A Ripe Peach Is Worth the Wait
Jan 11, 2018 - Answer: No one is quite sure what causes the condition known as “peach pit split.” It is believed to be caused by events or cultural practices that.
I love peaches too much to eat them as the rock hard flavorless orbs we’ve come to expect from the local grocer. It’s worth every penny to buy from local growers or grow peaches yourself as it seems impossible to ship perfectly ripe peaches. Heck, I can’t take a bag full of my peaches to a neighbor across the street without having jam upon arrival.
After years of trying many techniques, I believe I’ve found the best way to ripen a peach if picked too early or trucked in from another local and picked firm. It’s simple and it works.
How to Ripen a Peach to Juicy Perfection
Step 1: Selection
Please, never squeeze a peach as you basically ruin it. The bruised tissue just rots and begins to consume the peach in a matter of hours. It took a full year to grow that peach, show a little respect. Select firm, unbruised peaches with nice color, full shape and nice weight for the size.
Step 2: Nap Time for Your Peaches
- Place the peach or nectarine stem side down on a linen napkin, pillowcase, or cotton woven towel, as these fabrics breathe. Forget terry cloth as it holds moisture and tends to encourage mold and cut into soft ripe peach skin. (You are free to roll your eyes, but this works.) You could also set the peaches on (not in) a folded flat paper bag, another worthy nap pad.
Step 3: No Direct Sunlight
- Make sure the fruit doesn’t touch and is kept in a cool place out of the sun.
Step 4. Keep Peaches Undercover
- Cover your peaches up with another linen napkin, cotton cloth, or pillowcase. This shades the peaches and keeps any hungry insects at bay.
Ripened Peach Full Version
Step 5: Gauging Ripeness
Peaches are ripe when they smell like a peach and the stem side is pressed down a bit from the weight and softening of the peach as it ripens. The resulting peach: perfumed, juicy, soft, delectable. Ripening can take anywhere from a couple days to a week.
Step 6: Eat or Refrigerate Once Ripe
If you have too many that ripen at once, you can refrigerate them to stop the ripening, but that’s only if you can’t eat five to six peaches a day. Once refrigerated, the peaches should be eaten or used in the next few days.
The juicy white peach above was slightly unripe and hard when picked. Four days later after its spa treatment between two linen napkins, the peach was a juice bomb of sugar. I picked them early to beat out marauding raccoon that had discovered the tree.
Ripened Peach Crack
My (Amatuerish) Video: The Best Way to Ripen Peaches
Here’s to ripe peaches and pie in your life!
Ripened Peach Torrent
Hi Tracey,
I would definitely place the peaches inside in your 72-73 degree range. Depending on the current state of the peaches, and nearness to ripening, the peaches may just ripen for you. Fruit flies appear when there is overripeness or rot, so if you see fruit flies, one of the fruits is starting to rot likely, so check your fruit and toss/compost rotten or spoiling fruit. I’d say 7-10 days is probably close to ripening time. They may be too green for this to work, but why not try it. Good Luck!
Here’s a guide to thinning fruit for next season, which may help with avoiding broken branches: http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/8047.pdf