Every other nut, you can buy in the shell, or shelled. But I’ve never seen pistachios offered for sale without the shells. Why is that?
I’ve seen them for sale on rare occaision without the shell. I don’t know why they’d be sold most often in the shell, unless it had to do with preserving them better? Keeping them from getting soggy maybe? 
I never have (except in ice-cream form). Where have you?
Maybe because the shells are so easy to pick off, there’s no real point to expending the machine energy to de-shell them, unless it’s for pre-fab food (like ice cream.)
All the other nuts I can think of require a nutcracker or other heroic measures to get the bloody things open. Well, except peanuts, which are sold in the shells a lot too.
Sunflower seeds are often sold shelled.
I think partly it has to do with preserving them. The few unshelled pistachios taste noticably staler than the shelled ones if they are left out for a day.
I just thought it had to do with the cost…it would be cheaper to sell them with the shells. For the most part, when you buy them in shell, their partially opened and it’s easy to get them out.
On the other hand, Trader Joe’s has shelled pistachios.
WalMart sells pistachios without shells (in the Pittsburgh area, anyway).
I once saw, at Publix, a great big thing of shelled pistachios (in a plastic jug sort of arrangement, near the raisins, if that helps.) Anyway, I was all excited. I brought them home and found them seriously lacking. Either the labor of shelling makes the final nut much more delicious, or the shells protect them in some way. I’ve never bought them shelled since, and I love my pistachios as an occaisional treat.
Shelled pistachios are often sold for use in baking (or homemade ice cream). FYI, I tried unsalted pistachios in the shell once, and didn’t like them. My guess is that shelled pistachios are unsalted as well, and the lack of salt is what makes them unpleasant…
(BTW, I heard that if you are eating pistachios in the shell and come across one that’s still closed, it means it’s going to be unpleasant in taste.)
Grabbing a handful of pre-shelled pistachios is nowhere near as comuplsively satisfying as picking them up one by one, shelling them, and popping them into your mouth. It probably hearkens back to our apish ancestor’s obsession with grooming nits from each other’s fur.
Pistachio dealers actually sort the nuts via sound sensors or ‘pin pickers’ to remove nuts without cracks large enough for primate fingers to get into.
I’ve cracked open a still closed pistachio shell, and eaten the meat with varying results, sometimes it’s rotten, sometimes it’s not. It was in Wal-mart that I saw the unshelled pistachios for sale, but it might also have been the supermarket around Christmas. The unshelled ones I got were salted too, they were sold in a small package meant for “eating on the run”. They did taste a little stale, kinda soggy, so that’s why I wondered if the shells kept the nuts from getting damp. Maybe if they were packeged in foil lined plastic, and sold quickly they’d be better?
IIRC cashews could not be sold unshelled because the shells were poisonous. Yes?
My parents buy me a big jar of shelled pistachios for Christmas every year. That and my leaf-shaped maple sugar candy and the oranges from Florida are about the only Christmas traditions I demand must be kept. Not sure what company sells the shelled pistachios but if anyone’s interested I can look at the jar label when I get home.
As for why sell them in the shell, perhaps it’s because they’re sold by weight and a pound of pistacios with shells will have significantly fewer nuts than a pound without, thus making the intact pistachios more profitable for the growers.
Kroger always has shelled pistachios in a can along with the other nuts. Very expensive, in general. I think the only nut that costs more is the macadamia.
I love pistachios. Love them. I think half of the experience is cracking the shell open. Especially since I quit smoking. I feel that it’s worth the effort and I like the tactile experience. I wouldn’t have them any other way.
Same thing with peanuts. I love to shell peanuts and eat them. Best around a campfire where you can just throw the shells in the fire.
I’ve bought bags of shelled pistachios from Costco.
Yes, it is related to Posion Ivy:
Tradet Joe’s always seems to have bags of shelled pistachios, as well as shell-on pistachios.
I suspect on of the reasons is that when you see the price of a bag of shelled pistachios, it gives you pause.
Also, they are fun to shell. Makes a good TV snack.
I buy them shell-on for snacks, and shelled for cooking because I usually need a large amount for cooking/baking and who wants to shell that many pistachios at once?
They sell them in the shell so that little girls can pretend that the shells are their beautiful fingernails. I’m not the only one who did this, I hope.
The next question is: Why did they used to dye them red? And why did they stop?
I guess that should have read “the next two questions are”… :smack: