Anyone know any tricks to getting fruits/veggys to ripen?

[Inchworm]

I had a mango tree in my back yard when I lived in Florida and have missed the taste of the fresh fallen juicy sugarlicious fruits.

I refused to buy in grocery here due to the price. I caught them on sale and bought several. Well, that was a week ago. They have yet to ripen in the window.

Will they ever? Are storebought mangos just crap?

:shrug:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. i hate most mangoes found in the US but the trick is to wrap them and keep them in cardboard boxes

[Inchworm]

7. I assume paper bags will work too?

mentioned downthread

:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

2. Throw them in the wraslin' pit with LeftyMom and LaraMN!

:P

[flvegan]

5. (.) (.)

:spray:

[Inchworm]

8. Ripe- not bruised

:P

:hi:

[Phillycat]

3. Try getting a ripe banana, and putting everything in a paper bag together.

Bananas give off some sort of gas when they're ripe that causes other fruit to ripen quickly - sometimes too quickly. That's why you should never keep bananas in your fruit bowl with everything else.

Man, I am a font of useless information...

[Inchworm]

9. Oh yea the bananna!

Seems like I rem Alton Brown mentioning something to that effect.

:hi:

[eppur_se_muova]

29. So, now that you gave me a "wiki earwig" ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene#Ethylene_as_a_plant_hormone

Interesting stuff!

[Highway61]

4. Put them in a paper bag

with just a few small holes in the bag along with an apple...close up the bag...store at room temperature...check the daily...after a few days....yummmm

[Inchworm]

11. Looks like this is the method

I'm going to use a bag with holes and toss in a bannana :P

:hi:

[bif]

6. If you have a canister of nitrogen around

Put the fruit in a container, inject it with the gas and seal it. That's how theyripen tomatoes, cmmercially

[Highway61]

10. ....

:rofl:

There are times when having a shitty day, just come to the lounge and someone is bound to just crack you up

[Inchworm]

12. Is the "gas" mentioned upthread probably nitrogen?

So.. this will work to turn green tomatoes red?

:shrug:

[Highway61]

13. No...

It's Ethylene...all plants produce that when ripening...some quicker than others

[Inchworm]

17. Ahh- I see

Thanks

:dunce:

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Bananas and apples work because of ethylene gas.

Tomatoes are fruit, so tomatoes in a bag with a ripe apple or banana should ripen faster but I've never tried it. Tomatoes in a bag alone do a pretty good job all by themselves.

[Inchworm]

20. Wonder if it would cause tomato's color to change

I buy them red, but sometimes they come in from ppls gardens soon.

:shrug:

[Gormy Cuss]

28. What most ppls do with the end of season green ones is

wrap individually in newspaper or gift tissue paper and store in a cool but not cold space. The tomatoes ripen over time. If they're just left in a bag or box unwrapped there's a good chance of spoilage unless they're checked every day. Once one goes bad, all that are touching will start to rot and icky mold will appear.

I have a had pretty good success putting green ones in a covered cardboard box, in a single layer with about two inches of space separating them in all directions.

[Burma Jones]

14. Yell at them

That's what I do, damned ungrateful tropical layabouts.....

[Inchworm]

21. I call them names too!

You manufactured fruit! Ripen like your cousints!

:rofl:

[SPKrazy]

15. microwave them

[Inchworm]

22. I actually do like warm fruit

I like grilling them. yums!

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

18. So cool that you asked this question

I just picked a ton of green tomatoes before the frost killed them. I was trying to figure out how to ripen them.

:hi:

[Inchworm]

23. Ha! lol...

look up 3-4.. I was wondering same thing on the tomatoes.

We'll pick DU's brains and find answers hehe.

Hope your afternoon is a good'n!

:hi:

[soleft]

19. Put in on your window seal

[Inchworm]

24. Thats what I thought too

That method hasnt worked in a week. I want mango :P

:hi:

[Bravo Zulu]

25. My Mom fried green tomatoes

she was a good cook and I was an eating machine!

[Inchworm]

26. Oh yea!

Seems like they were breaded? It has been a while.

Welcome to DU :hi:

:)

[Bravo Zulu]

27. I haven't had a decent meal since I left home

yeah, they were breaded, she mixed up eggs and something, cornmeal or bread?

[eppur_se_muova]

30. Eggs and cornmeal. Very Southern. Also used on okra ...

And just about anything else you want to try.

[ruiner4u]

31. Sure... but it involves building your own xray machine...

http://www.noah.org/science/x-ray/stong/


Have fun!

[libnnc]

32. I always heard brown paper bags work well

Put 'em in an old fashioned medium or small sized brown paper bag. :shrug: