Grinding or chopping nuts: How to get them all cracked
Nuts can be a tough nut to crack! If you want to use these little power packs for baking, cooking, or snacking, there are many ways to get to the delicious kernel. We'll show you the best way to grind or chop nuts.
How to chop nuts, with or without power
Whether you need a crunch for your cake, a flour alternative, homemade pesto, or for countless other kitchen ideas, nuts are incredibly versatile. They taste best when you buy them whole and chop them yourself. It might take a little more effort, but it saves you a lot of money, helps prevent food waste, and offers you plenty of variety.
Preparing nuts
If you want to grind or chop nuts, you don't need any elaborate special gadgets. Multi-talented kitchen appliances, knives or tools from your toolbox will do. However, before you start chopping, you first need to prepare the whole nuts:
If you don't have a nutcracker to hand, use a pair of pliers to crack the shell. The kernel of many types of nuts is surrounded by a thin skin – for example, almonds or hazelnuts. This skin is edible, but it often tastes bitter. You can easily remove it with a few simple tricks:
Briefly place the almonds in boiling water, then plunge into cold water and rub the skins off with a cloth.
Put the hazelnuts in the oven for around 10 minutes. The skins will then peel off easily. Bonus: the nuts will develop a lovely roasted aroma.
You can easily peel the skin off pistachios after cracking them.
Chopping nuts electrically
Multi-choppers are a practical solution, especially for harder types of nuts like macadamias or hazelnuts. Softer varieties such as pistachios, pecans or almonds are quickly turned into a paste in powerful food processors. However, this can also happen with harder nuts. For this reason, always operate the chopper using the pulse function. This allows you to better control the chopping consistency.
Electric grain mills are also excellent for nuts. Alternatively, you can use coffee grinders with blade mechanisms – but not grinders with a conical or disc burr. Although the mills only have a small capacity, they process nuts at lightning speed – especially for fine nut flour or nut butter.
Although it's not the first choice for chopping nuts, a stand mixer will also do the job. Pick a model with plenty of power and leave enough space in the mixing bowl for the nuts to be tossed around. Only switch the mixer on in short bursts to control the texture.
Nüsse manuell zerkleinern
Ohne Strom geht’s beim Nüssemahlen oder -hacken auch – oft sogar einfacher und schneller. Bei weichen Nüssen oder Kernen wie Cashews oder Erdnüssen sind die manuellen Methoden meist die beste Wahl. So verhinderst du, dass deine Zutaten zu schnell zu Brei werden. Küchenprofis empfehlen drei Möglichkeiten:
AIAIAIYou can quickly chop soft nuts with a knife or a mezzaluna. When using a large chef's knife, the tip should never leave the chopping board. Use a rocking motion so the nuts don't fly everywhere – or just use a mezzaluna.
For a finer result, opt for a heavy mortar with a large pestle. A twisting motion from the wrist while applying pressure from above will get the job done quicker.
AIAIAIPro tip: Place the nuts in a freezer bag, lay it flat on the worktop and hit them with a hammer or rolling pin. To crush them even more finely, simply roll over them again with the rolling pin.
