How to Open a Pomegranate

There’s a gal in my neighborhood that I adore. And it’s not because she has a pomegranate tree. Really…that’s not the reason.

REALLLLLLLYYYYY.

She’s actually an awesome community member and activist. She helps out and volunteers her time, despite having a toddler and a new baby on the way. She’s fierce. My kinda woman!

But, the pomegranate tree doesn’t hurt either.

Every year at pomegranate time, she sends out an email, as many of us with our over-abundant fruit trees do, offering up her bounty of juicy red goodness. I’m a sucker for pomegranates.  Love them. My son and I fill jars with the seeds and scoop them into our mouths by the spoonful. My husband is not such a fan and thinks it weird that we can eat so many in a sitting, and that we’re not bothered by the little seeds inside the seeds. I’m a big fan of tart, so I truly find poms wonderful (hahahah – POM Wonderful should sponsor me for that comment!).

And since I am talking POM, let me just make a comment about canning and pomegranates: I love canning food. When people see my basement they’re pretty over-whelmed. “How do you have the time?” they ask. And my honest answer is, “It’s my hobby.” And no matter the time, most people find room in their lives for a hobby. I don’t mind staying up all hours of the night, fancying myself an alchemist, making my mystery potions and preserving them for the world to enjoy.

I’m kinda like Gargamel and Smurfette rolled into one:

(All the sweetness and attention-seeking nature of Smurfette + the potion-creating madness of Gargamel) – (Gargamel’s evil) – (Smurfette’s blueness) = ME!

But…despite all of that…there are lines that I draw. And currently, making pomegranate juice from pomegranate seeds is one of those lines. I just love the seeds too much to turn them into juice. I do. And if I want the straight up juice, I’ll buy POM Wonderful concentrate. Someday I will probably dive into pureeing my own juice, but for now, I just couldn’t imagine putting those seeds in a food processor versus my mouth. That crunchy little texture is everything.

So instead of talking canning recipes, let’s talk technique. In this case, how do you get those little seeds out of that big ole outer casing?

First thing to note: when you see a pomegranate tree and it has opened pomegranates on it, don’t be like, “Ew. That is a moldy oldy pom.” That, my friend, is a perfectly ripe pomegranate that has literally burst open with juicy goodness. And it is begging to be picked and eaten.

Who am I to deny?

So, make your life easier and pick the poms that have opened up. Once you remove them from the tree, they will go moldy within a few days, so you should take them home, remove the seeds and store them either in your freezer, or in your fridge if, like me, you plan to eat them rather quickly.

But if you end up with pomegranates that are fully intact, here’s what you can do:

Step 1: Slice the top and bottom from the pomegranate. They’re juicy, so do this on a cutting board.

Step 2: Slice a plus sign (+) into the pomegranate from top, going down 3/4 of the way. Don’t slice all the way through.

Step 3: Put the pomegranate into a clean sink and pour boiling water into the sink, letting the pomegranate soak for several minutes. Basically, you’re going to blanch the pomegranate.

Step 4: Move the pomegranate into a clean sink filled with cold water (if you don’t have a double sink like I do, you can put the pomegranate into a pot of boiling water on the stove for Step 3, in which case I would not have the water at a rolling boil, instead just make sure it is very hot water.

Step 5: Using your hands, break the pomegranate open, under the water. As you pull it apart, the seeds will drop to the bottom of the sink, and the white pith will float to the top.  This serves the dual purpose of preventing your hands from being stained.

And there you go. Enjoy those seeds!

Tagged as: how to open a pomegranate, pomegranate