Storing and ripening fruit – truly “Desultory”
Posted By RichC on August 16, 2005
In keeping with ‘desultory‘ in my blog, I ran across some useful advice from a specialty produce distributor in regard to storing and ripening fruit. Karen Caplan of Frieda’s Inc. suggests that you rinse peaches, nectarines and plums and place in a shallow wire basket for ventilation after purchasing, rather than putting them in the “killing zone.” (ada: refrigerator).
By placing a ripe banana ‘nearby’ the emitting ethylene gas helps ripen other fruit which is particularly helpful for the many unripen fruits purchased in today’s grocery stores. According to Karen, the only fruit that should be stored in the refrigerator are apples and that the 34 to 55 degree temperatures ruin the flavor of fruit and do little to lengthen the time you can store them. Most all other fruits, including berries, should be kept out of the refrigerator. (she suggest spreading berries out on plates in a single layer)
Also a trick that most of us probably already know is to more quickly ripen fruit you can place it in a paper bag or wrap them with newspaper. What you might not have known (I didn’t) is that placing a banana in that same bag will ripen the fruit more quickly. Do not place this bag in an area where temperatures are lower than 55 degrees or near a window where it will be exposed to excess heat or the sun. Unfortunately for my household, breaking the ‘fruit in the refrigerator’ habit is going to be a challenge.
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