How to Hull Walnuts

With their crunchy, slightly bitter texture and taste, walnuts make the perfect snack and serve as a great complement for other ingredients in desserts, main dishes, salads and baked goods. Our guide, how to hull walnuts, reveals how to crack English walnuts and offers tips on selection, storage and recipe ideas.

• In addition to their delicious flavor and crunch, walnuts offer an added benefit over their other nut counterparts. In addition to containing heart-healthy polyunsaturated oil, walnuts also feature an omega-3 fatty acid touted for improving the cognitive function of the brain.Martha Stewart Whole Living: Power Food: Walnuts Whether you appreciate the health benefits or simply love the flavor of the nuts, discover how to hull fresh walnuts for use as snacks or in delicious recipe

• This article discusses the selection, storage and hulling of English Walnuts (the variety typically sold at stands and supermarkets). Another variety, Black Walnuts (which resemble small basketballs) are best shelled by commercial operations since they have husks with an indelible dye and shells that are difficult to remove without specialized tools or extreme measures, like running them over with your car.University of Minnesota: Harvesting Black Walnuts: Prepare for Storage Indiana Nut Growers Association: How Do I Remove the Hulls from Black Walnuts?

1. Buy fresh walnuts in the shell between August and November, when they're plentiful.Walnuts.org: California Walnut Buying Tips: In-Shell Walnuts
2. Look for walnuts with shells that don't have any cracks or holes.Walnut Info: Selection and Storage
3. Also avoid shells with stains, which may indicate that mold has developed.World's Healthiest Foods: How to Select and Store
4. Choose whole walnuts that feel heavy for their size.World's Healthiest Foods: How to Select and Store

1. Store walnuts still in the shell in a cool dry place for up to three months.Walnut Info: Selection and Storage
2. Keep shelled nuts in the refrigerator for up to six months.World's Healthiest Foods: How to Select and Store
   • -When storing walnuts in the refrigerator, keep them away from foods with strong odors like fish since the nuts will absorb nearby odors.Walnuts.org: More Storage and Handling Tips
3. Shelled walnuts can also be kept tightly covered in the freezer for up to one year.Betty Crocker: Walnuts: How to Store
4. Walnuts are rancid and should be tossed if they emit an odor that smells like paint.Walnut Info: FAQ: How Do I Know When a Walnut Has Spoiled?

• Turn a fresh batch of walnuts in their shells into rich, crunchy nuts ready to eat, roast or chop for use in recipes. Some tools are more suited towards rapidly shelling a large number of nuts, while some are simple devices for shelling walnuts one at a time. Choose a shelling tool appropriate for the amount of walnuts you plan to hull:

1. Regular Hammer: Place the walnut on a flat, solid surface on its flat end, then tap the top with the hammer to crack open the shell.The Nut Factory: Cracking Nuts
2. Hand-held Nutcracker: Open the nutcracker like you would a pair of pliers, insert the walnut into the jaws and squeeze the handles to crack open the shell.Williams-Sonoma: Nutcracker Nutcrackers.com: Quick Tips for Functional Nutcrackers
3. Cup-style Nutcracker: Drop the walnut into this rotary tool and turn the bottom clockwise to crack the shell.Homestead Market: Nut Cracker
4. Twisting Nutcracker: Place a walnut in the device and turn the crank-style until the shell cracks so you can free the nut.Amazon.com: Nutcracker by Blomus
5. Tabletop Nutcracker: Place a walnut in the press and push down on the handle until the shell cracks to leave the nut intact.Amazon.com: Walnut Cracker
6. Electric Nutcracker: Electric versions can crack English walnuts and other nuts like pecans and Brazil nuts by using a rotating cylinder that only takes two seconds to crack one nut.Gilbert Pecan Co.: Dynamic Nutcracker
7. Nut Pick: Use handy nut picks to help lift the nut meat out of the shell once it's cracked.Kitchen Store: Quackenbush Nutcracker Set

• If you want to use your shelled walnuts for something other than snacking, try one of these recipes that use the buttery nuts as a condiment, sauce component or even as a prominent ingredient:

• Martha Stewart: Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip

• Food and Wine: Aged Gouda Biscotti with Walnuts

• Real Simple: Spiced Mixed Nuts

• All Recipes: Candied Walnut Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette

• Simply Recipes: Roasted Green Beans with Onions and Walnuts

• Eating Well: Chard with Shallots, Pancetta and Walnuts

• BBC Food: Open Stilton and Walnut Ravioli

• Recipezaar: Chicken with Walnuts, Bell Peppers and Green Onions

• Real Simple: Steamed Halibut with Kale and Walnuts

• Martha Stewart: Spinach Linguine with Walnut-Arugula Pesto

• Eating Well: Stir Fried Chicken with Wilted Spinach and Tamari Walnuts

• Emeril's: Apple Walnut Muffins

• Emeril's: Banana Walnut Bread Pudding

• Chow: Almond and Walnut Baklava

• Food and Wine: Baked Apple Tartines with Walnuts and Armagnac

• Introduction
• Using Fresh Walnuts
  • Selection
  • Storage
• Hulling Walnuts
• Walnut Recipes
• References