The Simple Orange Peeling Hack That Makes Life So Much Easier

If you enjoy seasonal produce, with the weather turning colder, you may be excited to experience the bright flavors of all your favorite citrus fruits. Beyond taste, foodies after fruits with the most vitamin C are likely turning to oranges this time of year since consuming foods with vitamin C may decrease the persistence of any unfortunate cold or flu symptoms. Yet, while mandarins, oranges, and tangerines are delicious snacks to enjoy at home or on the go, peeling them can be tricky, especially when you're pressed for time.

For easy-to-peel citrus fruits like clementines, getting that pesky skin off with just your hands is quite simple but can still produce lots of bits and pieces of peel. Finding the quickest peeling method for larger, sturdier varieties like classic oranges can also take some trial and error. If you're after a well-rounded peeling method that doesn't involve removing those dry, fleshy white strings or piths, you may just need to turn your fruit inside out. While this particular method isn't necessarily mess-free, all you need to remove citrus fruit from its adjoining flesh evenly is clean cuts accompanied by some resourceful hand work. After cutting your fruit of choice in half, simply turn each half inside out and remove the inner fruit. Before revealing a few important guidelines for using this clever hack, let's get into the details of why this specific peeling method is easy to use. 

Given the exorbitant amount of online options, finding the best peeling method for your favorite variety of citrus fruit can be stressful. These days, everyone claims to be the founder of streamlined methods for making life a bit easier, and sometimes, seeing proof that a certain hack works is all the proof you need. Various social media users have tested this particular peeling hack, and it has been met with positive feedback. As it turns out, this technique appears to be somewhat foolproof as you don't need extreme precision in peeling oranges with this particular method.

This Instagram user reviews the hack by slicing what looks to be a mandarin, peeling the fruit inside out to reveal perfectly segmented pieces of flesh. In turning the fruit inside out, the flesh breaks free from the peel, making removing the inner fruit a breeze. In a TikTok video posted last year, @kevglbach concludes the same results, showcasing how easy peeling oranges can be. Yet, whether or not this proficient method works for thick-skinned oranges remains to be determined. While peeling clementines, mandarins, and tangerines (which already have thin, easily removable skin) may be even more simplified with this particular hack, citrus fruits with sturdier skin may be more challenging to peel. If you typically enjoy thick-skinned fruits, there are a few factors worth considering to achieve success with this peeling method.

While no one has been able to conclusively determine if this easy peeling trick works with thick-skinned oranges, choosing varieties that are ripe and in season means you'll at least have an easier time separating your juicy fruit from its peel. To ensure you're picking the ripest fruit possible, pick varieties that smell like citrus from the outside and have a bit more weight than others. Choosing heavier oranges typically means more juice, which will help the fruit break free from its outer peel more easily. Also, before you cut your orange in half, roll your fruit on a hard surface back and forth a few times to loosen the connection between peel and fruit.

Even after choosing the ripest fruit available, this hack with thick-skinned citrus fruits might not always produce satisfactory results. You might be better off selecting thin-skinned oranges such as tangerines and mandarins than navel and blood oranges with much thicker skin. For those of you determined to try this hack with thick-skinned oranges, you may want to gently run a spoon between the skin and flesh in some parts to help the fruit break free from the peel more easily. Try this method to see if this clever technique works for you. If you encounter any trouble, you can always shift your focus to another hack that will make peeling oranges hassle-free.