A friend with several chestnut trees gave us 10 kilo of chestnuts.
Wonderful! I love chestnuts. Terrible! For many of the dishes we have to
peel the chestnuts first.

Last year I purchased a chestnut peeler in Shanghai. This may well be an
insidious device designed to destroy the Western world... person by
person. A very clever kitchen/torture tool, it looks similar to pliers,
with one side having a razor edge and the other having gripper teeth.
One only needs to snip around the chestnut to easily remove the shell.
And remove bits of finger at the same time. The teeth hold onto the
shell while the razor slice off bits of it. Unfortunately, it is so
simple to use, that it's easy to start going too quickly. That is when
the trouble begins. As the shells get snipped, often a long thread of
them (as when peeling a lemon) build up between the blades. Of course,
without thinking, I will just swipe them away, adding another cut to my
fingers because that really IS a razor blade there!

I now have a nice bowl full of shelled chestnuts ready for Sunday dinner
dishes, and sticking plasters on four of my fingers! I think it is time
to invest in Kevlar gloves.

"MtnTraveler" > wrote in message
m...
> A friend with several chestnut trees gave us 10 kilo of chestnuts.

>
> I now have a nice bowl full of shelled chestnuts ready for Sunday dinner
> dishes, and sticking plasters on four of my fingers! I think it is time to
> invest in Kevlar gloves.
>

you ain't kiddin. i damn near lost my finger with some thing similar.

"MtnTraveler" > wrote in message
m...
>A friend with several chestnut trees gave us 10 kilo of chestnuts.
>Wonderful! I love chestnuts. Terrible! For many of the dishes we have to
>peel the chestnuts first.
>
> Last year I purchased a chestnut peeler in Shanghai. This may well be an
> insidious device designed to destroy the Western world... person by
> person. A very clever kitchen/torture tool, it looks similar to pliers,
> with one side having a razor edge and the other having gripper teeth. One
> only needs to snip around the chestnut to easily remove the shell. And
> remove bits of finger at the same time.
(snippage)
> I now have a nice bowl full of shelled chestnuts ready for Sunday dinner
> dishes, and sticking plasters on four of my fingers! I think it is time to
> invest in Kevlar gloves.
>

I was always given to understand chestnuts should have an X cut in the base
(with a sharp knife but not some thing designed to peel them while raw).
Then you boil them (briefly) or bake them (again, briefly) to soften the
shell so it can be peeled away by hand. I'm glad you had a nice bowl of
chestnuts, but you could have spared your fingers.

Jill

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:20:48 -0400, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>"MtnTraveler" > wrote in message
om...
>>A friend with several chestnut trees gave us 10 kilo of chestnuts.
>>Wonderful! I love chestnuts. Terrible! For many of the dishes we have to
>>peel the chestnuts first.
>>
>> Last year I purchased a chestnut peeler in Shanghai. This may well be an
>> insidious device designed to destroy the Western world... person by
>> person. A very clever kitchen/torture tool, it looks similar to pliers,
>> with one side having a razor edge and the other having gripper teeth. One
>> only needs to snip around the chestnut to easily remove the shell. And
>> remove bits of finger at the same time.
>(snippage)
>> I now have a nice bowl full of shelled chestnuts ready for Sunday dinner
>> dishes, and sticking plasters on four of my fingers! I think it is time to
>> invest in Kevlar gloves.
>>
>
>I was always given to understand chestnuts should have an X cut in the base
>(with a sharp knife but not some thing designed to peel them while raw).
>Then you boil them (briefly) or bake them (again, briefly) to soften the
>shell so it can be peeled away by hand. I'm glad you had a nice bowl of
>chestnuts, but you could have spared your fingers.
>
>Jill


I think the OP is speaking of removing the thick tough husk that one
rarely sees when shopping for chestnuts... check out the image at the
Home Page:
http://www.chestnutsonline.com/

"brooklyn1" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:20:48 -0400, "jmcquown" >
> wrote:
>
>>"MtnTraveler" > wrote in message
. com...
>>>A friend with several chestnut trees gave us 10 kilo of chestnuts.
>>>Wonderful! I love chestnuts. Terrible! For many of the dishes we have to
>>>peel the chestnuts first.
>>>
>>> Last year I purchased a chestnut peeler in Shanghai. This may well be an
>>> insidious device designed to destroy the Western world... person by
>>> person. A very clever kitchen/torture tool, it looks similar to pliers,
>>> with one side having a razor edge and the other having gripper teeth.
>>> One
>>> only needs to snip around the chestnut to easily remove the shell. And
>>> remove bits of finger at the same time.
>>(snippage)
>>> I now have a nice bowl full of shelled chestnuts ready for Sunday dinner
>>> dishes, and sticking plasters on four of my fingers! I think it is time
>>> to
>>> invest in Kevlar gloves.
>>>
>>
>>I was always given to understand chestnuts should have an X cut in the
>>base
>>(with a sharp knife but not some thing designed to peel them while raw).
>>Then you boil them (briefly) or bake them (again, briefly) to soften the
>>shell so it can be peeled away by hand. I'm glad you had a nice bowl of
>>chestnuts, but you could have spared your fingers.
>>
>>Jill
>
>
> I think the OP is speaking of removing the thick tough husk that one
> rarely sees when shopping for chestnuts... check out the image at the
> Home Page:
> http://www.chestnutsonline.com/



Didn't sound like that to me. I saw no mention of a prickly outer husk to
get to the tough nut shell inside. I could be wrong. <shrugs>

Jill

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:23:21 -0400, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>"brooklyn1" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:20:48 -0400, "jmcquown" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>>"MtnTraveler" > wrote in message
.com...
>>>>A friend with several chestnut trees gave us 10 kilo of chestnuts.
>>>>Wonderful! I love chestnuts. Terrible! For many of the dishes we have to
>>>>peel the chestnuts first.
>>>>
>>>> Last year I purchased a chestnut peeler in Shanghai. This may well be an
>>>> insidious device designed to destroy the Western world... person by
>>>> person. A very clever kitchen/torture tool, it looks similar to pliers,
>>>> with one side having a razor edge and the other having gripper teeth.
>>>> One
>>>> only needs to snip around the chestnut to easily remove the shell. And
>>>> remove bits of finger at the same time.
>>>(snippage)
>>>> I now have a nice bowl full of shelled chestnuts ready for Sunday dinner
>>>> dishes, and sticking plasters on four of my fingers! I think it is time
>>>> to
>>>> invest in Kevlar gloves.
>>>>
>>>
>>>I was always given to understand chestnuts should have an X cut in the
>>>base
>>>(with a sharp knife but not some thing designed to peel them while raw).
>>>Then you boil them (briefly) or bake them (again, briefly) to soften the
>>>shell so it can be peeled away by hand. I'm glad you had a nice bowl of
>>>chestnuts, but you could have spared your fingers.
>>>
>>>Jill
>>
>>
>> I think the OP is speaking of removing the thick tough husk that one
>> rarely sees when shopping for chestnuts... check out the image at the
>> Home Page:
>> http://www.chestnutsonline.com/
>
>
>
>Didn't sound like that to me. I saw no mention of a prickly outer husk to
>get to the tough nut shell inside. I could be wrong. <shrugs>
>
>Jill

Folks who are unfamiliar with how chestnuts grow wouldn't know... but
you can blame our resident MusTURD Maven, who with all his verbosity
expresses himself with the clarity of the two year old... he refers to
removing the "shell" when in fact that tool is used to remove the
*husk*... what an imbecile he once again proves himself to be... who
gives a rat's B-hind that the disingenuous dangerous dingbat ended up
with lacerations.

MtnTraveler wrote:
> A friend with several chestnut trees gave us 10 kilo of chestnuts.
> Wonderful! I love chestnuts. Terrible! For many of the dishes we have to
> peel the chestnuts first.
>
> Last year I purchased a chestnut peeler in Shanghai. This may well be an
> insidious device designed to destroy the Western world... person by
> person. A very clever kitchen/torture tool, it looks similar to pliers,
> with one side having a razor edge and the other having gripper teeth.
> One only needs to snip around the chestnut to easily remove the shell.
> And remove bits of finger at the same time. The teeth hold onto the
> shell while the razor slice off bits of it. Unfortunately, it is so
> simple to use, that it's easy to start going too quickly. That is when
> the trouble begins. As the shells get snipped, often a long thread of
> them (as when peeling a lemon) build up between the blades. Of course,
> without thinking, I will just swipe them away, adding another cut to my
> fingers because that really IS a razor blade there!
>
> I now have a nice bowl full of shelled chestnuts ready for Sunday dinner
> dishes, and sticking plasters on four of my fingers! I think it is time
> to invest in Kevlar gloves.
>

jmcquown wrote:
> "brooklyn1" > wrote in message

>>>
>>> I was always given to understand chestnuts should have an X cut in
>>> the base
>>> (with a sharp knife but not some thing designed to peel them while raw).
>>> Then you boil them (briefly) or bake them (again, briefly) to soften the
>>> shell so it can be peeled away by hand. I'm glad you had a nice bowl of
>>> chestnuts, but you could have spared your fingers.
>>>
>>> Jill
>>
>>
>> I think the OP is speaking of removing the thick tough husk that one
>> rarely sees when shopping for chestnuts... check out the image at the
>> Home Page:
>> http://www.chestnutsonline.com/
>
>
>
> Didn't sound like that to me. I saw no mention of a prickly outer husk
> to get to the tough nut shell inside. I could be wrong. <shrugs>
>
> Jill

Of course,as you thought, I was refering to the smooth brown shell of
the nut, not the prickly outer husk. There are as many different ways
to remove this smooth brown peel as there are countries in which it is
done. Boiling is perhaps the most common, but as it removes quite a bit
of the flavor of the chestnut often it is preferable to take off the
shell before any cooking takes place. The clipper that I mention is the
easiest way to do this quickly (so long as one is VERY careful!) It is
designed to peel raw chestnuts but would work for boiled ones too. The
teeth on one side of the clippers grips the shell as the razor on the
other side shaves it off.

I went looking for an Internet image of this peeler but could only find
one small one. Judging from the writing on the package, it is made in Japan.