# Do some people eat peanuts with the shell on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324 "2013-10-26T19:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/1 "2013-10-26T19:17:01Z")
I know I have seen this before in movies/TV, a character will be eating whole in shell peanuts from a bag and apparently chewing them up whole?šŸ˜• The most recent place I have seen this is the opening scenes of the recent Lone Ranger movie, two characters eating whole in shell peanuts like they are popcorn. Is this something people do? ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/2 "2013-10-26T19:29:38Z")
My mom used to, and I do sometimes if they are roasted in the shell and are salted. I like the really over-roasted ones shell and all šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/3 "2013-10-26T19:31:58Z")
I have seen it, same way with sunflower seeds, I never eat them. I do eat the pumkin seed whole. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/4 "2013-10-26T19:44:07Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I have seen it, same way with sunflower seeds, I never eat them. I do eat the pumkin seed whole. I always thought this was normal, until I see people who meticulously bust them open and spit out the shell nicely. For sunflower, I should say that I _try_ to swallow them, but that stuff builds up, so something you gotta spit out a wad. I _can_ eat edamame pods and shrimp tails, although I donā€™t always. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/5 "2013-10-26T21:48:25Z")
**Moderator Action** Since this is food related, letā€™s move this nutty thread over to CS. Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/6 "2013-10-26T21:53:12Z")
Iā€™ll do it sometimes, but itā€™s definitely a little unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/7 "2013-10-26T22:18:01Z")
My husband has a bowl of peanuts in the shell on his desk at work, and he says he eats them whole. I canā€™t even imagine. I think I would choke. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/8 "2013-10-26T23:06:07Z")
About half the time I eat peanuts I eat them with the shells. If they didnā€™t expect you to eat the shell, why is it salted?šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/9 "2013-10-26T23:22:12Z")
I think its a matter of taste. Sme people like it, others donā€™t. About half of the pumpkin seeds i eat are with shells. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/10 "2013-10-26T23:43:25Z")
When peanuts are deep fried, you eat them shell and all. Pretty tasty, and very high in fiber. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/11 "2013-10-26T23:57:46Z")
For dry roasted, it sounds disgusting, and I eat shrimp tails all the time. OTOH, I _think_ you can eat boiled peanuts whole, but itā€™s been so long since I had any, I canā€™t remember. Iā€™ve tried eating unshelled sunflower seeds whole, but I couldnā€™t do it; itā€™s just bad. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/12 "2013-10-27T00:08:00Z")
Southerners: what do you do with boiled peanuts? Theyā€™re not fully dried when cooked, so does that mean that the shell is softer? I must confess that I heard about these things not too long ago. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/13 "2013-10-27T00:22:42Z")
I never shell peanuts. I eat them with the shells on by the handful. love the crunch and the salt ā€¦ and the fiber. When Iā€™ve had boiled peanuts down south, I miss the that crunch. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/14 "2013-10-27T00:51:43Z")
[Cecil Adams](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/685/why-does-the-peanut-bag-say-remove-shell-before-consuming-nutmeats) discusses the danger of intestinal blockage. Iā€™m not sure how much youā€™d have to eat to worry about it. > [@pkbites](#): > > If they didnā€™t expect you to eat the shell, why is it salted? They immerse the whole peanut and shell in salted water in order to salt the peanuts. The shells also get salted as a by-product. See this [Staff Report](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2198/how-they-salt-peanuts-in-the-shell-and-other-peanut-facts) by Una. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/15 "2013-10-27T01:28:29Z")
I used toā€¦until I read that Cecil Adams storyā€¦and then I stopped. I thought ā€œroughageā€ was goodā€¦but apparently not always. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/16 "2013-10-27T02:47:57Z")
I usually shell 'em in my mouth and spit the shells out, same as (I think) most people do for sunflower seeds. Then you get the briny flavor of the shell without trying to swallow what feels like shredded cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/17 "2013-10-27T06:56:37Z")
I used to eat salted-in-the-shell peanuts whole. I grew up eating them that way. I discovered that if you eat too many of them you experience a phenomenon that would best be described as anal splinters :eek:. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/18 "2013-10-27T07:49:23Z")
I knew a girl in high school who ate everything whole. An apple and its core, an egg and its shell, meat or fish with small bones, etc. And probably peanuts and shells. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/19 "2013-10-27T07:53:47Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > [Cecil Adams](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/685/why-does-the-peanut-bag-say-remove-shell-before-consuming-nutmeats) discusses the danger of intestinal blockage. Iā€™m not sure how much youā€™d have to eat to worry about it. > They immerse the whole peanut and shell in salted water in order to salt the peanuts. The shells also get salted as a by-product. See this [Staff Report](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2198/how-they-salt-peanuts-in-the-shell-and-other-peanut-facts) by Una. When peanuts are taken out of the shell there is almost no salt detected on them. Iā€™ve eaten entire bags of peanuts with the shells at one sitting zillions of times and never had a problem. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324/20 "2013-10-27T09:31:02Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Southerners: what do you do with boiled peanuts? Theyā€™re not fully dried when cooked, so does that mean that the shell is softer? I must confess that I heard about these things not too long ago. You shell them and drop them into a bottle of RC Cola, but it has to be those really long bottles from the 70s. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-people-eat-peanuts-with-the-shell-on/672324.md?page=2)