Testing the ripeness of fruit without damage

Day Lewin · 23-06-2015 2:07pm #1

One thing I cannot stand to see is people shoving their thumb into a tomato or peach "to see if it is ripe"

Well, if it IS ripe, it should smell ripe, so sniff it instead of bruising it!

And if it's not? Well, depending how many other ignorant shoppers have also pushed their thumbs into it, the poor thing may be quite soft already, (before it turns black and blue) - but it still isn't ripe!

So, fellow foodies: what are your best tips to assess fruit and veg without bruising?

on occasion, I have reluctantly had to hold an avocado pear in my palm and closed ever so slightly to see if there is the faintest yielding - but I don't like doing this: thumbs and bruises are not far away, once you start squeezing.

How to detect the ripeness of an avocado?
How to tell if an apricot is sweet and fragrant to eat, or bland and mealy inside?

I will post my own meagre list in due course, but would love to hear from others interested in this minor but maddeningly-rare art.

duploelabs · 23-06-2015 2:14pm

Pull a leaf out from a pineapple. If it comes easy, it's ripe

Day Lewin · 23-06-2015 11:24pm

@duploelabs - agreed: a good test for pineapples. They should smell pineappley, too.

Tomatoes should smell "like a greenhouse in summer"

Peaches should smell sweetly of peaches and also should not be greenish near the stalk.

Galia melons and cantaloupe melons must smell melon-ish (it's unmistakeable) - they bruise easily, so the smell test is the only good one.

Oranges and lemons are juicy when they are heavy in your palm.

Mellor · 26-06-2015 2:50pm

So Pineapples should smell like pineapples, peaches like peaches, and melons like melons!!
I just don't believe it. Are you sure?

Day Lewin · 27-06-2015 2:08am

Ah, Mellor: so many of the fruits and vegetables in the shops these days don't smell of anything at all!

You might just as well sniff a snowball. (and it's a clue to their taste/lack of)

Although I think avocadoes don't have a smell (that I ever noticed, and I have good smellers) so I am still seeking a reliable method of detecting ripeness in avocadoes that does not risk bruising the fruit. Watch this space!

Mellor · 27-06-2015 4:06am

katemarch wrote: »

Although I think avocadoes don't have a smell (that I ever noticed, and I have good smellers) so I am still seeking a reliable method of detecting ripeness in avocadoes that does not risk bruising the fruit. Watch this space!

This I can help with. Instead of squeezing it and damaging. Pop the stem off to peek instead. If it's bright and green, it's good. If its dark, it's over-ripe.
If it doesn't come off easily, it's not yet ripe.

Day Lewin · 27-06-2015 7:56am

Thank you, Mellor: that looks very useful.

I wish there was a test for "under-ripe" in avocadoes, too - that's often my biggest disappointment.

At least the very hard under-ripe ones can be cut into cubes and briefly fried with diced bacon - eat on toast - lovely starter or light supper!

Mellor · 27-06-2015 9:54am

katemarch wrote: »

I wish there was a test for "under-ripe" in avocadoes, too - that's often my biggest disappointment.

Mellor wrote: »

If it doesn't come off easily, it's not yet ripe.

.

P. Breathnach · 27-06-2015 10:04am

katemarch wrote: »

... Galia melons and cantaloupe melons must smell melon-ish (it's unmistakeable) - they bruise easily, so the smell test is the only good one....

I pick melons up and slap them; the ripe ones sound as if they are hollow.

Day Lewin · 27-06-2015 11:08am

I'm just out to the supermarket to refill my fruit bowl - I hope I don't get put out of the shop for slapping the melons! ;-)

Diamond Doll · 27-06-2015 12:09pm

Great thread idea!

Especially for those (like me!) who are unadventurous when it comes to trying new things.

Avocados - I've only tried them twice, and they were horrible. In hindsight, maybe they were too ripe, or not ripe enough.

I see above that you can tell if it's too ripe by pulling out the stalk - how can you know if it's not ripe enough?

Also, would you buy an avocado if it looked right but another shopper had already pulled out the stalk but then decided to leave it behind, in favour of a different avocado? I'd probably not.

I imagine there's a lot of wastage!

Personally I don't handle or squeeze or destalk fruit before purchasing. Because I prefer my own fruit and veg to have been handled as little as possible!

Day Lewin · 27-06-2015 12:40pm

@thislittle piggy, the poster who suggested that avocado test says that if under-ripe, the little stalk thing won't come off easily and a careful shopper should just leave it alone. I would maybe keep this test for the fruit i have already purchsed - so as to know when i can eat it!

If under-ripe, they are hard, and a bit tasteless or even slightly bitter.
If perfect, they are tender and delicate - great just with vinaigrette, but also with chopped tomatoes, or lime juice, or chilli...or mashed as guacamole...go well with bacon...Its quite light and subtle, you might think of it as green butter.
If OVER-ripe, they turn into a slimy brown mess. :-(

And it is very hard to tell from the outside, and they CAN be bruised by the rude thumbs and squeezings of the ignorant.

So I hope this thread becomes a little treasure-chest of gathered wisdom!

Day Lewin · 29-06-2015 12:35am

More about Melons

According to "The Joy of Cooking" the rind of a ripe watermelon will yield up a thin green skin when lightly scraped with a fingernail.

I have tried this and found it true, but it does leave a faint (harmless) scrape visible on the surface.

dee_mc · 29-06-2015 1:02am

Great thread!
Cherries (my new obsession) should be dark in colour and firm, with the stems still attached pretty securely.
Strawberries should be red (imagine!) - any white around the top means they were picked too early, so they won't have great flavour and may even be 'tough' like the turnip/strawberry hybrids I ate today

Melons should be slightly tender at the bottom (where the slightly rough circle is) and should smell unmistakably of melons.
I like a couple of brown spots on my bananas unless I don't want to eat them for a few days - slightly overripe beats underripe for me.

P. Breathnach · 29-06-2015 1:42am

katemarch wrote: »

More about Melons

According to "The Joy of Cooking" the rind of a ripe watermelon will yield up a thin green skin when lightly scraped with a fingernail.

I have tried this and found it true, but it does leave a faint (harmless) scrape visible on the surface.

Slapping them and clawing them: you're in big trouble.

Day Lewin · 29-06-2015 8:45am

@dee_mc - agreed, thank you for great tip on the cherries! (one of my favourites, too.)

I think the turnip-strawberries are modern hybrids and no amount of ripeness will ever give them back the flavour they used to have back in the olden days (when they got mouldy within hours.)
The breeders have given us shelf life at the expense of taste! Those dreadful Elsantas, damp, fibrous, only faintly sweet and with their coarse weedy hulls!

Re melons, I am wary of that "pressing the stem end": I've too often bought melons that had a sullen dark patch right there where other people have "tested" it. One cookery book I have says that the stem callous should be slightly sunken when ripe and I am planning to check that one out asap!

Day Lewin · 29-06-2015 8:47am

@P.Breathnach

Slapping them and clawing them: you're in big trouble.

Aw...it's ok, they love it really!

duploelabs · 29-06-2015 8:49am

katemarch wrote: »

@P.Breathnach

Aw...it's ok, they love it really!

I'm detecting some kind of undertone developing to this thread

rubadub · 29-06-2015 9:54am

katemarch wrote: »

I hope I don't get put out of the shop for slapping the melons! ;-)

ooh-matron-kenneth-williams-carry-on-bouvier-des-flandres-puppies-for-sale-uk.jpg

Tescos had €1 pineapples and there was almost no smell off them before. I got some before and they never seemed to ripen properly, someone else in the house had one and it just went mouldy. Don't know if there is some trick to it.

My tesco sells off its fruit for nothing when its at the perfect ripeness for me.

P. Breathnach · 29-06-2015 10:10am

rubadub wrote: »

... Tescos had €1 pineapples and there was almost no smell off them before. I got some before and they never seemed to ripen properly, someone else in the house had one and it just went mouldy. Don't know if there is some trick to it.

I read somewhere-or-other that pineapples don't ripen after harvesting. It seems like that to me.

My tesco sells off its fruit for nothing when its at the perfect ripeness for me.

Most fruit is at its tastiest just before it starts going off. It's a timing issue for the retailer: delay cutting the price too long, and the product becomes unsaleable.

Those of us who shop several times a week can get the beast deals.

rubadub · 29-06-2015 10:16am

http://www.wikihow.com/Ripen-an-Unripe-Pineapple

If the pineapple was left on the vine long enough to mature, you'll be able to ripen it at home. If it was picked too soon, it'll never be ripe enough to eat.

Check the color at the base of the pineapple. Do you see red, orange or brown striations, or is it solid green? Hints of red or orange is a tell-tale sign that a pineapple was either allowed to mature long enough to become ripe. If it's a solid green, with no color break, the pineapple is never going to ripen.[1]
Smell the pineapple as well. If it smells fragrant and fruity, chances are it will taste that way. If it has no smell, or smells musty, it might not ever get ripe.

Day Lewin · 29-06-2015 10:18am

Those of us who shop several times a week can get the beast deals.

Beast deals on fruit should be stamped out...(oops)

Day Lewin · 29-06-2015 10:21am

@duploelabs

I'm detecting some kind of undertone developing to this thread

- Yes, it is getting a bit juicy, isn't it?

;-)

Day Lewin · 10-07-2015 8:42pm

Chipping in another note on raspberries: if picking your own (and they are very, very easy to grow) pick only the ones that pull very easily from their little white plugs. If they are dark red, tender to touch as kitten's paws, and come away with only the faintest clinging, they are ripe. Don't take any that are only pink or light red, or cling tightly to the parent plant.
Mine have come on so much this week that I am now picking to freeze.

Day Lewin · 04-10-2015 10:45am

It would be great if anyone knew a tip to tell if plums are flavoursome or tasteless.

Lately I find ripe plums in good condition but they taste of hardly anything.

In passing, I would say home-grown greengages are the most reliable for sweetness, acidity, and perfume. Happy feasting!

Testing the ripeness of fruit without damage

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