Abstract: An apparatus for and method of using the apparatus to crack hard shelled nuts. A pair of hollow cylindrical tubes, each having both a proximal and a distal end with a chamfer at the respective proximal ends may be axially aligned with one another with their proximal ends facing one another. A nut to be cracked may be placed between the proximal ends of the spaced apart hollow cylindrical tubes. A linear compressive force may be applied to the distal ends of the two hollow cylindrical tubes the shell of the nut cracks) i.e., separates the hard shelled nut exterior shell casing from interior nutmeat). The apparatus allows hard shelled nuts like black walnuts, to be cracked with minimal damage, such as fragmentation, of the nutmeat.

Abstract: A hand-held, manually operated seed shucking appliance enables a food preparer to remove the seed coverings of black-eyed peas from their kernels. A spring and piston inside a chamber are arranged to compress a load of pre-soaked black-eyed peas against a shuttle rasp threaded between side slots. As a user manipulates the shuttle rasp, the shucks are scraped off the seeds by a scraping surface and both pass through the side slots. The piston is configured to be cocked back such that the chamber can be loaded through one end with a fresh charge of black-eyed peas.

Abstract: The Nut Cracker Apparatus (1) receives a nut at the top surface of an anvil. A plunger, aligned with the anvil, is moved vertically, by rack and pinion gear operation of a handle lever means, into contact with the nut thereby exerting cracking or crushing pressure on the shell or hull. The anvil is generally centrally positioned on a chamber floor which is downwardly sloping toward a tray which receives nut meat discharged from the anvil and floor into the tray.

Abstract: A nutcracker (10) is disclosed which is characterized by an automatic adjustment to differing-sized nuts during the cracking motion. Nutcracker (10) includes a base (11), an upright support (12) carried by base (11) and a slide bar (16) mounted for limited sliding movement on upright support (12). A nut-cracking head (40) is pivotally mounted for sliding movement on slide bar (16) and a handle (30) is carried by base (11) to move the slide bar (16) back and forth along its direction of travel. A rack (22) is mounted on the slide bar (16) and a tooth (46) is carried by head (40) and positioned to pivot towards and engage rack (22) at a point thereon dependent on the size of the nut as the handle moves head (40) into engagement with the nut to arrest the free movement of the head and cause the head (40) to move in unison with handle (30) as handle (30) continues to move into nut-cracking position.