Ripe’s Not Right

Many fruits are picked green and ripened in storage. Pears are among the few that are actually improved by it.

It is a process that is still not completely understood. But if pears are left to ripen on the tree, they turn rotten. It has to do with the fact that pears ripen from the inside out. By the time the outside is soft to the touch, the inside is past due.

So pears are picked before they’re ripe. They’re chilled to around 36 degrees and then held at between 65 degrees and 70 degrees until ready. The length of time they are stored depends on the variety of pear and how long it was left on the tree (the longer on the tree, the shorter in storage).

Anjou pears take the longest. One picked early can take up to 90 days, while one harvested later may take only 30 days. Comice pears ripen quickest, between two weeks and a month.

Pears that are ripe give to gentle pressure at the stem. Obviously, this can create problems for retailers, who generally sell the fruit at a firmer stage. To fully ripen a pear, store it at room temperature in a paper bag.