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Pears

josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,532
in Fruit & veg
Just curious; does anyone know why an otherwise delicious, ripe and juicy pear sometimes has hard gritty bits in it?  I can't think of any other fruit that has them.

Posts

  • herbaceousherbaceous E. BerksPosts: 2,278
    You are supposed to ripen pears off the tree and when you do the stalk to core bit gets very fibrous. In my experience it is almost impossible to remove completely and so the odd 'gritty bit' gets through.

    Bottled 2k in rum recently and I'm sure the lucky recipients will find a few 'gritty bits' despite my careful preparation!
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 1,490
    Pick the pears before they ripen on the tree and this does reduce the pear grits.
    Our Beurre Hardy pear thankfully hasn't had the grits and it is a wonderful fruit.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,532
    I don't grow them - I'm referring to the ones the greengrocer delivers. 
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Scariff, County Clare, IrelandPosts: 7,434
    Apparently quince fruit get gritty bits too - known as stone cells, also produced by plums etc where they congregate where you'd expect, in the stone.  No idea why they develop in pears left on the tree too long though.
    "The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life."  Rabindranath Tagore
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 1,490
    Having not bought pears for so many years I can only comment on what we have in our garden.
    Our quinces are also ok and haven't noticed any grits in them.
    Long may it last.
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