Choosing Ripe Oranges?

M

marikay

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I've watched youtube videos, read articles, and apoke with grocery store employees, but I still am not sure I understand how to choose oranges that are ripe.

Does anyone here have a sure fire method for picking ripe oranges (short of opening them up and tasting them before buying:)?

Thanks
 

schultz

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Jul 29, 2014
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I have never looked this up before but in my experience the best oranges have sort of a leathery feel. I tend to pick oranges where the skin isn't so thick feeling and has that leathery feel to it. Sort of hard to explain I suppose :( . Works with limes and lemons too!
 
OP
M

marikay

Guest
I have never looked this up before but in my experience the best oranges have sort of a leathery feel. I tend to pick oranges where the skin isn't so thick feeling and has that leathery feel to it. Sort of hard to explain I suppose :( . Works with limes and lemons too!

Thanks. I do think I understand what you mean. Will try this out today at Farmer's Market. :)
 

Tenacity

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I have never looked this up before but in my experience the best oranges have sort of a leathery feel. I tend to pick oranges where the skin isn't so thick feeling and has that leathery feel to it. Sort of hard to explain I suppose :( . Works with limes and lemons too!

I think you may be onto something. I notice with navel oranges that they generally come in two 'varieties' - one with a tough, thick skin that is hard to peel, and another with a softer, leathery (as you call it) skin that is much easier to peel.
 

schultz

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I think you may be onto something. I notice with navel oranges that they generally come in two 'varieties' - one with a tough, thick skin that is hard to peel, and another with a softer, leathery (as you call it) skin that is much easier to peel.

Do you remember noticing a taste difference?
 

encerent

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I have never looked this up before but in my experience the best oranges have sort of a leathery feel. I tend to pick oranges where the skin isn't so thick feeling and has that leathery feel to it. Sort of hard to explain I suppose :( . Works with limes and lemons too!

Yes thin skinned oranges seem to be the sweetest and also yield much, much more juice.
 
OP
M

marikay

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What did the internet say to look for?

The internet advice is mostly just vague descriptions of skin appearance. The only seemingly useful advice was to choose oranges that are heavier than they appear to be. But even that isn't really helpful. So the leathery skin idea is the best one I've found so far. Not surprising that it came from someone on this forum.:)
 

Diokine

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Mar 2, 2016
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I go through an obscene amount of oranges and to be honest I really haven't found a lot of correlation between the external appearance and the quality of the juice inside. The exception being if they are clearly not ripe, eg. hard skin and green spots. I usually ask for a taste and I've never had a problem getting one :D
 
OP
M

marikay

Guest
I go through an obscene amount of oranges and to be honest I really haven't found a lot of correlation between the external appearance and the quality of the juice inside. The exception being if they are clearly not ripe, eg. hard skin and green spots. I usually ask for a taste and I've never had a problem getting one :D

Thanks for the tips. I can also get a taste of one orange when I visit the market. The problem comes when choosing the oranges that aren't already opened up. My experience is that the oranges you actually end up with often taste much more bitter than the orange you are given a taste of when buying. So maybe it's just a crap shoot and I shouldn't worry too much about it. Still, it would be nice to have some assurance. Oh well.
 

Tenacity

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Here's my report:

I've selected two oranges, (A) and (B), of the navelina variety.

Appearance
A:
Small, some blemishes, some pock marks.
B: Larger, fewer blemishes, more pock marks.

Weight
A
is lighter than B.

Texture (Skin)
A:
Leathery. Feels thin to the pinch.
B: Rough, thick skin. Takes effort to puncture and peel.

Texture (Flesh)
A:
Firm with some give.
B: Firm, much less give.

Juice yield
No difference noted between oranges.

Taste
A
is much more flavourful than B. A is sweeter than B. B is slightly more acidic than A.

Conclusion
Oranges with thinner, leathery peels are easier to consume and better tasting than oranges with thicker peels.

The sample size lends this study some validity.
 
OP
M

marikay

Guest
thanks for the report. i was thinking it might be better to choose smaller oranges and now there is the leathery feel thing too. cheers.
 

800mRepeats

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Jul 13, 2015
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158
I currently have a (literal) mixed bag of organges - some are fine, some are the most un-ripe oranges I've ever encountered. (This bag was pre-packaged; I did not choose the oranges individually.)

Near as I can tell ...
- hard oranges and/or green spots (as stated above) are definitely not ripe.
- thinner skinned oranges seem better than thicker skinned.
- the oranges with almost "baggy" or loose skin seem the best to me (maybe they're past their prime, but they still work better than the above).

I haven't figured out how to properly assess the bagginess of the skin without starting to peel the orange. I suppose I could just test them in the store, leave the partially opened but unripe oranges behind much like people do with corn on the cob ... o_O (Hmmm ... perhaps this would encourage merchants to stop accepting crappy, unripe produce from their suppliers)
 

tara

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Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
Does anyone here have a sure fire method for picking ripe oranges (short of opening them up and tasting them before buying:)?
Does anyone here have a sure fire method for picking ripe oranges (short of opening them up and tasting them before buying:)?
No. I wish. I keep thinking I should get organised with a knife etc, buy one orange, go back to my car to taste, and buy lots more only if they taste sweet. But I haven't got around to it yet.
Even more advanced would be to test the brix with a refractometer to assess sugar levels. Can't see me getting around to that.

I have never looked this up before but in my experience the best oranges have sort of a leathery feel. I tend to pick oranges where the skin isn't so thick feeling and has that leathery feel to it. Sort of hard to explain I suppose :( . Works with limes and lemons too!
This seems to work for me for selecting juicier fruit, but not necessarily riper/sweeter fruit.
 

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