Tips for Summer Fruit
By Maureen Sinclair
Summer presents some concerns when it comes to storing fruits and vegetables (or even determining when they are at their peak eating point).
My family loves pears, but most people don't know how to pick out good tasting, sweet pears and many people don't know how to store their pears once they bring them home.
It is helpful to know that pears take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to fully ripen at room temperature and should be stored (at room temperature) out of direct sunlight. Pears ripen from the inside out and you will know that they are ready to be eaten when the pear feels soft at the stem end, at which point they should be stored in the refrigerator.
Now if you love avocados, keep in mind that they take 2 to 5 days to ripen at room temperature and that you can speed up the ripening process by placing the avocado into a brown paper bag with a banana. The avocado is ripe and ready to eat when it yields gently to pressure at the stem end.
Bananas are a particular problem in warm summer weather because they will ripen very fast. They are ready to be eaten when the skin looses its green color and becomes fully yellow. Black spots indicate a ripened banana and if these spots become very large and the banana feels squishy, they are past their peak, but can still be used in a banana bread or muffin recipe. It is a good idea when buying bananas to purchase them in differing stages of ripeness (some green or a little green and some yellow or yellow and slightly spotted) so that you can use them in order of ripeness and can have them to serve from one shopping excursion to another (probably a few days later).
Many of us grow tomatoes in the summer since these are about the easiest vegetable to grow in the home garden (they can even be grown on patios in containers). A green and unripened tomato will take up to 7 days to fully ripen and turn the lovely shade of red that make summer salads look so good. Tomatoes should be ripened at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and should never be stored in the refrigerator until they are very ripe (that it getting very soft) at which point they should be refrigerated. However, if you have put a very ripe tomato in the refrigerator, it should be brought to room temperature before serving for best flavor.
For all the fruits discussed above and for all others, I believe there is no better test for ripeness than your nose. Ripe, ready to eat fruit should smell wonderful and their smell is frequently, if not always, an indication of how they will taste.
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