An Easier Way to Crack the Nut

How to Open Pistachio Nuts that Just Won’t Open

You can often find me making pistachio biscotti when I’m not making chocolate dipped or salted caramel macaroons.  I like to put a ton of pistachios in my biscotti, which means that I’m inevitably faced with a whole lot of nuts that just won’t open.  As anyone who’s ever eaten pistachios knows, it’s a real pain in the ass to deal with the ones that won’t open.  Broken finger nails, gouged cuticles – broken teeth, even – it’s just not fun.  I’ve tried lots of ways to open these unopenable ones, and this, by far, is the easiest way to open pistachio nuts.

Step 1: Find some pistachios that won’t open

pistachio nuts like this are a pain in the ass to open

Step 2: Grab half of an already opened pistachio shell and press it up against the crack in your unopenable pistachio

all you need is one pistachio that you've already opened and you're good to go

Step 3: Push the half shell into your previously unopenable pistachio, working it around – not through – the nut meat.

You want to slide it up and over (or down and under) the meat inside, almost as if you were opening an oyster.

wedge your half shell into the unopenable nut, running it along the outside of the meat

Step 4: Eat your previously impossible-to-eat pistachio nut!

a little bonus nut

With a little bit of ingenuity, you’ll get a few more nuts out of every batch of pistachios.  However, I’ve got no easy answer for the ones that don’t have at least a little crack in them….

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