A grapefruit is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast (or a snack) during the winter. It’s a refreshing break from all the heavy holiday treats, and the vitamin C makes me feel like I’m warding off sickness.
But getting to that sweet-tart flesh can be a bit of a mystery, especially if you want to use your grapefruit for salads, desserts, etc.
I know of 3 methods for cutting this awesome citrus. Let me show you each one.
1 - Method 1
Start by laying your grapefruit on its side and slicing it right down the middle (or as close to the middle as you can get).
Place the grapefruit on a plate. See all those sections? Take a sharp knife and cut all the way around each individual section (between the membranes).
Insert your grapefruit spoon, scoop out a section, and pop it into your mouth.
My husband insists that you don’t need to cut around each section with a knife first: he only uses his grapefruit spoon. But I can eat my grapefruit much faster than he can.
If you wish, you can sprinkle the top of your grapefruit with sugar before eating. This is what we always did growing up, but now I find that a grapefruit is plenty sweet on its own.
If you want to get fancy, you can also pop your sugar-sprinkled grapefruit under the broiler briefly to caramelize the sugar, or use a kitchen torch for the job.
2 - Method 2
Begin by slicing off both ends of your grapefruit.
Set the grapefruit on your cutting surface. Slide a sharp, serrated knife along the edge of the peel, exposing the flesh.
Work all the way around the grapefruit in small strips.
Cut off any pith that you missed.
Now it’s time to cut out the sections! Slide your knife along the membrane of one section, then the adjacent membrane of the same section.
Pop the section out.
Once you cut a few section out, you can slide your knife down the side of one membrane, then back up along the other side. This way you can cut the flesh out with one fluid motion.
After you’ve cut out all the sections, you’re left with the empty membranes.
Now you have a bowl of beautiful grapefruit sections to gobble down.
If you’re concerned about all the wasted flesh that you cut off, you can always squeeze out the juice into a cup.
You can either drink the pretty pink juice right down (my favorite), or you can turn it into a vinaigrette for a grapefruit salad.
3 - Method 3
This method is probably the most complicated. Start by scoring the skin of the grapefruit and peeling it like an orange.
Now you’ve got a naked grapefruit!
Pull the grapefruit in half, then in quarters.
Make a little slit in the membrane of one section.
Use your fingers to pull back the membrane …
And pull the flesh out.
Here’s another view of releasing the flesh from its membrane-cage.
Repeat with the rest of the grapefruit.
Resist the urge to slap the hand of anyone who tries to snatch a piece of your hard-earned grapefruit.
So, which method of cutting grapefruit is the best?
Well, each has its advantage.
Method #1 is definitely the cleanest. If you just want to eat half a grapefruit for breakfast, this is a very convenient way to go about it.
Method #2 is the quickest way to get to your grapefruit. It also makes neat slices. If you’re cutting a lot of grapefruit all at once, this is the method I recommend.
Method #3 creates the least waste. It’s a bit time-consuming, but you can really extract all of the flesh from the membranes. However, the sections aren’t as beautiful as the ones from method #2, so if presentation is important, this method isn’t the best.
By far, my favorite way to cut a grapefruit is method #2. It’s super fast once you get the hang of it, and the large, pretty slices are fun to eat.
What is your favorite way to eat a grapefruit?
