Plums are a delicious fruit that grows on trees. They grow in a variety of colors including red, yellow, purple, and black. They are a part of the stone fruit family because of the stone like seed in the middle of the fruit that is surrounded by soft, sweet or tart flesh. Plums can be round or more oval in shape and have somewhat of a point on the end opposite from the stem. But the trickiest part is how to choose a plum.
It can be a challenge to determine the ripeness of fresh stone fruit, such as plums. You want them to be firm and sweet, but not wrinkled and over ripe to the point of being pithy. The thing about plums is you never know what quite to expect. When you sink your teeth in, will the taste be sweet? Or will it be tart? And, you don’t want to be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Here Are Our Thoughts On How To Best Choose A Plum:
1. Choose plums that have a smooth, firm skin, with no cracks.
2. If you’re shopping for dark red plums, look for ones that have a natural bloom which is the powdery cast on them. If it’s still there, it means that they’ve been minimally handled.
3. Look for plums that are slightly soft at the stem, but otherwise quite firm. They will soften up when you bring them home and they begin to ripen.
4. We’ve heard it said that if you sniff the end of the plum opposite the stem, it should have a fruity aroma if it’s a sweet one.
How To Prepare Plums:
Wash with cold water before eating. We recommend room temperature plums for eating them out of hand.
How To Store Plums:
Remove plums for any plastic grocery bags and store in an uncovered bowl on the counter at room temperature. If you want to ripen plums more quickly, place them in a clean, brown paper bag with a few holes punched and store them at room temperature to ripen. Fully ripe plums will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
