How do pears ripen

For home cool down, 40 degrees is ideal. I use a spare refrigerator adjust for storage. Your homegrown pears will still ripen at room temperature. The cold storage just gives you the most ideal and most consistent results. But it is not required to have a good pear. After cold storage of homegrown pears, you can move on to ripening the pear on the counter as I have described below.

In other words, you are picking out a mature pear that is unripe — just like it was at harvest time. It is rare to find a pear ready for eating at the store. Most will still be hard as a rock. You should expect to buy them in the firm state and bring them home to ripen. Ripening a pear can be as simple as sitting it on the counter top and checking it every day.

Any bag would work, but paper is preferred over plastic as it allows the fruit to breathe. Another way to ripen pears is to place them next to fruits like bananas, avocados, or apples perhaps in a fruit bowl. These fruits also give off ethylene gas, and the extra exposure to ethylene induces ripening in pears. To determine ripeness, hold the pear in the palm of your hand and then gently apply pressure into the neck of the pear with your thumb.

Once the skin of the pear gives to that pressure even if it gives slightly , it is ripe and ready to eat. Most pears should be ready to eat within a few days after purchase. Be sure to place ripe pears that you are not using in the refrigerator to maximize freshness. Share with us! Explore our online resources for learning at home. This has happened before. How can I tell when a pear is ready to eat?

Thanks, Don. Pears are tricky. Most pears in the U. You can find pears in grocery stores nationwide year-round, but peak season is August through October. It depends on when they were picked. This can take one to five days, depending on what measures you take to speed or slow ripening.