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When all else fails, pistachio shells are a terrific bulky “brown” material for the compost.
Pistachio shells are hard and slow to degrade, but you can speed up the process considerably by crushing them up before tossing them in.
Another option is to soak whole shells in a bucket of water overnight to soften them. The next day, dump the pistachio shells, along with the water, into your compost heap.
The Easiest Way to Crack Open Closed Pistachio Shells
Most pistachio shells naturally split during the ripening process, making them easy to crack open by hand to get at the inner nut.
The other, more stubborn shells that did not split in ripening can be a bit trickier to open.
Here’s a fantastic tip for cracking hard-to-open pistachios. Wedge a single pistachio shell into any small gap along the shell’s seam. And twist, like so:
YouTube video
These hard nuts to crack tend to be the most delicious, so it’s well worth the effort to get them open.
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