Pears: best and worst for grit?

Which pear varieties are the most grit-free? Which varieties are the worst for having grit cells?

Searching this forum for “pear grit,” I’ve found only scattered and incomplete information.

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Here’s what I’ve noticed from the pears in our orchard,

Bosc, Seckel, Dana Hovey, and Gifford have been grit-free.

Magness, Vermont Beauty, and Tyson have been relatively grit-free. That was true of Clapp’s until this year, when there has been more grit than usual, and I don’t think I picked them any earlier.

Patten has had the more grit cells than any pears currently in our orchard. Savignac was the worse, but the tree died.

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@Lucky_P likes the old fashioned gritty pears and I must admit some can be very good. @Lodidian I think as your aware sometimes nearly all pears have some grit. The old fashioned pear growing on my property I found were little more than all grit but the tree was likely 100+ years old. It was bulldozed when I built the new pond and fixed the dam on the old pond. Hated to see the old tree go. Your obvious answers will be things like Kieffer but honestly I like Kieffer and don’t agree in my location it’s not a true sand pear. When you eat a pear like that old fashioned one I had they are little more than sand some years. Ironically once I started growing other pears those pears improved greatly. I regret not grafting it elsewhere for preservation of history.

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Interesting thread. I have wondered this as well over the years.

One problem with measuring grit is if pears are picked too early or if not cold-chilled long enough they will be gritty just from that. I have had plenty of grit on Bosc and Dana Hovey for example, both on your grit-free list. I don’t recall any grit on Magness.

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@Lodidian

Very well put @scottfsmith in addition to this environmental factors play a role as your aware. Grit will be present in areas where the skin was damaged. In areas where heavy stink bugs or plum curculio infestations are present additional grit may be present.

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The gritty pear I grow is Blake’s Pride. Even refrigerating them for a month did not help. I don’t know how long they need to be chilled. They were picked when they started to drop,

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