Science doesn't stop in the tea room.

After a small amount of scientific inquiry in the departmental tea room (Pharmacology and Toxicology department), we have established that, like tomatoes, you can scald (20ish seconds) a hard-to-peel citrus (tangerines in this case) fruit to make it easier to peel.

Of course this would need more replicates, an objective way to measure 'ease of peel', and some statistics, to fully confirm this observation.

I just thought I would share this little 'experiment' as a nice example of why critical thinking is such an important part of science education, and as tribute the scientific mind. This would also make for an interesting science experiment for a young child to do at home (with supervision of course).

Now, back to my coffee.

edit: Thanks mith167. Although the mental image of scolding a tangerine is amusing, scalding is much more effective for facilitating peeling.