Getting fruit into your diet is one of the easiest ways to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. There are so many different types of fruit that offer different vitamins and minerals to help boost your health.
One of the most intriguing fruits you can get from the grocery store is a pomegranate.
This interesting fruit is delicious and bursting with nutrients.
However, it is one of the most difficult fruits to cut properly in order to release the seeds from inside. In this quick guide, we will show you how to cut a pomegranate and how pomegranates can help keep you healthy.
Step-By-Step Guide To Cutting A Pomegranate
Cutting a pomegranate can seem like a difficult task, but once you know the best technique, you’ll wonder where you ever went wrong. Below is a simple step-by-step guide to help you master the art of cutting a pomegranate.
Step One: Roll The Pomegranate
Before you bring a knife anywhere near your pomegranate, you should roll it first. Place the fruit on its side on your countertop and apply a medium amount of pressure.
Use that pressure to roll the fruit back and forth a few times. This helps to loosen up the seeds inside to make de-seeding easier.
Step Two: Pop The Top
Now that your pomegranate is prepped, you need to pop the top. This simply involves cutting the top part of the pomegranate off. You don’t want to remove too much from the top or you will end up wasting seeds.
Instead, use the small stalk at the top of the pomegranate as a guide. Cut around the stalk to expose some of the white pith of the fruit.
Step Three: Score The Sides
Next, you will need to score the sides of the pomegranate. This will allow you to open the fruit more easily. Use the exposed pith as a starting point to make scoring the flesh easier.
You don’t want to score the pomegranate too many times. Thankfully, there is a little trick to help you make the perfect number of scores.
When you look at the pomegranate from above, you will notice that it isn’t perfectly round. In fact, it is more of a rounded square with some flat sides and corner-like ridges.
It is these ridges that you should score along. Start at the top of the fruit where the pith is exposed and run the tip of your paring knife down the ridge to the bottom.
Make sure that you cut all the way through the red skin and most of the way through the pith to make the next step easier.
Step Four: Crack It Open
Once you have scored your pomegranate into sections, it is time to crack the fruit open. Place the pomegranate on a plate. This will help to catch any seeds that pop out when you open the fruit.
Place your thumbs in the circle you created when you cut the stalk off. Firmly but gently pull apart opposite segments of the pomegranate.
With the right amount of pressure, the pomegranate will crack along the lines that you scored. The internal segments should then split along their natural partitions.
Repeat the process until all segments have been separated. You should have as many segments as you had ridges and flat sides of the fruit, plus a cone shape in the middle.
Step Five: Eat!
Once you have pulled all the segments apart, you will have hand-sized snacks that are perfect for giving to children or enjoying yourself straight from the fruit. You can also remove the seeds from the fruit to add to other foods or fruits.
Best Way To Deseed A Pomegranate
If you want to remove the seeds from your pomegranate to add to a delicious salad or a fruit platter, there are two main ways you can do this.
If your pomegranate has very little pith and the segments are bursting with seeds, you can simply turn them upside down over a bowl and tap the flesh of the fruit with a wooden spoon.
This should successfully remove the majority of the seeds. The rest can be scooped out by hand if necessary.
However, if you have ended up with a pomegranate that has a lot of pith that is getting mixed in with your seeds or making it difficult to remove them, there is another option.
Submerge your pithy pomegranate in a bowl of fresh water. Begin to scoop the seeds out with your hands. You will end up scooping the pith out as well. However, because the pomegranate is in water, the pith will float to the surface and the seeds will sink.
From here, you just have to remove the floating pith and drain the seeds.
Health Benefits Of Pomegranate
There are many health benefits to including pomegranate seeds in your diet. One of the main benefits that pomegranates are known for is their ability to help protect the health of your heart in many different ways.
Regularly consuming pomegranate seeds can help to reduce your blood pressure and maintain your blood sugar levels. This helps to reduce the strain on your heart and cardiovascular system.
Pomegranates are also great for helping to maintain the health of your eyes. The high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of this fruit help to reduce the risk of developing glaucoma, macular degeneration, and other vision problems.
Pomegranate is also thought to contain cancer-fighting or preventing properties. It is thought to be particularly useful for prostate cancer and breast cancer.
Final Thoughts
Pomegranates are wonderful fruits that have many health benefits if they are regularly included in our diets.
Once you know the right technique to cut and remove the seeds from a pomegranate, you will be able to enjoy them all throughout the season.
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
