The Hack For Opening Pistachios Was In Front Of Us The Whole Time
You know all about pistachios: they're those little green (sometimes red) nuts that come naturally packaged in hard shells that you have to work to snap open. Maybe you have a particular way of doing it. You might have long fingernails that can wiggle into the split of the shell and pry it open. You may just use a fork or a spoon. Heck, you might even use your teeth to crack the shell open. While these are all efficient ways of getting the pistachio out of its shell, the pistachio actually comes with its own built-in shell opener.
If your pistachio shell has that tiny sliver at the top, just big enough that you could jam something in there and lever it open, simply take an empty shell and slide one end of it into the crack. Then, twist the spare shell to pry open the whole shell. It's recommended that this spare shell isn't cracked or damaged in any way itself or else it will break when you try to press down on it. You could do this with as many shells as you like or you can keep one as a designated shell opener.
But what happens if your lucky pistachio shell isn't able to open your pistachios? It seems that you'll have to turn to some heavy artillery if you want to crack that nut.
Give them a good whack with a tenderizer
Let's say that your pistachios are so tightly sealed that not even your designated spare shell can crack them open. You can't pry them, pull them, or even bite them. What do you do? Simple — take your choice of meat tenderizer or frying pan and give those bad boys a nice firm whack. Don't hold back! Give them a firm, quick love tap — you may even release some stress while you do so.
Now, of course, we don't mean you should stand in your kitchen bashing a bag of pistachios with a frying pan until you mash them into paste. What you should do instead is spread the nuts out on a baking sheet or cutting board, cover them with a cloth or paper towel, and using your blunt instrument of choice, firmly give the nuts a solid hit. You shouldn't do it hard enough that the nuts will break apart, just hard enough that cracks and splits appear in the shells. From there, you can pry open the nuts however you like — fork, fingers, or spare nutshell.
These are all very ingenious ways to open your pistachios to be sure. But, in the twenty-first century where innovation and imagination go hand-in-hand, how is it that no one thought to invent a tool to open your pistachios? As it would turn out, someone actually did.
Pistachio-opening tools do indeed exist
Does the idea of using another shell to break open your pistachios bore you? Is the idea of smashing them open with a frying pan not something you look forward to? If these apply to you, then you should look into purchasing one of many pistachio-opening tools available.
There are many different types of tools and devices on the market that promise to be an efficient and easy-to-use tool to open even the trickiest of pistachios. These tools are small, hand-held, and resemble average nutcrackers, meant for opening one nut at a time. Surprisingly enough, industrial pistachio openers do exist, some operating with an impressive 95% shell rate using a sophisticated system of temperature and pressure changes to soften the shell of the nut to remove it. Although these machines are meant for commercial use, smaller ones made of plastic or metal can be purchased very cheaply from a variety of different vendors.
Of course, whether you prefer to get innovative by opening your pistachios with tools, frying pans, or using their own shells is up to you. At the end of the day, any method of opening pistachios is acceptable so long as you enjoy them.