How to Seed a Pomegranate

The Best Ways to Seed a Pomegranate

The person who taught me how to seed a pomegranate told me that the only way to do it was to be naked. He was only half kidding! The point is that pomegranate juice stains – badly! So yes, I suppose taking a shower after food prep might save you from staining clothing. I suggest a sturdy apron. Then you have choices on how to get the seeds, or arils, out of the fruit. There are some techniques that involve water and others that don’t. Here’s a primer:

• Buy fruit that is heavy for its size

Dry Technique #1:

• Roll fruit on work surface to loosen seeds, then score around the middle and separate into halves.
• Hold half cut side down over a deep bowl and whack the outer rounded skin surface with a wooden spoon, which should dislodge the seeds into the bowl.

Dry Technique #2:

• Score fruit about 1 ½ to 2-inches down from stem end. Pry top off.
• You should be able to see seeds and the white pith.
• The pith will be attached to the skin in several intervals.
• On the outside of the fruit, where those pith attachments seem to be, score fruit again vertically. (This will be 5 or 6 scores).
• Pry fruit apart along the scores. The fruit should open and the pith should be easy to remove in mostly one clump. Seeds are now accessible to eat.

Water Technique:

• Score the skin into quarters, top to bottom.
• Submerge the fruit in a bowl of water and pry the quarters apart.
• Use fingers to loosen the arils, still under water (to prevent squirting).
• Seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl. The white pith will float to the top.
• Skim off pith and discard. Drain and seeds are ready to use.

Try your pomegranate seeds in our recipe for Pomegranate Meringues with Honey or our Chocolate Pomegranate Pavlova.