Technique - Peeling an Orange in One Piece

Some of you may think that this is a stupid post but think what you will! Some people have said that I am  weird for peeling oranges this way but it doesn't matter. I always peel my oranges in such a way that I get one continuous spiraled piece as shown in the picture above. It definitely reduces the mess that can incur when one is peeling an orange (I see so many people just picking away at chunks and getting their hands all dirty!) and looks pretty neat too. I'm just going to show how I do it in case you want to try too (because some have asked before)!

Step 1: Opening the top
If you're at home, you can use a paring knife to slice into the orange from the top. Don't slice it all the way through (obviously) but about 2/3s of the way in. If you're not at home, you're going to have to use your thumb to dig into the top stem part. The rest of the process will not require a knife.


Step 2: Starting the swirl
You're going to need your thumb for this one. Put it between the orange's flesh and the peel; don't pierce the orange! Your thumb will stay between the flesh and peel at a slightly downward angle the whole time.


Step 3: Continuing the swirl
The downward angle is to help you peel the orange in one piece rather than just picking strips off of it. The hand holding the orange will be doing the turning of the fruit while the thumb will just remain between the flesh and peel. Your remaining fingers on the peeling hand will help guide the turning and your thumb!


Step 4: Finishing the peel
You're going to eventually have to stop near the bottom when you end with a round-ish part about the size of your removed top. The bottom of oranges tend to have a bit more flesh attached to the peel in the center; I don't normally eat this portion because it is better and usually hard. So you're going to gently peel back the edges of the "circle"-shaped bottom and then use your thumb to remove the center part with the peel. It ought to all come off in one piece now!


If you all think that it's necessary, I can easily also post a video of this process so you can see what I do. Let me know by leaving a comment! Also, as a side note, I just uploaded a new picture for my "About the Author" page. It's below!