How to peel an orange?

Question

I love oranges. They are very juicy and I really like its flavour.

The problem is that I don't know how to peel them efficiently and every time I struggle to peel them well. When I do it, I usually don't peel too deep and there is a lot of that white inner peel left in the orange so I have to remove it by hand, which is very time consuming. When I try to peel deeper I end up cutting the slices and making a mess and wasting part of the orange.

I tend to make an horizontal cut first and cutting in a circular motion until I "peel" the entire orange, but that doesn't seem to work for me.

Note that I don't mind to get my fingers or the table sticky, I just want to peel an orange in less time that I actually spend eating it, it is a little bit frustrating wasting that time.

Answer 1

That question has been asked on cooking.stackexchange before, and the answer by Jolenealaska (and originally by blogger E is for Eat) quite qualifies as a life hack:

Basically, you cut off both ends of the orange, make a vertical cut along one side, and then unroll the whole orange.

I have tried this myself and it works, however results may vary depending on type and freshness of the orange.

There is a nice animation of the whole process in the original blog post

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Another quick way is to eat the orange while standing in the shower. Peeling is a lot quicker if you don't have to avoid a mess.

I have never tried this myself, but the process is apparently quite enjoyable for some, there is even a subreddit dedicated to eating oranges in the shower, with tons of pictures. (warning: if you click on this link, confirm you are over 18, and then open selected posts, you may, surprisingly enough, see naked people eating an orange in the shower)

Answer 2

I really like the Tupperware Orange Peeler. It is used by dragging the hook end around the orange skin, which opens the peel up all the way to the flesh of the orange. Then it's a simple matter of getting under the skin with the flat end, then peeling the skin off with your fingers. It's a really handy tool.

Here's a couple available on amazon.com

Answer 3

I have found I can reliably peel the entire orange

• without splitting any of the inner slices
• without causing drips
• quickly

1. I do this by starting at the tip where the stem was attached. If my thumb nail is long enough, I can dig it into the fillet between the 'nub' for the stem and the globe of the fruit. Or, I can gently use a tool.

2. I only need to get the nub separating in one direction, then I can peel it off in a spiral. I maintain a breaking angle that does two things:

• maintain an even-width separation of the peel

• avoid strain that rips the slices' skin (causing a leak)

  The trick of this is really to take small tears of the rind - about ~20deg. arc (or 1/16 the diameter). This will let you re-adjust to deviation the the rind.

1. When you approach the equator of the orange you can pull around 45deg of rind at a time, but if you get into that groove then you'll take too much when you reach the other end, and you'll tear a slice or break the rind strip. It's usually easy to 'recover' and continue peeling, but you'll probably cause a slice to leak, in order to get started.

2. At this point the whole rind is off, and you can gently pull the slices apart individually. Pull 'pole to pole and you won't get drips. Then pull each slice off the rest by pulling along the inner straight portion of the slice. Pull evenly along that [which used to be] the axis, and be delicate of the breaking angle here, and you won't get any drips.

Your hands will get a bit 'oily' from the orange rind, but you won't ever get them wet-sticky.

Remember to 'settle' the orange rind down into one hand, so that you make a little 'basket' for the slices that you have yet to eat. This will keep everything as neat, clean and sanitary as was the orange rind and your hands when you started.

What's best is that I need no tools.

Answer 4

One thing I have found to work is to just cut the orange in four 'quadrants' (use 'vertical cuts, not 'horizontal' ones). The pieces can then be peeled by hand from the corners.

Another method is to just get enough 'yellow' off from a band around the 'equator', then slice it in half and then eat it from the edges. When you have eaten enough you can turn it inside out.

Some of the oranges these days can also be peeled almost like tangerines.

Answer 5

EDIT: Video link of this method (thanks to leonbloy)

This way is guaranteed to work with all but the most stubborn (really old) oranges. Moreover, your hands will not get sticky! ...And it's quick.

1. Cut off the top and bottom of the orange--but only the peel! Do not cut off any of the actual inner flesh.
2. Cut from the top of the orange around to the bottom, but don't cut too deep! The knife should not puncture the actual inner flesh!
3. Repeat step 2 equally around the orange so you have 5 or 6 cuts or so (depends on size of the orange, and as you get more experienced, you can do it in as little as 3 cuts).
4. Now, just peel the peel off using your fingers. From the top, gently wedge your fingernail (or the tip of the blade) between the peel and the inner flesh and pry off the peel. After you've removed this first peel "slice", remove the subsequent peel "slices" off in the same manner until there is no more peel (you can use these peel "slices" as small plates for your orange wedges as you eat them!).
5. Once all the peel is off, very gently nudge the tips of your thumbs on the top of the orange and pry it open. Then, simply separate the slices with your fingers, putting the slices in your cool orange peel plates from the previous step.

This process actually takes less time than it takes to read what I've written above!

As a side note, orange peel is edible and some people enjoy eating it raw. Others make candy out of the peel. Others use the peel as zest in cooking--it's very nice in cake to remove the "egg" taste.

Answer 6

A way to do this without any (artificial) tools and without any wastage of orange (unlike in the accepted answer) is to use your teeth: Put the orange in your mouth and sink your incisors into the skin of the orange until you feel them penetrate the skin into the interior of the orange. Then, simply pull the orange away from your teeth and your teeth will peel away the skin. Once you have a piece torn away from the orange, the rest of the skin is easy to pull off with your fingers.

Answer 7

I use my fingers/nails to peel oranges (and I have peeled a lot - I consume a few of them almost every day). If the orange is soft it's easy, hard ones take some dedication and sometimes I use a pencil to make the initial puncture and go from there, but I always get the job done. If some of that white inner peel is left on the orange, I eat it - it's tasteless anyway so why bother removing it?

Answer 8

This is the way I have always used:

Find the bottom of the orange (the side WITHOUT the stem nub). Push a fingernail into the middle of the bottom (I have found that thumb works best, and does not hurt from prying). Wedge a thumbnail underneath the skin, through the cut you made. Then, use your thumbnail + index finger to peel a little of the skin off. From here, it's easier: wedge thumbnail under the remaining skin, gently pinch it with index finger, peel it off. The skin will rip, so do not hold the orange against your eye, since the oils can sting a little (if it happens anyway, blink and it will go away. DO NOT rub your eye with your hands, because there is more orange oil on those hands. ) When you peel off a piece with the stem in it, it may/may not also pull out some white thickish stick-string-fiber thing, which is fine.

Anyway, once this entire process is done, you will have a pumpkin-looking thing. Stick a finger into the top/bottom, because there is a little hole/weak spot there. Pull the orange-pumpkin in half, and you can gently pull the segments apart and eat them, or you can bypass this step entirely and cram it in your mouth, your choice (although do be careful if you shove it in your mouth, there is more juice than you think.

Answer 9

I had this very same problem (I'm more of a clementine fan personally). I started using an orange peeler and it made life so much easier! There are a million different types (all fairly inexpensive).