Hi Everyone!

I feel kinda silly asking this, but someone brought me a big huge sack of green apples, and I don't know how to tell they are ripe! (Well besides eating them of course, which I did last night...I could barely even cut the darn things, and they were incredibly tart!)

I'd heard about sticking fruits in a paper bag and putting them in a window sill, so I tried that, and the only real difference seems to be that they now have these tiny lighter-colored little bubbly-looking circles on them...(Where the sun hit I'm guessing?)

Is there any good way to tell if a Green Apple is ripe?

Thanks!

~Jennifer

I think taste and smell are the main way to tell if a green apple is ripe.

Some (all? most?) apples can be ripened by a cold spell or a little frost. You could try putting some in the fridge and/or freezing some over night and seeing how they are in a couple of days. Let me know how it works out if you try it.

Ian.

Apples are apples. You can tell by smell, touch, and taste if the apple is ripe.

I love Granny Smith apples. They are a green as can be. They are firm, sweet, tart, and sometimes sour. Depending on the kind of apple you have, that will determine if the apples really are green or they just are unripe. I imagine yours are green at maturity, too. If the flesh looks like a unripe apple, i.e. the inside is rock hard, the flesh is very tight, the inside is not very juicy, it's likely that it's not ripe.

If it is ripe, the flesh will give a bit but not as much as if the apple is rotten.

I guess it's comparable to an avocado or papaya. When you press your thumb against the flesh, you know when it is ripe when it gives a little.

Putting apples in brown paper bags and letting it sit out for a couple of days helps ripen them if they aren't ripe yet.

Your description sounds like you have a Granny Smith apple but I could be wrong. Why don't you ask the people who gave you the apples what kind they are?

I love Granny Smith apples juiced with some juice lemon in it. It's marvelous.

Good luck!
Therese

There are no ripe green apples; granny smith's and the like turn yellow when they are ripe.

Thanks, I thought it was TOOO green!

Thanks!

Yeah, Granny Smiths are basically very unripe apples. That is why they are so acidic and the skin is so thick.

Um no, "Dream Earth" and "Learning to Fly," those aren't true! Granny Smiths (without the apostrophe, "Dream" aren't just unripe red or yellow apples. They are still very green when ripe (not yellow like Golden Delicious), and they are still tart when ripe, but just not as tart as unripe apples of any type.

They don't sell unripe apples or tomatoes in most grocery stores like they do sell unripe bananas.



dream earth Wrote:
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> There are no ripe green apples; granny smith's and
> the like turn yellow when they are ripe.



learningtofly Wrote:
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> Yeah, Granny Smiths are basically very unripe
> apples. That is why they are so acidic and the
> skin is so thick.

Green apples are supposed to be tart. Granny Smith apples are a unique variety; it is rare to see unripe, green Golden Delicious apples, which do ripen to yellow sweetness. Yours do not appear to be Golden Delicious based on what is happening to them upon standing, VirtualVegGrrl.

If you are in North America and the apples were picked here recently, your green apples are ripe.