How to Split an Apple in Half With Your Bare Hands (and a Way to Cheat a Little)

Five years ago I split my first apple in half, inspired by a video clip on the internet and the audacity to think that maybe, if I really believed in myself, I might be able to join the ranks of the apple-splitters. I achieved glory and success (the apple did in fact break in my hands) and I've been riding that high ever since. Today, I return to retell that story and provide an innovation: a way to cheat if your apple-splitting is not going as well as you hoped.

What do you mean, split an apple?

I mean you break it in half, in a way that looks like it could have been cut with a knife. Right down the middle. Here's a video of Paul Rudd wowing the internet with this feat. Amazing! What human being can do that? Surely nobody but Paul Rudd!

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I love a good feat of strength and/or skill. In fact, the only thing I love more is hearing that it may be more accessible than at first I assumed. (See also: my brief obsessions with bending nails and flipping kettlebells.) So I was intrigued when strength coach Adam Fisher provided a different perspective:

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I don't mean to diminish the accomplishment of cracking open an apple. It is a feat of strength, and not everybody can do it. But far more people can do it than probably suspect they can. It turns out, Adam is right.

I saw his tweet while I was at a conference, and there was a giant basket of apples in the lobby, so I could test out the apple-splitting trick ASAP. I watched a few YouTube videos on apple splitting, but ultimately it is the apple that teaches you.

How to crack that apple

First, if you have small hands, choose a small apple. And make sure the apple is a crunchy one; a fresh Honeycrisp works well. (My first try was a medium size Gala, and it was tough but I got it.) Consider removing the stem, not for any mechanical advantage but just so it won't poke you as you are squeezing.

Then:

1. Locate the squishy, meaty muscle at the base of your thumb. Wedge the thumb meat of both hands into the divot at the top of the apple.

2. Compress the apple top to bottom as hard as you can. It may help to press the apple against your knee or another convenient surface.

3. While doing this, pull the apple apart, like opening a book.

If you run into trouble, try a smaller or crispier apple.

And don't get discouraged. I grabbed three Gala apples from the basket at the hotel, and was only able to crack one of them. Later, when I got home, I bought a bag of small Honeycrisps and was able to split them so easily that I did a few in a row for my kids and then encouraged them to try. None of them quite managed, but I told them all to try again next year when they have grown a bit bigger. Then, suddenly nobody wanted to eat any of the apples, so I'm over here gnawing on them all by myself. Anyway. Give it a try-you might surprise yourself!

How to make the apple easier to split (aka how to cheat) Look closely-there are two fingernail gouges on the top surface of the apple. Credit: Beth Skwarecki

I sat down with an apple today, thinking my only job was to take a new photo to update this post. But the apple I had on hand--a Kanzi--wasn't cooperating. What to do? I could get some different apples at the store. I could treat this as a strength performance (which it kind of is) and schedule an apple-splitting session for a day I was better rested. Or maybe I could just cheat.

I know from experience that the apple-splitting phenomenon starts with a small, audible crack. You'll hear a soft noise as it begins to split apart, and if you keep applying pressure, all of a sudden the rest of the apple will give.

So what if I give that initial split just a little bit of help? I didn't have a knife within reach, so I dug my thumbnail into the top of the apple, along the line where I imagined it would break. Then I returned to my apple-splitting efforts.

As I predicted, the cracking noise began almost immediately. My cheat didn't make the apple easy to split, but it seemed to get my foot in the door, so to speak. I kept the pressure on, and soon the apple cracked in half just as I was hoping. A few fingernail gouges would be easy to apply surreptitiously if you're doing this trick in front of friends, and honestly you're still splitting an apple in half with no tools other than your bare hands. I hereby deem this a not-too-cheaty-cheat. So go forth and split an apple, ya cheater.