Pomegranate 101

Pomegranate juice became all the rave a couple of years ago and still is a huge favorite of people today.  It  has been used as traditional remedies for thousand of years but recently is best known for its antioxidant health benefits.   I have bought pomegranate juice before but had never bought a pomegranate until recently so I wanted to show you how to cut and eat a pomegranate.

First when you are in the store, look for a firm but dark pomegranate.  Then when you get it home get a couple items ready before cutting it open, you will be thankful you did.

You will need a cutting board, paper towels, a sharp knife, a bowl of water, and a strainer basket.  I will let you know that this is a little bit time consuming but it is worth it.

First you are going to cut both ends off of the pomegranate.  Make sure you have paper towels on your cutting board because the juice can stain.  You will need to watch your clothes also.

Then you are going to take your knife and score the pomegranate.  You will need to cut through the skin until you reach the pith.  The pith is the white inside skin.

Once you have scored the whole pomegranate, you will put it in a bowl of water.  You can see my scores and they are all the way around.  The reason for putting it in the water is because it will be easier to work with and the juice will not get on everything.

Next you will start separating the sections and pulling them apart.  As you pull them apart you will also be separating the peel and internal white pulp from the arils (seed casings).  You will notice that the pulp will rise in the water and the seeds go to the bottom.  This will make it easy to separate.

Keep going until all the sections are in the water.

Next you will start separating the peel and internal white pulp from the arils (seed casings).  You will notice that the pulp will rise in the water and the seeds go to the bottom.  This will make it easy to separate.

After you have gotten most of the pith or pulp separated, then you will take your strainer and get the smaller pieces out.  I also had to use my fingers to separate some of the arils from the small pieces of pulp.

Next you will strain the seeds by draining the water.  If there is still some pith, just pull it off.

Then guess what, you have pomegranate seeds which you can eat or use to make juice.  If you make juice, you just need to mash the seeds up and strain the remaining pulp.

Enjoy!