Unripe pears

[devlin]

The hurricane-force winds that tore through Louiseville and southern Indiana recently did a real number on our pear tree, and now I've got about 20 pears sitting on my kitchen counter. I'm reluctant to throw them out, but I'm not sure whether they can be salvaged. Any ideas? Can I use them? Or do I just need to toss them?

[tmriga]

Abstracted from Pears USA

"Q: How do you ripen pears? What is the fastest way to ripen them?

A: Placing pears in a paper bag will help them ripen faster. Be sure to check them daily so they don't get overripe. You can also leave them out in a fruit bowl and enjoy their beauty as they ripen. Add apples or bananas to speed up the process. Place ripe pears in the refrigerator to slow further ripening."

Theresa

[theabroma]

The hurricane-force winds that tore through Louiseville and southern Indiana recently did a real number on our pear tree, and now I've got about 20 pears sitting on my kitchen counter. I'm reluctant to throw them out, but I'm not sure whether they can be salvaged. Any ideas? Can I use them? Or do I just need to toss them?

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depending on variety and just how unripe they are, have you considered poaching them in vanilla syrup, wine or port? Pears poach best when slightly underripe, so you don't wind up with pear butter!

Regards.

Theabroma

[devlin]

They're unripe enough so that they won't ripen sufficiently using the usual methods, at least not to eat as they are.

I thought about poaching, but wasn't sure whether they were too unripe. But I'm thinking that's probably the best option.

Thanks folks.

[Kerry Beal]

I found instead of poaching directly that putting them in a vacuum sealer bag with a small amount of whatever flavouring you want (I used roobois provence tea) then placing the bag in your slow cooker on the lowest heat for a couple of hours - makes really nice poached pears without having to use a whole lot of liquid. See link here.

[Tri2Cook]

You could pickle them or do a chutney or relish with them.

[Kim Shook]

My grandmother's recipe for pear preserves works just fine with unripe pears as long as they still taste ok.

[Peter the eater]

I prefer ripe and over-ripe fruits most of the time, but occasionally the younger fruit is better. There's really nothing to lose since they're on your counter already -- why not experiment?

Simmer some chunks in a fortified wine like a Ruby Port. Add sugar, molasses, nutmeg, whatever. Send it through a food mill and you'll have a nice condiment even if you can't taste the pears.

Firm fruit can be very nice off the gas grill or barbecue.

Make a soup . . . with crumbled blue cheese!

[SusanGiff]

After your pears have ripened up a couple more days, this recipe for pear bread should take care of some of them:

http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/coo...pear_bread.html

It's tasty--a really good fall breakfast/snack/dessert bread. I'm not crazy about the buttermilk drizzle, although it feels very Southern and gives it that good granny look.

[devlin]

Y'all folks are great. Thanks. Those are all great ideas.

[Shel_B]

Last night I discovered that the microwave does a great job of softening (ripening?) hard pears.  Many of us, I'm sure, have grabbed some pears at the market that were hard as rocks with the thought of letting them ripen at home for a few days.  Well, Toots brought home some of those rock pears, and I wanted an edible pear for dessert last night.  So, on a whim, I put one of those sukkas into the microwave and zapped it on high for a total of one minute - two 30 second bursts.  Bingo! one nice, tender, "ripe" pear.  YMMV wrt time ... but give it a try.  BTW, I tried a second pear this afternoon, and 90 seconds proved to be too much.

[rotuts]

another way to look at this is to choose pears and any stone fruit a bit more carefully:

 

test the bottom ( non-stem ) side w a finger, gently.  it if give a bit, it will ripen well on its own.  there are ways to assist this etc.

 

but some of the very best 'cooked' pear flashy desserts require a harder pear to begin with.