Buzz
To eat sunflower seeds, place the seed on the tip of your tongue, crack it gently between your teeth, and spit out the shell before chewing the seed. Repeat this process. The following article will guide you on how to eat sunflower seeds skillfully, allowing you to eat while also multitasking.
Steps
Master the Technique
Buy a pack of sunflower seeds. You can purchase pre-shelled seeds, but eating those with shells on is more fun. There are many flavors of seeds to choose from, such as chili, salted, or BBQ.
Place one sunflower seed in your mouth. At first, you should try biting a single seed to get the technique right.
Move the seed to the corner of your mouth. Biting the seed with your back teeth is easier than with your front teeth.
Hold the seed between your two teeth. Use your tongue to keep the seed in place. You can position the seed vertically or horizontally depending on your preference. Whichever way you place it, the edge of the shell should be held between your teeth.
- Use your molars (chewing teeth) to crack the shell. Molars have indentations that help grip the seed.
- Biting with your front teeth is harder; there's a risk that the seed might slip and injure your gums.
Apply steady and firm pressure to crack the seed. The shell will easily break when compressed with enough force. Don't bite too hard to avoid crushing the seed inside.
Open your mouth to let the seed fall onto your tongue.
Separate the seed from the shell. Use your teeth and tongue to split the seed from its shell. Distinguish them by feeling the smoothness of the edible seed and the roughness of the shell.
Discard the shell fragments. With practice, you will be able to split the seed from the shell like the two halves of a clam shell, making the separation neater.
Eat the seed.
Eat multiple seeds at once.
Put a handful of seeds in your mouth. Some baseball players often place half a pack of seeds in their mouth at once and chew throughout the game, which lasts for about an hour. The more seeds you can keep in your mouth at once, the better.
Push the seeds to one side of your cheek. They need to be in the same spot so you can control them all.
Push a seed across to the other corner of your mouth. Use your tongue to move the seed and prevent it from falling into the other cheek.
Bite the seed open. Use your tongue to position the seed between your molars, then bite to crack it open.
Spit out the shell and eat the seed.
Repeat this process with another seed. Move the seed from the cheek holding it to the other side, bite it between your molars, spit out the shell, and eat the seed.
Advice
- If you want to spit out a seed with its shell removed, do so into a cup or container. However, be courteous and avoid disturbing those around you.
- Don't be discouraged if your first attempt fails. Sunflower seed experts spend years perfecting their technique. Keep practicing, and success will come.
- Don't pinch your tongue when biting a seed in your mouth.
- Consider growing your own sunflowers to harvest your own seeds if you wish. This way, you can add as much salt as you like to your seeds.
- Have a cup or container ready to spit seeds into while driving.
- To avoid disturbing your coworkers, try closing your mouth when biting into seeds to minimize the sound when the shell cracks.
Warning
- Practicing eating seeds for a long time can cause your tongue to become irritated from the salt in the seeds.
- Eating too many seeds can lead to digestive issues due to the high fiber content.
- Chew seeds carefully to avoid choking.
- Consult your doctor to ensure you can safely consume 110 mg of salt per meal (the typical amount in a pack of sunflower seeds). Check the nutrition label on the sunflower seed packaging.
Things You Will Need
- Sunflower seed bag
- Skillful mouth
