Hulled hemp seeds is a term used for hemp seeds that have had their hull removed, leaving only the creamy inner “heart” of the hemp seed. They’re also known as shelled hemp seeds, hemp hearts, hemp nuts of hemp nuggets.
Hemp seed shells are high in fibre, and a great addition to your diet but if you want to remove the hard outer shell and just enjoy the nutty creamy inner hemp hearts then there are a few ways to achieve this.
How to make hulled hemp seeds at home
If you’re asking yourself the question; how do you remove the shell from hemp seeds? Then we’ve got some advice for you!
It’s fairly labour intensive to shell your own hempseeds at home, whereas you could always just buy a packet of hulled hemp seeds that have already had their shells removed. However, if you’re dead set on learning how to do this yourself then you will require a few things before you start.
What you will need:
- Whole hemp seeds
- A chopping board
- A mallet (wooden or rubber will do)
- A clean bucket or large bowl
- A fine mesh sieve
- Water
The Process
Step 1. Spread out your hemp seeds on a clean and dry hard surface such as your kitchen sideboard.
Step 2. Place the chopping board on top of the hemp seeds.
Step 3. Gently tap the chopping board with the mallet, working your way from one side to the other, and the entire length of the board ensuring that you tap across the entire surface area. Try not to tap too hard we’re just trying to crack the shells, keeping the soft inners of the hemp seeds intact. We’re not trying to pulverize them or press them to make hemp seed oil or hemp milk, so a little finesse is required in the technique.
Step 4. Fill your bucket with cold water and pour your hempseeds in. Next up, you’ll want to give them a good strong stir to separate the shells from the hearts. The shells will float to the surface and the hearts will sink to the bottom.
Step 5. Skim the surface of the water with your sieve to remove the hemp seed shells. In the spirit of “waste not, want not” keep the shells, dry them out and crush them into a powder using a pestle and mortar to make your own hemp flour, or sprinkle them into your morning cereal to add a little extra fibre to your diet.
Step 6. Drain your bucket of water through the sieve to catch all of the hemp hearts that were sitting at the bottom. You have now successfully separated your hemp hearts from their shells! Leave the hemp hearts out on a tray to dry, or add them straight to your next meal.
How hemp seeds are de-shelled industrially
If you’re wondering how hemp seeds are processed and de-hulled on an industrial scale such as with the shelled hemp seeds then stick around because we’re going to be delving into that subject right now. We’re going to use Hempiness shelled hemp seeds as an example to explain the process to you.
Hempiness shelled hemp seeds are grown in the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and processed in Lithuania at a state-of-the-art facility with advanced technologies designed for processing hemp seeds on a huge scale. Their aim is to supply customers with 100% organic products of the very highest quality.
Hemp seeds arrive from farms across the Baltic States and are carefully labelled so that each batch can be tested for quality and be tracked back to the original farm where it was grown.
The hemp seeds are then washed and sorted to ensure that only the finest quality seeds are used in the final product. The hemp seeds first go through a process of grading, where sieves are used to separate the smaller seeds from the larger ones. This is so that seeds can be separated off to be used in the production of other hempseed food products such as cold-pressing the seeds to make hemp seed oil, different sizes are more suitable for different uses.
The dehulling process involves several mechanical procedures including gravity separation and lots of vibration which separates the seeds from their hulls (shells). This is all done by highly specialised machinery which has been developed specifically for this task. The processing plant is very careful not to damage the integrity of the hemp hearts, as of course they want their final product to be in pristine condition.
The hulls are sent off to become hemp seed cake, which is later turned into hemp flour and hemp protein powder.
Further tests are carried out in the in-house laboratories and samples are sent off to independent labs to be tested by a 3rd party. These tests ensure the nutritional quality of the hemp seeds is up to scratch, as well as their cleanliness and overall quality.
In the final step of the process, the shelled hemp seeds are dried and packaged ready for sale before being shipped off to distributors, retailers, and finally to the end customer.
If you would like to know more about shelled/hulled hemp seeds then read our recent blog “We Answer The Web’s Most Asked Questions About Hemp Hearts”.
If you’re looking for ideas on how to use your shelled hemp seeds in meal recipes then try our blog “Vegan Hemp Fritter Recipe” or “Homemade Vegan Hemp Hummus Recipe” to get started with some ideas!
