I used to watch my friend roll her orange like nobody’s business before she would peel or cut it.  I finally asked her what in the heck she was doing.  “It helps release the juice,” she told me.  I remember giving her a doubtful look, and then saying, “Well, that doesn’t make any sense.  It’s not like you’re somehow infusing additional juice into the fruit.  There’s already a set amount of juice inside.  How can it possibly make the orange juicier?!”  At that point, she pretty much shot me the “please stop talking” look (as only a dear friend can), and said, “I’m not exactly sure why it works, but it does… it’s like the juice is released from the membranes or something.  It makes it easier to peel, too.”

Well, let me just say that this girl is a genius in the kitchen.  She can also cut an apple in the air like Edward Scissorhands without using a cutting board (because then she’d have to wash the cutting board, she says), but that’s another story…

Needless to say, this tip works!!  We don’t cut or peel a single orange, lemon, lime, etc. in this house now without rolling it firmly on the countertop first.  It’s amazing what a difference it makes. We eat copious amounts of cutie oranges in particular (I love that they are called “cuties”!)  They are pretty easy to peel–even for kids–and my three older girls (ages 10, 8, and 6) all roll their oranges by habit now, too, before peeling them.  As you press and roll, you can almost feel the peel releasing as well.  On a cutie orange the peel practically pops off and you just have to rip it away from the orange itself.  (Kids love cutie oranges, by the way–I would bring them when it was our turn to provide the class snack back when my oldest girls were in preschool, and I’d have a peeled orange ready to go for each child.  They thought it was so fun to have their own mini orange!)

You will have to give this trick a try.  My friend was right!  I should have known better than to question anything that girl does in the kitchen!!  :)

Simply roll the fruit back and forth pretty firmly.  You will feel it soften a bit.  Then you just cut or peel the fruit as normal.  I think you’ll be amazed by how much juicier it will seem!

Pretty cool, huh?  My friend is pretty smart!  Be sure to check back each Friday for more quick tips and ideas!

What tricks do you use around the kitchen?