Will peaches refrigerated in slightly under ripe condition eventually get ripe(in the fridge or when taken out)?
My peaches are almost ready and I have to leave for a week. Don’t want to loose them.
Most underripe peaches will get mealy if refrigerated at temps below 45F. This was my experience last week!
I thought I could park my underripe (yellow but hard) peaches in a spare refrigerator, set at 37-45. After one week peaches appeared fine and slightly soft, but the taste was totally mealy and cottony - like those supermarket peaches you sometimes get. They are still good for drying but have lost their juice!
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@anon89542713 ,
The three pale ones in the front that were underripe. I picked them last week, a week later they looked better and “riper”. I kept them in that box on the kitchen table.
The flesh was a bit rubbery but tasted ok. These had no damage or rot of any kind. All three were in good condition.
Some of the ones that have some damage, I kept them in the fridge.
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You was not away and cooling probably was on when needed? We will have to close the windows and shut down the AC…
Why don’t you leave a dozen unblemished ones on the counter and put the rest in the fridge. This way, you will have an answer when you return.
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As mentioned, underripe peaches will get mealy if refrigerated for long periods, depending on how underripe they are.
The peach industry talks about the refrigerated “kill zone” for peaches, which is basically 33 to 45F degrees, depending on who you are talking to. Underripe peaches stored in those temps will die a mealy, mushy death.
We had a few Carolina Gold peaches, which survived our freeze this year. Most were ready about a week ago. I wanted to send some to my daughter who is out of state, but couldn’t get them to her until a couple days ago. The birds were savaging the peaches, so I just picked them all. The ripe ones I refrigerated immediately, the underripe ones I let ripen on the counter, then refrigerated. A ripe peach can be safely refrigerated.
Here is my daughter enjoying a Carolina Gold yesterday. You can see the peach juice on her fingers.
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Mark,
Your daughter is beautiful. She looked so happy eating peaches from home.
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