Stubborn pecans :(

I'm hoping someone has a great method of shelling pecans. These are definitely NOT papershells. They take real pressure to crack. And then they don't want to come out. It took me a couple of hours to get two cups of pretty much broken pieces, and my thumbs are sore. I "cured" them on the porch as we got them, starting in September. The batch I am working on are from then, and when I had trouble I put them in my dehydrator for 12 hours at 115. No better. The nutmeats are very light in color, and sweet, so I'd like to be able to use them. Plus, I hate to waste 7 gallons of pecans.....

Any advice appreciated,

margo

There are commercial pecan operations around here and for a very reasonable price they will run them through their cracker for you and you just take them home and pick out the meats.

I was gifted about 15 pounds last week and they are small contrary things. I have an old Rocket cracker that does one nut at a time that I will use on them. This is best done out on the porch because a few fragments will fly but can be done while you watch tv. I like to crack the whole bunch and then pick them out.

You can also put some in a burlap sack, place them on a concrete driveway and run over them with a riding mower. This can pulverize some though. You have to check after every few passes and pick out the cracked ones. Good luck.

Thanks, twiggybuds. Yes, we have commercial pecaners as well. I'm having more problems getting them out of the shell, than cracking them. They seem too big for the shells, but I think i'm just not used to fresh pecans. I'll keep picking, just looking for that magic touch....:)

You might want to try the Texas Nut Sheller. I wouldn’t try to peal 100 pounds of pecans with it but if you have a few pounds it really works well. It cuts off both ends of the pecan and squeeze it lightly with the Sheller and it is cracked neatly open.
Oldude

Thanks oldude, I'll check it out. I got a tip on another forum that soaking them in boiling ater for 20 minutes might help, and it did!. It still isn't easy, but it's do-able.

Thanks!