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How To Buy Grocery Produce
1. Good produce weighs more than you expect.
Take 5 of anything of the same size, preferably medium. Grab each one and gently hold it in the palm of your hand. Pick the heaviest feeling one. There is no need to squeeze or dig into it.
2. Good produce smells good.
Sniff the stem end of a fruit. It should smell appetizing like the fruit. If you don’t smell anything and especially if it feels light, it means it is mealy and dry. If you smell fermentation, pass it by. This, along with technique 1, is an especially good tip for melons and pineapple.
3. Good produce has a firm cut end.
The stem or cut end should be firm, not soft or slimy or with weird colors. It can have a little bit of soil on it, but if it’s filthy, pass it by.
Side tip for corn: feel the tip through the husk. You want the fatter, less pointed tip. Very pointy tips mean the ear hasn’t filled out yet.
4. Good produce is not the biggest.
Try to pick medium, medium-small sized fruit in the bin, not the largest. All the good stuff the plant puts in the fruit – sugars, acids, fragrances, flavors, secondary plant products, water- it seems like the plant will put in a certain amount, but no more. The good stuff in the larger sized fruit is diluted, spread out. While in the medium or small-sized fruit, the good stuff is concentrated.
5. Good produce ripens with its friends.
Check the bottom of the basket. Many fruits ripen in the presence of ethylene gas, and that ripe fruit produces more ethylene gas. Baskets and bins often produce an enclosed space so that the fruit at the bottom of the bin or basket gets a bigger whiff of ethylene and therefore ripens faster.
Side tip: Aim for the middle of the bin for produce that you may want to eat that night. Middle of the bin tip seems to work best for berries, citrus, bananas, and apples, and should be applied after all the other tips.
A word or two about the classic, “buy soft, when the flesh yields to gentle pressure.” Good advice for buying ripe stone fruits and tomatoes. However, there are two caveats: 1) after the sixth person submits the fruit to “gentle pressure” I guarantee you that it will be soft, but not in a delectable way, or 2) you’ve picked ripe produce. If you buy 6-7 ripe pieces of produce, you are committed to eating them within 2-3 days.
A good juicy peach will be slightly soft, not mushy, but if you squeeze it there should be a noticeable give. It should smell good, to.
Avocados are best when their flesh is slightly soft. If you get several that are under-ripe, put them in a paper bag with an apple. The gas (ethylene) that the apple emits will help any fruits ripen, including tomatoes and avocados.
Taken from http://baselle.savingadvice.com/2007/04/20/how-to-buy-grocery-produce_25129
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