Fruit Storage

I do realize that by most accounts, I ought to have included tomatoes and avocados here amongst the fruits, but I tend to eat them as vegetables and not as fruit, so I placed them over on the vegetables page.

This week let's discuss fruits and how to keep them.   What I am sharing is what we eat.  If I don't mention how to keep a fruit or vegetable at its best, it's because I have no experience with that particular type.

I love citrus fruits.  Some citrus fruit is available in nearly every month of the year.  I've found that they keep best in the refrigerator.  While they will keep at room temperature for about 2-3 weeks, they will begin to dry out and once they do, while they are still edible, they look less than pretty and can become dry inside as well.  I find it best to carefully inspect bags of citrus. 

Smell.  Does it simply smell like citrus or is there an aroma of mold or an off scent?  

Look.  Do you see any brown or blue spots on the fruit?  If there's one spoiled piece in the bag, then I generally don't buy since most bags are packed by weight.   If this spoilage has occurred after I've brought fruit home, I remove the spoiled piece, wash the rest thoroughly and carefully inspect them.  Just a little of the juice of the spoiled fruit or a spot where a molded piece has touched one that isn't spoiled, is already breaking down the other piece(s) of fruit.

Touch.   Fruit that feels heavy for its size, is generally a good fruit.  If it feels unnaturally light it's probably already started to dry out unless you're handling a mandarin.  Mandarin skins are so loose that it can make a fruit feel almost too soft.  Oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes should all have firm skins and feel heavy in your hand..  

When I get my citrus fruit home, I find it is a good habit to rinse lightly under running water.  I do this in case any spoiled fruit might have touched the rind of the fruit I've just purchased.  I do not always follow my advice here though, and I've had oranges last very well indeed without washing, but I do wash if the lot I've bought from (those big cases from Aldi for example) has any aroma of spoilage about it.

I have begun storing my citrus in the fridge this past winter.  I did so because it got it out of Caleb's sight line and I've found it lasts so much longer there.  I think the cool humidity is what helps citrus to be especially long lasting once it's in the fridge.

You can also store lemons and limes in big two quart or gallon wide mouthed jars and screw a lid on tight but really it's not at all necessary if you're keeping them in the fridge.  I dump mine in a big basket and put it all on the top shelf, not in the vegetable drawers and I've had the best luck yet with little to no spoilage with this method.

Melons of any sort, if whole can stay on a countertop without too much issue for up to a couple of weeks.  Mama always kept her cantaloupe in the fridge with good results because she likes cold cantaloupe.   I don't always have room to store melons in my fridge unless they are already cut.

Grapes are washed when I get them home.  I've always washed grapes as soon as we brought them in.  I choose stems that have grapes firmly attached to the stems.  John is a bit of a stickler for not eating grapes that have fallen off the stem.  It only means the grape has ripened fully when it falls off, but he's not convinced.  I wash grapes and cut the stems into serving sized pieces, between ten and twenty grapes per section.   I rinse any grapes that have fallen off the stem and put them aside in a covered dish to use in fruit salads.  John's never complained over a fruit salad yet, lol.

Berries should never be washed until you plan to eat them.  My only exception is when I am freezing berries, then I do give them a quick rinse.   I store berries in one of two ways.  I place in a glass jar and put the lid on, or they go into an airtight dish with a snap on lid (plastic or glass, but I prefer glass).  If the berries seem exceptionally moist, I will put a folded paper towel in the bottom of the container, before I pour in the berries.  I generally only buy strawberries which are fairly cheap here in season, since we live in a strawberry growing area as well as near Florida which produces strawberries.  I find I can often keep berries two weeks without any noticeable taste difference, but they seldom last that long.

I don't generally buy blackberries or raspberries but when I do, I am careful to follow pretty much the same steps.   With blueberries, I generally dump into a glass jar and rinse as I want to eat them, being careful to remove any that might be slightly squishy first.

Bananas often seem to me to be green more often than not these days.  That's because bananas will continue to ripen once picked so they can pick them green.  I find though that it pays to test the banana.  I've found in some stores that the bananas may look green but feel soft.   Look for unblemished skins, no freckling and bananas that feel firm.    If, like us, you don't eat many bananas you can buy two or three or you can do as I do and buy a bunch.  I break off one or two when I get them home, and then put the rest in a zippered bag on the counter.  Be sure to keep them in a spot that doesn't get overly warm.  Next to the stove isn't a good idea, as the heat will cause moisture to build up in the bag and you'll have over ripe bananas in a matter of a day or so.  Keeping bananas on a counter in a cooler spot, not in direct sunlight, in a zippered bag means that I can remove a banana or two every other day and have ripe bananas for seven or eight days running if I follow these steps.

John is picky about freckles on bananas.  He won't eat them when they appear.  They are perfectly ripe at this stage.  This is a good stage to freeze bananas for smoothies or Nice cream.  When the skin begins to darken they are overripe, but useful still for baking.  I cut away any black or bruised portions at both these stages.  No need to be picky over those.

Peaches are a favorite in my household, especially as I live in a peach growing area.  I usually prefer to buy my peaches from a peach stand.  I can get good local fruit that way.  Aldi often has locally grown peaches in summer as well and I will buy them there, but I prefer the peach stand.  For one thing peach growers handle fruit differently than grocery store workers.  A peach is quite firm when it's picked but it will continue to soften and ripen over the next few days.  However, rough handling bruises the fruit and while it might not be apparent right away, it will show up as that flesh ripens!  

When I bring peaches home, I keep them on the counter in a basket or bowl.  It generally takes about two days for peaches to get to the eating stage.   I wash before we eat them.  I find that after about a week, the peaches have fully ripened, and the skins have begun to wrinkle and darken.  At this point I slice and freeze to preserve any extras.  I don't refrigerate peaches at all.  

I don't buy pears often but when I do I look for firm fruit and unblemished flesh.  I keep them on the counter until they are just soft to the touch, wash before eating.

Kiwi can be fairly inexpensive.  I prefer to buy firm heavy fruits.  These two ripen well on the counter.  Once they begin to get slightly soft, I put them in the fridge.

Apples keep perfectly well at room temperature as well.  I prefer to keep them in a basket or bowl on the counter, but John enjoys a cold crisp apple for eating.  They store well in a basket in the fridge with the citrus fruits and come to no harm for it.   But they do keep well on the counter.  Again, we wash before we eat.  I look for firm apples that do not have any give when you gently but firmly grip them with your fingertips.  I watch carefully for bruises which bother John.  I find they cut away easily enough and often aren't very deep into the flesh anyway.  It is a rare thing to find a seriously spoiled apple.  They are quite hardy and good to eat even after the skin begins to wrinkle.  As long as the flesh isn't mushy, I like them fine.   Once the flesh begins to go soft, I find they are excellent for making applesauce.

Pineapple is the last fruit that I am likely to buy.   How do you know if it's ripe?  I've read that you can twist the leaf stem and if it does twist slightly the fruit is ripe.  I find that you want some gold as well as green on the surface of the fruit, as well.  If it's all gold, it's usually fully ripened, and you'll need to use it right away.  Just as a quick tip, and it's something I plan to try, I've read that you can remove the green leafy portion and discard it rather than pay the per pound price for that portion.  Unless of course, you want to try and grow your own!  I keep pineapple on the counter and as the fruit turns more golden I  move it to the fridge but we generally cut it up at that point.  I store in a glass container with a snap on lid.

All of the fruits I've mentioned are generally about $1-$2 per pound in our area.  Apples typically hit that $2 a pound mark because we like really flavorful apples and those tend to cost more.  Peaches at a fruit stand are more than at the grocery but still well within my budget.