Kiwi is a refreshing, citrusy fruit used in smoothies, afternoon snacks, and breakfast parfaits.
These delicious treats are just too good to be left in the fridge. They are often consumed in just a few days at our house.
Waiting for them to ripen and become juicy is the problem. Don’t fret if you are craving kiwis, but they aren’t quite ripe yet.
There are four ways to speed up the ripening of kiwis. These simple tricks and tips will cut down on waiting times.
Can You Eat Unripe Kiwi?
If you grow kiwis in your garden, you’ll no doubt be wondering how to tell if they’re ripe.
The good news is that unripe and ripe kiwis look very different from each other – so there’s never any real danger of picking them before they are ready.
Kiwis also have a very short season – you typically only get about two weeks to pick them from your tree once the growing season starts.
Unripe kiwis are green and have hard, crunchy skin.
There’s no way to tell if they’re ripe by looking at them – you need to cut one open.
Inside, the flesh will be very pale and firm. If you taste it, you’ll find that it’s very tart.
Unripe kiwis are great for pickling because the sourness will add flavor to the vinegar in your recipe.
It may be tempting to eat an unripe kiwi in its immature state, but this is not recommended – they don’t taste very nice, and they could make you quite ill.
Instead, please wait until the kiwi is ripe before sampling it.
At this stage of maturity, the skin will be much softer than that of unripe fruit.
It should also be dark green.
You can tell if a kiwi is ripe by looking at its stem end – this should have a little color, but it shouldn’t be brown.
How to Determine if Kiwi Is Ripe?
People don’t like a tart, hard kiwi. However, you don’t want your kiwi to be too soft.
How can you tell if it’s right?
The skin on the kiwi does not change in color like many other fruits.
There are two main indicators to tell if your kiwi is ready and ripe: touch and odor.
Touch: Give the little kiwi a quick squeeze with your thumb. If it’s too hard to eat, it’s probably not ready.
If it’s soft and firm, it is ready to eat with only a bit of giving.
Keep in mind that an overripe Kiwi can become very soft and mushy, so this is not the best way to tell if it is perfect.
Smell: A unripe kiwi doesn’t smell like anything. However, a ripe kiwi’s scent will be sweet and fruity.
This is another tell-tale sign that your kiwi is ripe and ready for you to eat.
Another way to determine if your kiwi is ripe is by looking at the stem end.
If you look closely, you’ll see tiny brown hairs.
These hairs don’t usually appear until the kiwi has reached maturity.
Flesh: A ripe kiwi has a bright green flesh with flecks of brown mixed in.
The skin on the kiwi will be slightly soft to the touch and is very easy to peel away.
You can slice them to make different dishes that you enjoy making with this fruit to eat your kiwis.
How to Ripen Kiwi Fast at Home?
I love to eat kiwis, so I always want to cut them up and enjoy them as a summer treat.
They are almost always as hard as rocks. They take their sweet time to mature – usually two weeks.
Is there anything that I can do to ripen them faster? Yes, you can – it’s called ethylene.
Kiwi fruits produce this naturally as they mature, and it will cause other fruit in the area to become ripe earlier than expected.
There are several ways to speed up the ripening of kiwis so you can enjoy this delicious fruit as soon as possible.
Leave them at Warm Temperature
You need to keep fruits warm to speed up their ripening.
It would be best if you did not place them in direct sunlight, as it can cause too much damage to the tiny kiwis.
When stored at room temperature, the fruit will ripen in 3 to 5 days.
Place Them with Banana or Apple
A paper bag with a friend is another way to make your kiwis ripe. The kiwis will ripen quicker if you add a banana or apple to the mix.
This chemical is found in both apples and bananas, and it’s called ethylene.
Ethylene, a natural gas, speeds up the ripening process. This helps speed up the ripening process by trapping it in a paper bag.
Ideal for people who are impatient like me. This technique will make them ripe in as little as 1 to 2 days.
Place Kiwis in Bowl of Rice
Do you remember ethylene? It is the chemical that makes fruit ripen quicker.
The chemical that helps fruit ripen faster is also available to kiwis, but they require a bit more coaxing.
The ethylene in the kiwis is trapped, and the resulting fuzzy, delicious fruit ripens much faster if it is fully submerged in rice.
Microwave the Kiwis
Although patience is a virtue, it can be difficult to wait when you have something as delicious as kiwi.
Heat ripens fruit quicker than heat, and what is faster than the microwave?
This alone won’t suffice.
You can combine this method with the others mentioned above to speed up things.
Turn your microwave on medium, and then add your kiwis—Cook for about 15 to 20 seconds.
After you have done this, you can either store them at room temperature or place them in a paper bag with an apple or banana.
Or, keep them in a bowl of rice. Sometimes your kiwis will be ready the next day.
You should check them at least once a day.
How to Store Ripe Kiwis?
Probably the most important thing to remember about kiwis after they are picked is that you need to store them at room temperature if you have a short time frame.
Kiwis can be refrigerated, but it will take one to two days for them to become ripe, sometimes longer depending upon their ripeness when pulled from their vine.
You may store them at room temperature for a few days before refrigeration, but you want to make sure that the humidity in the room is high.
An ideal temperature would be about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
It’s best to store them in a paper bag to allow them to breathe and ripen while still protecting the fruit.
Once they are picked, let nature do its work and enjoy your kiwis as soon as they are ready.
Conclusion
In conclusion, your kiwis will ripen faster if you follow the steps listed above.
You can make better use of your time by letting a natural chemical do the work for you.
Keep in mind that one way is not better than the other.
You can follow this one and then go back to your methods, but you should try it at least once.
Give it a try, and you won’t be disappointed.
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