Nice article on russet skin and the potential improvement in taste because russet skin allows increased fruit water permeability potentially concentrating flavor (at the cost of shorter storage time and potential shriveling)
Commercial growers, it seems, dislike the cosmetic aspect of russeting and the loss of storage/shriveling because of the increased water permeability of fruit skin
Among pears, Duchess d’Angouleme Bronzee sport is considered better tasting than its non-russeted Duchess d’Angouleme
agreed, that trait is part of the appeal of russet fruit. Apart from a few, like St Edmunds, they need a little bit of curing time at which point the flavor is concentrated and the texture drier but meatier. Some can get quite shriveled and still be delicious. None of this surely makes sense from a marketing perspective, but then no one seems to want to buy or sell russets, period. Theyre among my favorites flavor and texture wise, and even the skin I prefer to a waxy cortland or the like. Ive never met one I didn’t like.
Russet apples don’t get sooty blotch or flyspeck which is very nice, but something about the texture can attract stinkbugs. I suspect it’ the higher sugar that attracts coddling moths, but I don’t know. I don’t find them to be particularly poor as a storage apple and nothing wrinkles up as much as smooth skinned Goldrush that I store, but that can be prevented with some plastic protection. Certainly Bosc pears store well for commercial growers.
