.
What a great tutorial! I would love for you to link up at Link'n Blogs.
ReplyDeletehttp://iputabirdonit.blogspot.com/2014/01/linkn-blogs-link-party-6.html
Have a great day!
xo
Daniela
Put A Bird On It
This is great information. I have tried this before and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. I wasn't firm on the direction to cut the pomegranate and didn't know about rolling it first. Now I will be an expert!
ReplyDeleteOh yes! The direction DEFINITELY matters and loosening up the seeds is really important or else you are just beating the membranes out along with them. Glad I could offer a few tips! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! My blog has been validated and now I'm waiting to hear back. I didn't know about the search discription. Your tutorial was clear and easy to follow.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am one of those people who shy away from buying the fresh pomegranates. I can't wait to try this! Stopping by from Tatertots & Jello Link Party Palooza.
ReplyDeleteI have a pomegranate tree and I have dozens to seed at a time. This is by far the best way to get the seed out quickly. To keep the juice from splattering I just cover the pom and my hand with a big paper towel or kitchen towel then tap away with the back of a wooden spoon.. Any splatter goes onto the towel. I freeze LOTS of them and enjoy them all winter.
ReplyDeletegreat idea! Wish I could pin it - doesn't read the images unfortunately....
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear it! Since I figured this method out, it has definitely made me a bigger fan of Pomegranates
ReplyDeleteoooooh this looks so easy i know can go buy some i didnt before because of the time and the mess
ReplyDeleteI have never tried them!! Looks interesting though. Next time I get one in my organic share, I will try this!!
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
Whoa, you just blew my mind. I have one of these in my fridge right now.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool, Kim! :) Thanks for sharing this at Sharing Time- I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDelete~Heather
Wow, so much simpler, thanks for the idea! Pinning, and thanks for sharing at Creativity Unleashed!
ReplyDeleteOh I am so glad I found you {at SugarBee Crafts link party} my son LOVES poms! I pinned your post so I can show it to him! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou mean I can eat these instead of just use them as decor - ha! Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for sharing this. I didn't even know this was possible till now. Off to add descriptions to my posts.
ReplyDeleteYay!! I'm glad it worked for you!
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of assistance.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the tip! I'm more likely to pick some up at the store now.
ReplyDeleteTwo questions. 1) Will this make it so *everything* pinned from your site shows up as a Rich Pin? and 2) What if you have more than one topic on your blog? (Like, you said you put DIY on yours...)
ReplyDeleteYes. The pins are associated with your blog URL not the individual photos. If you don't have a description in old posts that line will just be left blank, but your Post Title, Favicon etc will still show up.
ReplyDeleteONLY PINS FROM YOUR SITE will show up as rich pins. If you share an image with another blogger and it is pinned for their site, it will only be a rich pin if THAT blogger has rich pins set up.
As for the second question, the "DIY" is just a metatag that makes your pin more 'google friendly' You want it to be very generic so that it help a search engine find your pins. The label should apply to AS MUCH CONTENT as it can. If you really can't summarize your entire blog with one label (it is hard i know!) You can add additional tags by adding additional lines of code AFTER the section tag (Use your PRIMARY blog subject for the section tag an additional subjects as generic tags like this:
just replace 'crafts' 'holidays' and 'decor' with whatever your blog is about. You can add as many subjects as you want with article tags, but you don't want to limit yourself by getting to specific. (For example.. i doubt anyone will search for this post as "rich pins and holidays" so that tag HURTS me.)
Hope that makes sense! Let me know if anything is still confusing!
Kim, I found that I have to go back and add a search description to my old posts and repin them for them to show up as Rich Pins. I had not been doing the search description on my older posts.....
ReplyDeleteThey are still 'technically' rich pins since they have the codes added, and so you can retroactively add search descriptions and they will change over the pretty formatting.. it isn't too late! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I just did it- took less than 5 minutes :)
ReplyDeletehi kim! thanks for the helpful article. question: do i need to apply separately for article pins and recipe pins?
ReplyDelete