Macadamia nuts are incredibly tough to crack, even if they've been boiled or roasted first. Typical nutcrackers won't do the trick, and less refined methods, like smashing them with a standard hammer, end up crushing the delicate nuts inside. Read on for two methods you can use to crack macadamia nuts.
A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells.
how to crack nuts in the shell
Nuts were historically opened using a hammer and anvil, often made of stone.[1] Some nuts such as walnuts can also be opened by hand, by holding the nut in the palm of the hand and applying pressure with the other palm or thumb, or using another nut.[2]
Manufacturers produce modern functional nutcrackers usually somewhat resembling pliers, but with the pivot point at the end beyond the nut, rather than in the middle. These are also used for cracking the shells of crab and lobster to make the meat inside available for eating. Hinged lever nutcrackers, often called a "pair of nutcrackers", may date back to Ancient Greece.[1] By the 14th century in Europe, nutcrackers were documented in England, including in the Canterbury Tales, and in France.[1] The lever design may derive from blacksmiths' pincers. Materials included metals such as silver, cast-iron and bronze,[3] and wood including boxwood, especially those from France and Italy.[1] More rarely, porcelain was used.[3] Many of the wooden carved nutcrackers were in the form of people and animals.[1]
During the Victorian era, fruit and nuts were presented at dinner and ornate and often silver-plated nutcrackers were produced to accompany them on the dinner table.[1] Nuts have long been a popular choice for desserts, particularly throughout Europe. The nutcrackers were placed on dining tables to serve as a fun and entertaining center of conversation while diners awaited their final course. At one time, nutcrackers were actually made of metals such as brass, and it was not until the 1800s in Germany that the popularity of wooden ones began to spread.[4]
The late 19th century saw two shifts in nutcracker production: the rise in figurative and decorative designs, particularly from the Alps where they were sold as souvenirs, and a switch to industrial manufacture, including availability in mail-order catalogues, rather than artisan production.[1] After the 1960s, the availability of pre-shelled nuts led to a decline in ownership of nutcrackers and a fall in the tradition of nuts being put in children's Christmas stockings.[1]
In the 17th century, screw nutcrackers were introduced that applied more gradual pressure to the shell, some like a vise.[1] The spring-jointed nutcracker was patented by Henry Quackenbush in 1913.[5] A ratchet design, similar to a car jack, that gradually increases pressure on the shell to avoid damaging the kernel inside is used by the Crackerjack, patented in 1947 by Cuthbert Leslie Rimes of Morley, Leeds and exhibited at the Festival of Britain.[6][7][8][9] Unshelled nuts are still popular in China, where a key device is inserted into the crack in walnuts, pecans, and macadamias and twisted to open the shell.[10]
A crab cracker (also known as a lobster cracker or crab claw cracker) is a specialized food utensil, similar in construction (and sometimes appearance) to certain types of nutcrackers, used to crack the hard shells of crabs and lobsters by pulling the two handles together to access the flesh inside, while preparing or eating them.
Nutcrackers in the form of wood carvings of a soldier, knight, king, or other profession have existed since at least the 15th century. Figurative nutcrackers are a good luck symbol in Germany, and a folktale recounts that a puppet-maker won a nutcracking challenge by creating a doll with a mouth for a lever to crack the nuts.[3] These nutcrackers portray a person with a large mouth which the operator opens by lifting a lever in the back of the figurine. Originally one could insert a nut in the big-toothed mouth, press down and thereby crack the nut. Modern nutcrackers in this style serve mostly for decoration, mainly at Christmas time, a season of which they have long been a traditional symbol.[11] Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, derives its name from this festive holiday decoration.
Decorative nutcrackers became popular in the United States after the Second World War, following the first US production of The Nutcracker ballet in 1940 and the exposure of US soldiers to the dolls during the war.[12] In the United States, few of the decorative nutcrackers are now functional, though expensive working designs are still available.[12] Many of the woodworkers in Germany were in Erzgebirge, in the Soviet zone after the end of the war, and they mass-produced poorly-made designs for the US market. With the increase in pre-shelled nuts, the need for functionality was also lessened. After the 1980s, Chinese and Taiwanese imports that copied the traditional German designs took over.[3][12] The recreated "Bavarian village" of Leavenworth, Washington, features a nutcracker museum. Many other materials also serve to make decorated nutcrackers, such as porcelain, silver, and brass; the museum displays samples. The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued four stamps in October 2008 with custom-made nutcrackers made by Richmond, Virginia artist Glenn Crider.[13]
Many animals shell nuts to eat them, including using tools. The Capuchin monkey is a fine example. Parrots use their beaks as natural nutcrackers, in much the same way smaller birds crack seeds. In this case, the pivot point stands opposite the nut, at the jaw, or the beak.
Eastern Europeans have been doing this for generations. My kids learned it from their father. They could take walnuts or pecans to grade school; in the shells, and have them for lunch or a snack, without tools.
We love nuts, we love them even more if they are easy to pick and eat. Most nuts often come with a hard shell covering. This is perhaps one of the reasons why they are so unpopular among kids and people who are not in a mood to put in so much effort to crack open the nut in the first place. One of the hardest nuts to crack is walnut. Walnut also happens to be one of the most easily accessible nuts in our country. It is yummy and oh-so-nutritious. Walnuts are incredible for brain and heart health. According to the book 'Healing Foods' by DK Publishing House, it is a rich source of alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid. ALA helps lower 'unhealthy' (LDL) cholesterol levels that help keep arteries healthy and supple. The book further notes that walnuts also contain serotonin, a brain chemical that may help cheer you up and keep depressive thoughts at bay.(Also Read: Weight Loss: 7 Reasons Why Walnuts Must Be Included In Diet To Lose Extra Kilos)Walnut was brought to India by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, but now it has become a mainstay in Indian dishes, especially our desserts, trail-mix and granola bars. It also makes for an exceptional salad ingredient. Now, why would you not want to add a nut so versatile and nutritious to your diet? If you do not have a nut-cracker, we have some easy hacks to shell walnuts that may be of help:window._rrCode = window._rrCode [];_rrCode.push(function() (function(v,d,o,ai)ai=d.createElement("script");ai.defer=true;ai.async=true;ai.src=v.location.protocol+o;d.head.appendChild(ai);)(window, document, "//a.vdo.ai/core/v-ndtv/vdo.ai.js"); );Hacks: How To Crack A Walnut How To Open The Shell Of Walnut1. The door hinge methodThis is an adventurous method but mostly fool-proof. Find a door with a good hinge support. Place the walnut between the open door, hinge and the jamb. Now, slowly close the door so the hinge is pressing tightly against the nut. Once you hear the crack sound. Open the door and collect the walnut. With the help of your hand, separate the nutshell and the nut.(Also Read: The Nutty Affair: Which Nuts Should You Have Daily And How Many?)2. Hammer blowSoak some walnuts in hot water for a few hours. This will soften the hard outer-shell. Now, place the walnut on a flat surface. Make sure the pointy end of the walnut is facing up. Take a hammer and carefully strike the walnut, the shell would crack open along the axis. Pull the shell apart. Make sure you do not hurt yourself.3. With bare handsDon't have a door or hammer? No problem. Place two walnuts in your hand parallel to each other. Now clasp them tightly so that they press against each other. With this force, you would be able to crack one of the two walnuts.Try these tricks and let us know how easy or difficult you found them. (This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.) Comments About Sushmita SenguptaSharing a strong penchant for food, Sushmita loves all things good, cheesy and greasy. Her other favourite pastime activities other than discussing food includes, reading, watching movies and binge-watching TV shows.
You're all set up and ready for your holiday dinner. You've got the main course, you've got the fine wine and the freshly squeezed lemonade, hell you've even got the bread rolls. You're setting out the finger foods, simple things like cheese and nuts, when you suddenly realize, to your horror, that you've forgotten a nutcracker.
Crack it by hand: I know what you're thinking, "crack it open with my bare hands? You must be nuts (pun intended)," but no, I'm not kidding. It's not too difficult to get these bad boys open by hand once you know how. Take two nuts and find the hardest side of each. Press the two harder sides against one another in the palm of your hand. Use your other hand as a base and apply pressure to the nuts until they crack open. 2ff7e9595c
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