Opening a Pomegranate

If you are agonizing about how to open a pomegranate easily and without making a mess, here is a good way. I've added pictures which show the method.
(1) use a knife point to score the skin around the top of the pomegranate and down the sides (similar to opening an orange. Don't go too deep to avoid cutting the arils and releasing juice, just through the skin. A serrated knife works well for this.
(2) use fingers or a knife tip to remove top.
(3) open the pomegranate by pulling apart with thumbs. It can then be dissected section by section and used without mess.

scoring the pomegranate skin

removing the top

open pomegranate with thumbs