I LOVE fresh pomegranates. I do NOT love their unparalleled capacity to stain every surface of my home. After many frustrating attempts to open them carefully, eating over the kitchen sink, and furiously scrubbing red splatter marks for weeks, I decided there had to be a better way. Not surprisingly, a quick search online brought up a fool-proof method for enjoying this fruit without sharing it with your windows and cabinets.

UPDATE!!  I just found an amazingly quick new way to get the job done! Yes, you can still read on below for a potentially less messy way to de-seed a pomegranate, but this way will get you there in a fraction of the time (and if you stay close to the bowl of water, you shouldn’t get much splatter): http://www.blendtec.com/blog/2012/10/12/how-to-deseed-a-pomegranate/. Note: from my experience, it’s easier if you keep rotating the pom in your hand as you’re smacking it around!

METHOD 2:

Cut about half an inch off the top (on the pointy side) until you see the reddish seeds (technically called “arils”, but I’m still calling them seeds). I recommend covering the knife and pom with a paper towel in case you cut some seeds in the process. Then score it down the sides about 5 times, following the natural borderlines inside the fruit. Using a big bowl of cool water, dunk the whole thing under the surface and start breaking it apart, liberating the seeds from the skin. The skin and other unedible pieces will float to the top and the seeds will drop to the bottom, allowing you to strain it quickly and easily. The seeds that pop will be under water, so you won’t have to worry about finding stains well into next year!

For pictures and a more detailed explanation, go to: http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/cookingtechniques/ss/cutpomegranate.htm