What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and spending
ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

mark

In message , mark
writes

What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and spending
ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.
mark

In the unlikely event that I eat walnuts, I squeeze two of them together
in my hand(s) until they split. I have never worked out what to
do about the last one.

--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

"mark" asked:

What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.
There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

Nutcrackers! You should be so lucky. We have lost ours and it appears that
they are fast becoming a thing of the past. I recently spent a whole morning
looking for nutcrackers, finishing up at Lakeland where I found a few.
Last year, a bag of walnuts I bought had a diamond shaped metal walnut
opener. It worked well on most of the nuts, but we still had to smash a few
with a hammer. One store I visited had a very impressive display of nuts,
but no nutcrackers. When I asked if they had any, I was told that the
Christmas period hadn't really started as yet. but they would be having a
few in November.

MD

On Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:00:26 +0100, "mark"
wrote:


What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and spending
ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

mark


Decades ago my auntie had a nutcracker with a flat base that could
stand on the table. You put the nut in with one hand and pulled a
lever with the other. With a bit of practice it was easy to get up to
one nut a second. There is one called the "Rocket Nut Cracker"
available in the USA but I can't find a UK supplier.

Steve

--
Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com

"mark" wrote in message
o.uk...

What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

mark

"mark" wrote in message
o.uk...

What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

I don't have trouble with nutcrackers, but it is quite possible that if you
close them too hard you will smash the kernels. Try being a little more
gentle when you are pressing the handles.

Alan



mark

On 2009-10-10 15:00:26 +0100, "mark" said:


What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and spending
ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

mark

Buy them in packets. Yes, I'm joking! More than half of the fun is
shelling them yourself, everyone waiting for 'their' turn for a bit of
brain etc.
--
Sacha

On Sat, 10 Oct 2009, mark wrote:

What's the smart way to shell walnuts, I've got lots.

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and spending
ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

The best nutcracker I ever had was called a Crackerjack. It had a kind
of ratchet which gradually put pressure on the nut until it cracked.
Ideal for walnuts.

I see there are some on Ebay at the moment.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

Leave them for the squirrels. They seem to able to open them in seconds.

Getting the insides back might be tricky though ...

Al.

alan.holmes wrote:

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

I don't have trouble with nutcrackers, but it is quite possible that if you
close them too hard you will smash the kernels. Try being a little more
gentle when you are pressing the handles.


That is often easier said than done. I've often just increased the force
a little, nothing, so increased a little more then wham - pile of mushed
pulp! I think the secret is to get nut crackers with long handles so you
can apply more leverage but in a controlled manner.


--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

David in Normandy writes
alan.holmes wrote:

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.
I don't have trouble with nutcrackers, but it is quite possible that
if you close them too hard you will smash the kernels. Try being a
little more gentle when you are pressing the handles.


That is often easier said than done. I've often just increased the
force a little, nothing, so increased a little more then wham - pile of
mushed pulp! I think the secret is to get nut crackers with long
handles so you can apply more leverage but in a controlled manner.

You need nutcrakers suited to the size of nut - closed, they need to be
just a couple of millimetres smaller than the nut. It is hard to crack
walnuts without breaking if you're using nutcrackers capable of cracking
hazelnuts.


--
Kay

Any Craft Fayres your way? Look for a woods turners stall. They often buy nutcrackers which are fitted into a turned bowl. You can always hit them with a sledgehammer and then pick out the bits.!!!!!
Bigal

Les Hemmings wrote:
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
Decades ago my auntie had a nutcracker with a flat base that could
stand on the table. You put the nut in with one hand and pulled a
lever with the other. With a bit of practice it was easy to get up to
one nut a second. There is one called the "Rocket Nut Cracker"
available in the USA but I can't find a UK supplier.

Steve

Ship to US & Canada only (

http://www.reednutcracker.com/html/rocket.htm

There's an opening in the market for someone there!


Y
es, but would such an enterprise be considered nuts or crackers?
On the other hand maybe it would be a cracking opportunity Gromit ;-)


--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
alan.holmes wrote:

There has to be a better way than sitting down with nutcrackers and
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.

I don't have trouble with nutcrackers, but it is quite possible that if
you close them too hard you will smash the kernels. Try being a little
more gentle when you are pressing the handles.


That is often easier said than done. I've often just increased the force a
little, nothing, so increased a little more then wham - pile of mushed
pulp! I think the secret is to get nut crackers with long handles so you
can apply more leverage but in a controlled manner.

Could it be the way the nutcrackers are used, I always start with the
crackers aligned with the joint on the shell, then rotate the nut and lastly
go to the ends on the nut.

Alan





--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Bigal wrote:


'Al[_4_ Wrote:
;866753'] There has to be a better way than sitting down with
nutcrackers and-
spending ages to produce a tiny heap of bits.-

Leave them for the squirrels. They seem to able to open them in
seconds.

Getting the insides back might be tricky though ...

Any Craft Fayres your way? Look for a woods turners stall. They often
buy nutcrackers which are fitted into a turned bowl. You can always
hit them with a sledgehammer and then pick out the bits.!!!!!

Cracking nuts with a hammer is a very good way of doing it, once you
have the knack you can apply just enough force to crack the shell.
Just don't use a slegehammer. :-)
--
Phil Cook http://www.therewaslight.co.uk