Storing apples and pears in autumn: keep them fresh for longer
October is apple and pear season. The fruit bowl is overflowing, but before you know it there are soft spots and wrinkles. A few simple tricks keep your autumn fruit fresh for longer and help you waste less.
Why apples and pears ripen so fast
Apples and pears naturally give off a gas called ethylene. That's the substance that ripens fruit. Handy when you want a hard pear to soften quickly, but annoying when a whole bowl starts changing colour at once.
Pears are also sneaky: they ripen from the inside out. By the time the outside feels soft, the core is sometimes already brown. That's why it pays to eat pears a little earlier than you might think.
How to store them longest
Apples last longest in the fridge, in the vegetable drawer. Cool and dark slows ripening right down. Buy pears while still firm and let them ripen at room temperature, then keep them in the fridge for a few days.
Check your stock regularly. One rotten apple speeds up the others through ethylene, so remove soft ones in time.
Leftover or overripe fruit? Don't throw it away
Has an apple or pear gone a little too soft? It's often still perfect to cook with. Overripe fruit is actually sweeter and ideal for compote, puree or roasting in the oven.
Simply cut away the soft spots. Use the rest in porridge, a smoothie or a savoury salad with nuts and cheese.
Let a surprise help you
Love autumn fruit but want to fight waste? Through YumBite, greengrocers and other food shops offer their surplus as a YumBox. What's inside is always a surprise, made up of what's left that day.
That way you pick up tasty finds at a discount that might otherwise have gone unsold, while discovering new ways to use seasonal fruit.
Reserve a YumBox at a minimum 40% discount via the YumBite app at app.yumbite.nl.