For a few weeks, we have been buying regular small boxes of oranges from the local coop, described as 'grade 1 easy peelers' - Spanish mandarin.
Having a sweet tooth, I found them quiet juicy and sweet though not entirely consistent even from the same box. The last box contents was different, not so sweet, not so juicy and very pithy, not nice at all so they were binned. The obvious difference was that they had a lump where the stalk goes, bulging rather like nipple. Might that suggest they had been picked too soon, or simply a different variety?
I think you are confusing oranges and mandarins/clementines.
I think what you are referring to is a "clemenule" - see fruit at upper right in picture here:
formatting link
There are so many varieties these days available in shops simply sold under a big label which says "Clementines" (eg "Nadorcott") that if in a net bag you need to look closely at the label on the bag to see what you are actually buying!
More than possible, I have never studied the subject.
Like that, but with a very pronounced bulge where the stalk went, which was why I wondered if they might have been picked to early - they hadn't filled out properly.
I bought another box/ pack today, these are nicely rounded and lack the bulge - just like the contents of the previous boxes. Yet to try them, but it looks promising. I am trying increase my fruit intake.
But the inability to transport and display bananas correctly seems to have spread from M & S, who have always been hopeless, to other local supermarkets.
I don't like the large brown patches. It was never like this in the days of clipper ships.
Depends on country of origin and method of picking, transport and storage. Some regions are not suited for fruit growing although that doesn't stop the production of such as it seems the only important criteria is the look of the fruit rather than taste.
Or well past their date. Oranges are funny things, as some are just no edible and only really useful in things like preserves etc. I'm told you can tell by the leaves of the tree, but assuming these are all the edible types, its hard to really say, but my guess is that they have been perhaps either picked too soon or too late or left hanging around too long.
The only fruit I ever buy from supermarkets is/are bananas. Then its necessary to shop around to find branches which stock large bananas, as most seem to prioritise small or medium "lunchbox size" fruit.
Pears are always difficult as they have to be picked and transported unripe/hard as they bruise so easily once they start to ripen.
One of the advantages of living where I do, is that there are plenty of ethnic greengrocers, many of whom have displays/piles of pears outside the shop; 90% of which are similarly hard. Its sometimes necessary to visit 5 or 6 of these shops to find the one or two pears in each pile which will ripen fully within the next week. They go straight in the fridge door and are taken out one or two at a time to warm up over the next 24 hours. Which with experience doesn't take that much longer than visiting the supermarket when you know where to go. Same with oranges. But then not everybody lives in a city with the pavements cluttered with ethnic shops I suppose.
Despite experts claiming they need to be at room temperature to ripen, at room temperature they'll ripen too quick and the final three of four will go mushy. Unlike other fruit, pears will also go mushy from the inside out. Outside fine, inside brown. Storing them in the fridge door doesn't seem to hinder ripening just slows it down. 69 to 79p per pound ATM round here
To expect any fruit or veg to be properly ripe from a supermarket is probably expecting a bit much. Years ago when regular customers bought daily from proper fruit and veg shops - as with the ethnics to certain extent today the shopkeepers could buy just what they needed from wholesalers they could trust to sell within one or two days. Like opening restaurants overstocking on fresh produce without the benefit of frozen storage is a quick road to bankruptcy.
The supermarkerts threw all that out of the window. Because of the long supply chains to compete on price while keeping waste to acceptable levels they have to prioritise shelf life. While customers will carry on buying rock hard unripe and tasteless fruit and vet, as soon as they find anything rotten they will be demanding their money back and pictures of their mouldy fruit and veg will be splashed all over the red-tops. Ideally just pulled from the mouth of their two year old tot.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.