Apples are truly delicious and many people love to eat them as snacks. Whether you like to have apples because of how tasty they are or you’re trying to eat them as a part of a healthy diet, it’s good to have them around.
However, it isn’t going to be quite as pleasant to eat apples that aren’t really ripe yet.
When fruit is still ripening, it’s not going to have the same full flavor that you’re looking for. This has left many to wonder if there is a specific way that you can go about ripening apples to get them to be as perfect as you want them to be.
There are some things that you can try if you want to get your apples to ripen naturally.
Read on to learn how to ripen apples reliably so that you can eat them at their tastiest. If you utilize the methods below, then you should be able to get good results.
Overall, it should help you to avoid having to eat unripened apples ever again.
Understanding How Apples Ripen
Many people don’t actually understand exactly how apples ripen in the first place. You see, not all fruits are going to ripen after they have been picked; however, apples are in the group that will ripen once picked.
Apples will ripen because they produce a gas that is called ethylene.
Over time, this ethylene production causes your apples to ripen and this is what makes them a bit softer and sweeter. After some time, your apples will become too ripe and they will eventually start to rot.
You really just need to keep an eye on your apples to see how they’re doing and what stage of ripeness they happen to be at.
How Fast Apples Ripen Will Depend on Storage
Part of the ripening process will depend on how you’re storing your apples. If you leave your apples out on the table in some type of basket, then they’re going to ripen naturally over time.
This is what you want to do if you find that your apples are currently not as ripe as you would like for them to be.
The problem with this is that apples will not keep as long if they are stored in this fashion. You’ll probably be able to get your apples to last a few weeks if you keep them out on the table in a basket.
Your apples will also continue to ripen at a normal pace, which means that they will run the risk of over-ripening before you can eat them all.
What can you do to solve this dilemma? Well, the most logical thing to do is to store your apples in your refrigerator when they’re at the right ripeness level.
Apples will keep for a longer period of time in the refrigerator than they will in other locations and you’ll have an easier time actually finishing an entire bag of apples that you bought.
Be mindful of this and try to keep your apples in the fridge so that they don’t go bad too quickly. If you eat a lot of apples each day, then this might not matter too much.
If you’re actually going to use all of your apples within ten or so days, then it won’t matter if they’re kept out of the fridge.
Basically, you need to use your better judgment to determine how you should store your apples. You can ripen them naturally by just letting them sit there and they will eventually get to the right ripeness level for you.
There is no involved process that you need to use to get apples to ripen.
Apples Can Help to Ripen Other Fruits
Did you know that apples can actually help to ripen other fruits?
Apples are really good at producing ethylene and this can be used to your benefit if you have some other fruits that could stand to be a little bit riper. All you really need is to grab yourself a bag of some sort and get to work.
You just place whatever fruit you’re trying to ripen inside of the bag along with an apple. Ideally, you’re going to want to place the two fruits in a sealed bag to get this to work and you can easily buy lots of these at the grocery store.
The presence of the apple is going to accelerate the natural ripening process and you’ll have lots of ripened fruit in no time.
If you want to, then you can ripen lots of fruits using this handy method. Those who are worried about not being able to eat all of the ripened fruit in time will want to store the fruit in your refrigerator.
The best spot for your fruit will be the crisper and you can even find some modern refrigerators that are exceptionally fantastic at keeping fruit fresh.
Getting Your Fruit to Taste Good While Being Refrigerated
Some people avoid putting fruit in the refrigerator because they worry that it will ruin the taste.
It’s true that a refrigerator takes the moisture out of things and that it can impact the flavor of fruit. Also, if fruit is left in the refrigerator for too long, it’ll wind up getting shriveled up.
Of course, you can prevent this by taking the right precautions. Essentially, you just want to make sure that you’re adding some water near the spot where you’re keeping the fruit.
In this instance, it’ll be placing some type of wet sponge inside the crisper along with your apples.
This will help you to ensure that your apples stay nice and crisp while also being fresh. When you go to bite into an apple that has been refrigerated in this fashion, you’re going to have a very good experience.
If you don’t utilize the method of adding water, then your results may vary.
Please note that some modern refrigerators might have special features that are designed to solve this problem. If you’re using a standard refrigerator that is several years old, then you’re definitely going to want to use this water method.
It does make a big difference and it helps you to enjoy your fruit to the fullest.
Enjoy Your Tasty Ripened Apples
Now that you know more about how apples ripen, it should be a lot easier to just enjoy them.
If your apples aren’t ripe right now, then you aren’t going to be able to suddenly make them ripe today. However, just leaving the apples out for a certain amount of time is going to do the trick.
You should eat apples because they can be a delicious treat that the whole family will enjoy. They’re even good to have around for ripening other types of fruit. Don’t hesitate to keep apples in the house if you want to have something to snack on.
Hopefully, you will never feel the need to bite into an unripened apple ever again. A little bit of patience certainly goes a long way when it comes to ripening apples.
You know what to do now and you understand what to expect so you can just look forward to many tasty apples in your future. Let your friends know that apples are easy to ripen and that they’re among the most useful fruits around for getting other fruits to ripen properly.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard.