Prickly Pear Fruit (Tunas) Harvest and Cleaning Part 1

The American Southwest is loaded with prickly pear cactus and I have always wanted to harvest them and see what they tasted like. Various blogs and youtube videos gave mixed information and some gardening forums were the same, so I thought I'd make a video of how I clean them.

Edible cactus by Jake Mace:

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[julipolito]

My husband lays the fruit in one layer in the rock and uses the flame thrower (for burning weeds around our property) to burn off the spines. Works great!

[tigerbiteme]

Thank so much for posting this. I have a cactus tree in my backyard that I was planning to chop down, but my 80 yr dad fell in love with the prickly pear. We’ve been pricked by these bad boys and didn’t know how to clean them.

[AdrianeTwisselman]

Thank you so much for posting this method. I have been burning the stickers off & it’s so time consuming vs just washing & tossing them around in a colander. Appreciate it!!

[SerenaHe-zk]

Thank you so much for the video. huh, I didn't know. so legend has it that I was still picking spines of my fingers 10 years

[chickennugget]

Hey fyi, when you talk about natives do, use present tense. We still exist, and we still eat these ✌🏽

[belandkevrateit]

Thank you for sharing. Just picked some up for the first time in our very own backyard. Can’t wait to taste them

[bajajuan]

glad I came across your vid... This is a great technique without burning the fruits !

[starfinder]

Thank you. The tastiest fruit in the world in my opinion (and mango)

[jessicac]

Wow, did not anticipate the spines would come off so easy. I'll have to try it.

[typQQueen]

Heading to harvest eight now. I use a torch to burn the spines, prior to picking.

[nuclearskull]

Its currently 5/2020 & I am discovering that the ones that are still on the pods after close to a year & even fallen off after making it through the winter - are the sweetest & the best ones and actually taste a little like strawberries....I will be deliberately leaving many on the pods this year & not harvesting them in the summer to allow them to reach this state of pure deliciousness!!...I currently get the needles off by putting them in a metal bowl & dousing them wt rubbing alcohol & lighting it on fire and mixing them around wt my tongs so they all get the flame. Then I transfer them into a bucket & scrub them with a plastic brush. Using this method I may get pricked once or twice & its NBD at all....I cut them in half & juice manually using a Fine Pool Vaccum Net to strain them = works

[AleksHaecky]

I've been scorching them over my gas stove. This works much better!

[brendalucian]

I wouldn't want to be the person cleaning out the sink or that strainer afterwards!

[mymythology]

I usially use torch to remove thorns. Thx for your video!

[skyhigh]

You can also put them in Icy water for the cleaning

[SolarizeYourLife]

I just cut in half even with spines and boil all them until soft and then squeeze in a cloth sack... done...

[melissaball]

We are going to mix with watermelon for homemade juice!!!! Natural and right out of the yard!!!!

[genevelis]

Why are you are not using the skin? Very important question for me.

[michaelhutchinson]

My grandmother said they would bunch up sage leaves and brush off the thorns before picking them I add an extra step and hold them over a small flame for a few seconds until the thorn area gets black. Works well.

[rangerjm]

i love to eat this fruits, it's delicious