Best Nutcracker Tools for Pecans, Walnuts, & Acorns
Nutcrackers have come a long way since monkeys were using rocks. Now you can easily get into a wide variety of nuts with simple tools. The best nutcrackers have improved ergonomics, will last a lifetime, and have the ability to crack nuts quickly and efficiently. There are many brands and types to pick from, and they don’t all perform the same.
This is where we come in. We’ve researched the best nutcracker tools, tested them, and now the results are in: the overall best, a budget option, and a high-capacity crank option. If you need to separate shells from meat, one of our suggestions is the tool for the job.
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Best Nutcracker
Anwenk Heavy Duty
Strong, Ergonomic, and Durable
Kiss those hand cramps goodbye with this spring-loaded cracker that busts open nuts of all sizes.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
Plenty of grip to hold the nut in the opening and a lot of leverage with the 7″ handles lets you open a huge variety of nuts with ease. Unlike the classic nutcracker, where you often need to hold the nut in place while you crack it, this is a true one-handed tool.
Specifications
- Materials: Die-cast aluminum w/ wooden handles
- Max Nut Diameter: 2″
- Size: 6.9″ long
- Weight: 7.0 ounces
It also reduces hand fatigue with the larger grips and the spring-assisted opening. It does weigh more than your bare-bones nutcracker, though, so that could be a drawback if you are cracking hundreds of nuts at a time.
The small spines inside the tool make it so the nuts crack rather than crush, since they concentrate the force, making the nut shells split rather than shatter.
This simple and dependable tool gets it done every time- so it’s easy to see why the Anwenk Heavy Duty Nutcracker is the best.
Budget Nutcracker
Chef Craft Classic
Simple, Inexpensive, and Versatile
Get the job done effectively and on a budget with the original nut-cracking tool (besides a rock).
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
You won’t get much for this price, but you will get a reliable stainless steel lever tool that will pop open nuts with enough elbow grease. This is the classic model that I grew up shelling pecans in my grandma’s backyard with a few pecan trees. While it’s great for reminiscing, there are better options ergonomically and for faster throughput.
Even if it’s not the most comfortable tool in your hands, it works and is versatile enough to crack open a wide variety of nuts- if you have the grip strength.
Here is how the old-school tool measures up:
- Material: Zinc-plated stainless steel
- Includes: 2x picks
- Size: 5″ long
- Weight: 2.5 ounces (without the picks)
If you need a simple tool that won’t break your budget, the Chef Craft Classic Nutcracker is what you’re looking for.
Best Nutcracker Machine
Grandpa’s Goody Getter
Lightweight, Versatile, and Reliable
For serious crackers with multiple-tree hauls- turn your countertop into a nut processing station.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
Grandpa makes it all easy. While you do still have to pull down on the lever, this nutcracker does the rest of the hard work for you, giving you a massive mechanical advantage with the large lever and cams.
Specifications
- Material: Powder-coated steel
- Size: 8″ W x 14″ H x 2″ (without handle or stand)
- Weight: 10.7 pounds
This large nutcracker stands just over a foot tall, and it’s meant to be bolted to a stand or a workbench so you can operate it with both hands. It cracks a huge range of nut types, from pecans all the way to those rock-hard black walnuts.
It does require some setup and maintenance- bolt it to a board or stand and keep the cams lubricated with grease. Otherwise, it’s easy to use- even my kids can crack tough walnuts.
If you have more than a few nut-bearing trees (or a regular need for shelled nuts), you’ll want to pick up the Grandpa’s Goody Getter Nutcracker Machine.
Comparison Table
| Nutcrackers | Recommendation | Price* | Size | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anwenk Heavy Duty | Best Overall | $10 | 6.9″ | 7.0 oz |
| Chef Craft Classic | Best for Budgets | $6 | 5″ | 2.5 oz |
| Grandpa’s Goody Getter | Best for Every Type of Nut | $200 | 14″ | 10.7 lbs |
The Tools We Compared
Our research narrowed the field down to a few brands and types of nutcrackers that we compared: Chef Craft, Harveast, Nut-Ricious, New Star, Carolina Cracker, Good Cook, Farberware, and more.
You can see our full list of review criteria below in the What to Look For section, with an explanation for each.
We considered a wide range of tools but focused on portable and bench-mount nutcracking tools. We did not get too far with powered machinery, since that wasn’t our particular aim with this review. Many of the long-lever bench mount tools were effective but seemed like more of a novelty due to their size versus low throughput. A few of them are necessary for cracking stubborn nuts, like macadamia or black walnut, but those are specialized tools.
We’re always looking for new and better equipment, so if you have a nutcracker you love, let us know in the comments. We review most of our tested equipment annually, so we can try to get it in the next roundup and see if it will beat out our top picks.
What to Look For
The best nutcrackers have a few features to look for:
- Value
- Ergonomics
- Capacity
- Size & Weight
- Versatility
When you get the right blend of these, you can find a tool that will crack a wide variety of nuts. Below, we break down what each of these features means for the nutcrackers that truly set themselves apart.
Value: Cost vs. Benefit
The amount of money you spend on something as simple as a tool shouldn’t blow out your entire budget. Unless your budget is really strapped, they shouldn’t set you back much. There is a wide range of prices associated with quality (like most tools), so you can pick based on how much you plan to use it.
You never want to spend too much money on one tool when it comes to the kitchen or pantry. It’s better to diversify your spending to make sure you are covered for a wide range of scenarios.
Ergonomics
If you’ve cracked a good number of nuts before with a classic-style nutcracker, you know it can be punishing on your hands. Many models have improved this with larger and longer grips to reduce hand fatigue. Some also have spring-loaded openings and larger openings, so nutcracking can truly be a one-handed operation.
None of the manual nutcrackers is as easy as the lever models, however. Gears give you more mechanical advantage than levers, and a crank nutcracker is the easiest to use by far.
Capacity
Most manual handheld nutcrackers open a single nut at a time. The amount of nuts that you can get through is more closely related to how quickly you can load and eject nuts. We called this ‘capacity’ in our tests.
Size & Weight
Whether you plan on getting a handheld manual cracker or a tabletop lever tool should depend on the yield you are trying to harvest. After that, there is the consideration of how much space you have available (especially with the tabletop models).
Heavy handheld models can cause hand and arm fatigue over time, so we weighed them all to double-check the weight.
Since these aren’t mobile tools, and you’re generally going to use them in the same spot each time, size isn’t the greatest concern.
Versatility
A nutcracker’s versatility is generally related to how many types of nuts (or other types of shells, like crabs or lobsters) it can crack. Specialized tools are usually used for stubborn nuts, like macadamia and black walnuts.
The best nutcracker will pop open most of the nuts in your area (if not all of them). If you have black walnut or macadamia trees, you’ll want something other than a handheld cracker.
How to Use a Nutcracker
You can learn to use a manual handheld nutcracker easily, but it takes time and experience to master. I’m admittedly a novice when it comes to the sheer number of nuts I’ve shelled in my lifetime. While I’m sitting somewhere in the thousands, many people with groves of nuts under their belt have nut cracking down to a science.
Crank-model nutcrackers can help you bypass the learning curve, since you load nuts in the top and turn the crank- not much technique or form to master. You will need to adjust the gear settings for the various nut sizes, and presorting them by size can help as well.
If you end up with a crank type, collecting nuts may be a more manual task, and you’ll want to look at a roll-in collector. Kyle shows off his ingenious pecan collector:
Who Needs a Nutcracker?
Almost everyone can use a nutcracker if you live in areas with walnut, pecan, or even oak trees. Handheld, manual nutcrackers are best for those without very many nuts to regularly shell.
But for those with several nut trees in their yards, or those with groves, a crank nutcracker is more than worth it. These will cut processing time down from eight hours to thirty minutes for a 5-gallon bucket harvest.
Because of their weight and niche use, we don’t consider nutcrackers essential for any type of survival kit. But they are handy to have in your kitchen for food prep and occasional use for your:
At the very least, having a classic nutcracker tool around in the kitchen gives you a versatile tool to handle nuts and crustacean seafood shells.
How We Review Products: We research thoroughly before selecting the best products to review. We have vast prepping and survival experience and bring in outside experts when needed. Hours on end are spent testing gear in stressful conditions and using specialized testing gear to verify claims. We assign performance criteria and impartially rate each tested item. Learn more about how we test.
Sources & References
All of our experience and the testing we do to determine the best nutcracker tool are useless without listing our research sources and references. We leaned on these for the book knowledge that we paired with our hands-on testing and practical survival experience:
Baumard, J., et al. (2023). Grip selection without tool knowledge: end-state comfort effect in familiar and novel tool use. Experimental Brain Research. Issue 241. Pages 1989 – 2000. (Source)
Kortlandt, A. (1986). The use of stone tools by wild-living chimpanzees and earliest hominids. Journal of Human Evolution. Volume 15. Issue 2. Pages 77 – 132. (Source)
Ottoni, E., et al. (2005). Watching the best nutcrackers: what capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) know about others’ tool-using skills. Animal Cognition. Issue 8. Pages 215 – 219. (Source)
Conclusion
Even monkeys use nutcracker tools to get their vittles. Thankfully, we’ve improved on the Stone Age technology and have great nutcracker options to process a wide variety of nuts quickly.
Here are a few other guides and reviews our subscribers have found helpful:
- The Best Can Opener for Prepping and Survival
- How to Make Acorn Bread
- Survival Food List | Pantry Stockpile Plan and Checklist
See more of our expert-written guides, resources, and reviews in your search results – add TruePrepper as a preferred source.
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rykeQuickCrackers are made for quick, easy cracking of pecans. Crack a whole bucket in just minutes. Made for getting them cracked in minutes not a whole day job. Saves your wrest as well. All that snapping and cracking one pecan at a time.
Check them out, you’ll be glad you did.