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10 19

Did you know you can ripen fruit in a paper bag with an apple?

Sometimes I want to make Peach-Blueberry Crumble or Pear-Upside Down Gingerbread Cake. Darn it! The fruit isn't ripe enough. Enter the apple.

In three days, these hard peaches ripened in a brown paper bag with an apple. Apples give off ethlylene gas that ripens fruit. Ripe bananas do the same.

Place the fruit in a brown paper bag with an apple. Just close the bag loosely so the ethylene gas stays in, but so oxygen can get in, too.

Fruits and vegetables you can speed the ripening process: bananas, peaches, pears, plums, nectarines, kiwi, avocados and tomatoes. Once the fruit or vegetable has ripened, store it away from apples or bananas.

Most ripe fruit should be stored in the refrigerator to help prevent them from over-ripening too quickly. Keep tomatoes out of the refrigerator. They lose their flavor in the fridge.

LiterateHiker 9 Aug 3
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10 comments

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1

Yep, but I'm an old farm girl

1

I wonder if that works for pears.

@JackPedigo

Yes, it works for pears beautifully. I wrote:

Fruits and vegetables you can speed the ripening process: bananas, peaches, pears, plums, nectarines, kiwi, avocados and tomatoes.

@LiterateHiker That will be an interesting experiment. I have several varieties and will try it on the earliest one. Thanks for the tip.

2

All fruit re,lease ethylene gas as they ripen. That gas also ripens any nearby fruit. That is the principle. That is also true for tomatoes, which are also technically fruit.

1

You’re just full of interesting and edifying information!

@BudFrank

Thank you.

2

A banana works much better. Many sailing ships did, and still do, refuse to carry bananas because they'll cause other fruit and vegetables on board to ripen and go rotten too fast.

@Cyklone

That's why I don't use bananas.

3

I have tomatoes on my counter right now. They're ripe enough, I just haven't decided what to do with them. There are quite a few more out in the garden that are ready to be picked. I will be doing something with them during the weekend. I do use the paper bag trick frequently to ripen fruits. Also poke some ventilation holes in a paper bag and you can fill it with fresh herbs to dry. It keeps the dust off them. I have several bags of herbs drying in the kitchen.

How about adding a cucumber, a sweet onion, kalamata olives, and a little feta cheese, put some balsamic vinegar and olive oil over this, and serve. Or as I do I just eat it out of the bowl, I am basically a rabbit, as far as eating, the other thing I am probably done with.

@dalefvictor I don't have a sweet onion, or feta cheese in the house at the moment. Or a cucumber for that matter. I try not to go to the grocery store more than once a week. I will figure out a menu for next week later in the week, and go to the grocery store probably on Saturday. Generally during the summer I make a big salad on Sunday and that is my lunch for the work week. During the winter I cook lots of soups and freeze them, and heat one for lunches every day. I aim for efficiency and cheap.

Caprese salad!!!

2

I've used bananas for the same purpose. I get impatient with avocados, and one in a paper bag with a banana overnight does wonders.

2

I’ve done tomatoes like that........

2

Cool

4

I've been ripening peaches in a paper bag for years...without an apple.

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