What Does It Mean To Hull A Strawberry?

What does it mean to hull a strawberry? To hull or to core a strawberry means the same thing. It means to remove the calyx or the leafy stem where the green leaves are traditionally on the strawberry, which is where they were attached to the plant. Any recipe that includes strawberries will most likely require you to hull the strawberries first.

strawberries on sale so i bought 6lbs, hulling and freezing time! pic.twitter.com/TdNm85zAoZ
— Chromize (@chromize_) September 22, 2017

Benefits of Hulling Strawberries

Hulling a strawberry allows you to keep more of the fruit than if you cut off the top. It also allows you to eat the strawberries without the worry of biting into anything unwanted. This includes removing any unwanted parts of a strawberry in preparation for making things such as a pie. That would not be much fun to discover amongst your delicious treats. Hulling a strawberry also allows you keep the strawberries fresh longer than if you simply cut the top off.

Ways to Hull

There are many different ways to hull strawberries. Some of the different ways range from using your fingers, to a knife, to a special tool, to a plastic straw. There are two most common ways to hull strawberries. One method would be to use a small sharp paring knife to cut the centers out, and the other way would be simply pinching out the centers with your fingers. Now, if you are cooking commercially or for a lot of people, you will probably want to use a knife. However, I still remember fondly the summer days we sat on the back patio after getting up early to go strawberry picking. We would sit out there hulling buckets upon buckets of strawberries with our fingers. It was a quick and efficient way to hull so many strawberries that we later made into jam.

How to Hull Strawberries

Rinse the strawberries in cold water.
Pat them dry.
You can hull with a paring knife or use your fingers and thumb to dig out the hull. Since it is a bit messy for your fingers, using a paring knife is more common. You can also use any sharp knife you might have, just be careful.
Next to the stem insert your paring knife.
Slowly turn the strawberry in a circle around the green leaves.
Pop out the green leaves and center of the strawberry to successfully remove the hull
Repeat this process with all of your strawberries. It’s as easy as that!

One note on hulling strawberries, if presentation matters, you may want to leave your strawberries unhulled simply so that they look better. Examples of this would be in a tart or as decoration on top of a strawberry pie.

Hulling a strawberry is a simple process that many recipes require when using fresh strawberries. There are a couple ways to accomplish the task, how you wish to do it is up to you.

How do you hull your strawberries? What are some of your favorite recipes including hulled strawberries?

Check out our Dandelion, Pear, Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad. It is a delicious one that you won’t want to miss!