There are tricks to shelling pecans for eating or baking.
Pecan trees are native to around 150 countries and grow around river and creek bottoms or in other areas with wet soil. There are over 1,000 types of pecan tree. Pecan trees grow into very large mature trees and should be spaced at least 35 feet apart when planting. The nuts are ready to harvest when the hulls, or shucks, start to split open and the nuts begin to fall to the ground. There are several tricks to opening pecan hulls.
Instructions
1. Watch the pecan hulls for signs that they are going to start to ripen, like small brown stripes on the nuts.
2. Use a lawn rake or a large pole with a hook at the end to pull the pecan hulls down from the trees. Place a large bucket underneath the trees to catch the nuts.
3. Take a pecan hull and hold it between your index and middle fingers. Press the hull between your index and middle fingers until the hull splits open. If it opens, you have a "papershell" pecan.
4. Use a small pair of pliers, a hammer, a pocket knife or a nutcracker, all of which are available at most hardware stores, to force open the nuts if they do not open with your fingers. If you have a large amount of nuts, place them in a cloth bag or pillowcase and gently hammer the nuts.
5. Try cracking open the hull with a pair of pliers or a nutcracker, then boiling the nuts for 5 to 10 minutes to loosen the nuts from the hull. After boiling, drain the water and let the nuts cool completely before shucking with your fingers.
6. Soak the nuts in a mixture of 2 parts water to 1 part salt. Let the pecan nuts soak for several hours, then drain out the saltwater. The saltwater softens the shells, making the nuts easier to open.
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