# Orange opening **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692 "2009-03-16T23:22:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/1 "2009-03-16T23:22:59Z")
Can you start and peel an orange with your naked hands, or do you need a tool? Pullet: orange opening machine ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/2 "2009-03-16T23:30:41Z")
I have no problem doing it but then again, I have a healthy set of fingernails. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/3 "2009-03-16T23:33:42Z")
Depends on the orange, but usually my talons are up to it. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/4 "2009-03-16T23:36:33Z")
I have wimpy thin fingernails which would bend backwards should I try. I need a knife to get it started. [hijack] Aren’t oranges awesome right now? As sweet as candy and cheap as hell. I bought a batch of fat navels this morning for 33 cents a pound. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/5 "2009-03-17T00:31:29Z")
My teeth work pretty well to start it. While they’re not my hands, I don’t consider them tools. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/6 "2009-03-17T00:33:15Z")
I keep my nails trimmed down to the quick, but can still stick my thumb through the top to get it started. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/7 "2009-03-17T02:21:42Z")
> [@Pullet](#): > > Can you start and peel an orange with your naked hands, or do you need a tool? > > Pullet: orange opening machine “Pullet” is a great name for an orange opening machine. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/8 "2009-03-17T04:30:36Z")
I not only can peel an orange with my bare hands, most of the time, I can get the peel off in one piece. I don’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, though, contrary to popular belief. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/9 "2009-03-17T04:42:10Z")
I can do it with my fingers, but I love using my orange opener. A couple of quick zips around and flip flip the peel off. I don’t like getting the pith under my nails. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/10 "2009-03-17T04:42:26Z")
I can do it with fingernails, but I prefer to use a tool, since I always get pulp stuck under my nails. **teela** , 33 cents a pound? That’s the kind of price I’d expect for _potatoes_. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2009, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/11 "2009-03-17T06:13:39Z")
What I do is make two small cuts, perpendicular to each other, in the stem end of the orange. After that, my fingers do the rest. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/12 "2009-03-17T06:22:14Z")
There is a tool for opening oranges?? Must be one of those darned unitaskers that I don’t have room for in the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/13 "2009-03-17T06:53:11Z")
Stick a thumbnail into the end, circle around to get it started, and then rip the peel off no problem. Alternatively, use a knife to dice the orange and then peel the peel off the diced bits. Depends on what mood I’m in and where I am. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/14 "2009-03-17T11:25:49Z")
I have peeled oranges barehanded since childhood, and I thought everyone did it that way. I was surprised to see how my Brazilian wife skins hers: she slices off all of the orange part with a knife (tangential cuts) and then cuts it in half and eats our of the now thinned halves. I can’t see why she doesn’t just quarter the orange from the start. These days I follow a technique like that of **panache45** : I use my pocket knife to make two shallow great-circle cuts that intersect at the poles. I then start at the stem end to peel it. I found that peeling from the stem end means that less rind sticks to the fruit :). ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/15 "2009-03-17T13:34:31Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > There is a tool for opening oranges?? > > Must be one of those darned unitaskers that I don’t have room for in the kitchen. [Orange peeler](http://www.kitchendance.com/orpesetof4.html) - this is a cheapie version. Mine is curved a little on the flat end. They can also unpeel grapefruit, tangerines, lemons, limes…😃 ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/16 "2009-03-17T14:07:47Z")
I can peel it with my hands but I prefer to use a spoon. Spoons are perfect for peeling oranges. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/17 "2009-03-17T15:05:05Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > [Orange peeler](http://www.kitchendance.com/orpesetof4.html) - this is a cheapie version. Mine is curved a little on the flat end. They can also unpeel grapefruit, tangerines, lemons, limes…😃 Wow! I had no idea you were supposed to use the flat end too! I’ve learned something new! ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/18 "2009-03-17T17:36:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **teela** , 33 cents a pound? That’s the kind of price I’d expect for _potatoes_. Yeppers, a local market is doing this as a loss leader. I buy ten pounds at a time and we eat 'em up embarrassingly fast. They’re one of my very favorite fruits. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/19 "2009-03-17T19:10:44Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > [Orange peeler](http://www.kitchendance.com/orpesetof4.html) - this is a cheapie version. Mine is curved a little on the flat end. They can also unpeel grapefruit, tangerines, lemons, limes…😃 I love how they come in a 4 pack…when would you ever need more than one of those things? I spiral cut mine with a knife and then peel them so that the peel stays in one piece. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692/20 "2009-03-17T19:19:50Z")
Wait a second…you’re supposed to peel them before you eat them? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-opening/489692.md?page=2)