how to store fresh pears

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I need to know how to keep pears fresh as long as possible.

-- Loretta Flood (aorlflood@cs.com), August 27, 2001

Answers

I remember a friend of my grandmother's who had a big pear tree in her yard. She wrapped prime pears individually in sheets of newspaper then placed them loosely in a single layer in a shallow box. She stored this in the coolest room of her house. She didn't have a root cellar as the water table was too high in that area but this technique kept them well until Christmas.

When I'm lucky to get extra fruit like that, I store it in a shallow box covered with produce bags I've punched holes in. I have an extra refrigerator in the basement for such things. The holes allow some transpiration but moisture doesn't accumulate. So far so good.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), August 31, 2001.


I've had difficulty storing pears in paper. I think it is because they are easily bruised when picking, depending on variety. Are these the old fashioned Kieffer Pear? They are very firm when picked, but are really not a good eating out-of-hand pear. We have better success canning them.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), August 31, 2001.

I'm not sure what kind of pears these are as I got them from a friend. They are moderately firm and very, very sweet and juicy to eat. They did seem to ripen extremely fast once they were picked. No time to waste in preserving them! I have made lots of pear butter and pear jam. Have wrapped a few in newspaper and put in the basement. Have also eaten quite a few as well as given some away. Thanks for your responses.

-- Loretta Flood (aorlflood@cs.com), September 03, 2001.

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