How to Peel the Chestnut's Inside Layer

Mother Nature really makes us work for the flavorful chestnut, with its sharp outer burr, brown, leathery shell and thin inner skin called a pellicle that sticks to the nut like glue. While you can eat chestnuts without removing the pellicle layer, the oven give the nuts a bitter taste. Heat makes it much easier to remove the inside layer, so try an open fire -- or other heat source -- to loosen the skin. The tricky part is removing the inner layer before the chestnuts cool and without burning your hands.

Things You'll Need

Paring knife
Baking dish

Oven mitt

Instructions

Cut an X-shaped slit through the brown outer skin on the flat side of the chestnuts.
Place the chestnuts in a baking dish with the cut side facing down. Add 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the dish.
Bake the chestnuts in a 375 degree Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes or until the shells begin to open slightly.
Remove the chestnuts from the oven and place them in a metal mixing bowl. Cover the nuts with a dish towel to keep them hot. Remove the chestnuts one at a time to peel.
Place an oven mitt on your non-dominant hand. Hold a hot, roasted chestnut in the mitt with the slit side facing up.
Peel back the shell with your dominant hand. Scrape along the nut to loosen the pellice, if needed. When the nuts are very hot, the pellicle slips off easily and doesn't require finger scraping.
Discard the outer shell. Scrape off any remaining bits of the inside layer. Some small bits might stick to the hot nut, but you can scrape it away with your fingernail or a paring knife. Repeat with the remaining chestnuts.
Return the nuts to the oven for a few minutes or microwave them for about a minute if the remaining nuts cool down too much, making it increasingly difficult to remove the inside layer.

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