how-to: open a pomegranate

whenever i felt like eating a pomegranate, i used to cut it in half and slowly pick all of the seeds out.  by the end my hands would be red and i was lucky if i got half of the goodness out of the tough-skinned fruit,

but i recently found out there is a much simpler way to open a pomegranate, where you can get all the seeds out without making a mess.  all you need is a knife and a large bowl of cold water.

start by cutting off the crown of the pomegranate.  you can see the seeds are segmented in 5 sections with a fleshy membrane separating them.

score the pomegranate skin deep down the walls of membrane, all the way to its base.

fill a large bowl with cold water and place the pomegranate in it so it’s submerged.

gently pry the 5 sections apart so it opens almost like a star.  while still submerged, gently pick the seeds out and separate them from the membrane they are attached to.

continue until all of the seeds have been removed.  the membrane should float to the top, while the seeds sink to the bottom so they can easily be separated.

once the membrane is removed from the water, strain the seeds and continue to pick out any remaining bits of peal or membrane.

and there you have it.  a pile of picture perfect pomegranate seeds, ready to be snacked on.