Pomegranate: possibly the most delicious fruit ever. Surely the most tedious fruit ever. Separating all those seeds from the extensive, bitter membranes that intersperse the delicious seeds of the pom is a herculean task.
I have developed a pretty decent hold-sections-of-pom-over-the-sink-and-scrape-the-seeds-off-with-my-teeth technique, and even manage to eat this seasonal winter fruit without getting horror-movie-esque levels of red juice everywhere.
My kids? Different story. On the plus-side, one pomegranate pulled into sections can keep them entertained longer than just about anything else. On the minus-side, there will be pomegranate juice on the ceiling by the time they are done.
So when I learned about this super easy “whack-a-pom” technique to separate the pomegranate seeds from the membrane with very little work or mess, I had to try it.
Life changing people – life changing. Try this method, you won’t regret it.
Step One: Score Pomegranate Around The Middle
If the pomegranate was a globe, you’d cut all along the equator. Score deeply enough to cut all the way through the thick outer skin but don’t cut into the seeds.
Step Two: Pull Pomegranate Into Halves
Just get your thumbs into the score-line and give the pom a good pull. It will break into two sections like this.
Step Three: Hold One Pomegranate Half Skin-Side Up Over A Large Bowl
You want a large bowl because this dramatically cuts down on juice and seeds flying everywhere. Make sure your hands are clean and just hold the pomegranate half from underneath, spreading open your fingers a bit so the seeds can fall out of the pom.
Step Four: Use A Wooden Spoon To Whack The Pomegranate
This is the part that seems weird but trust me. Just give the pomegranate good firm whacks with the back of a wooden spoon. It might take a few whacks to get the seeds going, but they will start to fall out.
Move your spoon around so that you smack the pomegranate from all angles around the skin.
Pretty soon your bowl will fill with pomegranate seeds.
Step Five: Pick Out Any Loose Bits Of Membrane.
There won’t be many and that’s where this technique is particularly awesome. When you are done playing whack-a-pom the husk of your pomegranate will be empty and you’ll have a whole bowl full of seeds to enjoy as is or sprinkle over salads or yogurt.
Pretty boss, huh?
The All-In-One Sharable Graphic Of This Tip
Wanna tell all your friends the good news about pomegranates? This graphic should make sharing this super easy technique even easier.
You can share it from Pinterest here.
Do you love pomegranate too?
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I’m going to have to try that. Have you tried the big bowl of water technique, where the pith/membrane floats and the seeds don’t?
Julia, that’s the method I use. Works great but I’ll have to check this option out to see if its even easier.
I have tried the water method, and I don’t like it nearly as much as this. I find soaking the pom seeds dilutes the flavor in a way I don’t care for.
Love this!
My stepson posted a video of this process last week, so on my next trip to market, I actually bought a couple of pomegranates. I brought them home and tried it out for my wife: she was dazzled by the lovely bowl of pom seeds I handed her. The other pomegranate went last evening with the grandchildren in attendance, and they both loved it and were sad that there were no more whackable pomegranates in the house. Funny how these things go in spurts after hiding for whatever interval…
That’s a great tip! And I’ve discovered our new chickens love pomegranate. I imagine the seeds would be OK for them?
There’s something stress-relieving about whacking away at a fruit with a wooden spoon and getting a delicious snack as a side-effect.
“Back in the day” I had two heavily-producing pomegranate trees, with somewhat separate peak-ripeness dates, so I learned this terrific trick long ago. With giant bowls of arils, I could just gently smoosh a scoop or two of them between nesting mixing bowls, straining the juice through a sieve into a pitcher. Others may have better juicing tricks, but nothing succeeds like excess. Thanks for such nicely-illustrated instructions.
that’s really handy! 😀
Er… no pun intended. :-
I love pomegranates to little tiny seed-sized bits, and I bake them into cookies once a year… but being from Ontarion they are not even slightly local, so I tend to use red currants instead.
This is great–the under-water in a big bowl or cooker is what I’ve used til now. I never had trouble with the taste being compromised by the water, because of course each seed is incased in its own skin. But this whacking method is really faster. During season, we like to keep a bowl of seeds in the fridge to just snack on–and yes, they’re good in yoghurt, etc. But I would encourage you to try something which might surprise you–sprinkling them into savoury soups and stews–lentil soups, or vegetable beef, etc. The seeds actually compliment the meats or lentils–adding a tart ‘sparkle’ to the flavour. They also work well in squash/pumpkin soups.
This trick was awesome! I just discovered pomegranates and suddenly can’t get enough. This was so much easier than the under-water method–and all that lovely juice!
Cool! Now, what do you DO with one of those?
Thanks for the great tip. Plus, it looks like such fun. Pomegranates are BOGO this week and I can’t wait to try it.
For years, I thought you weren’t supposed to eat the seeds – just had to juice them somehow. Funny how you can carry a wrong impression for so long.
BTW that wooden spoon is beautiful.
I gave this a shot recently and ended up going back to the water technique. Beating the crap out of the fruit was fun, but the tiny shower of juice made me nervous for my clothes! Perhaps I needed a deeper bowl…
Have you tried this method? No whacking needed: