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Kiwifruit is best when vine-ripened, but certain varieties taste just as good when they're ripened at home. The trick is to choose a good kiwi to begin with. After that, you just set it on your kitchen counter and wait for the kiwi to reach its juicy, flavorful peak. See Step 1 to learn how to ripen a kiwi the right way.
Steps
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Choose unblemished kiwi fruit. Look for a kiwi that doesn't have any dark spots or tears in the skin. Feel the kiwi and choose one that's firm to the touch.
- Most kiwi fruit varieties that you find in the grocery store ripen perfectly fine off the vine.
- If you're growing your own kiwi and want to know how to ripen them, check into the variety you have to determine whether you should leave your fruit on the vine til it's ripe or harvest it while it's hard.
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Check the seeds. If you have a lot of fruit to spare, cut one open and look at the seeds. A kiwi won't ripen if its seeds are still green or yellow - they must be black. Black seeds indicate the kiwi has enough sugar to ripen properly. [1] X Research sourceAdvertisement
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Put the kiwi fruit in the refrigerator until you're ready to ripen them. Hard kiwis will last in the refrigerator for at least 4 months. [2] X Research source Store kiwis alone so they don't come into contact with fruits that make ethylene, the gas that causes fruit to ripen.
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Set out the kiwis you want to ripen at room temperature. Place them in a bowl on your countertop and simply wait a few days. The fruit will ripen in 3 to 5 days if stored at room temperature.
- Don't put the kiwis in direct sunlight. This could cause them to become discolored or rot too quickly.
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Speed up ripening by exposing the kiwifruit to ethylene. Set the kiwifruit next to an apple, banana, or pear. This exposes the kiwis to ethylene produced by the other fruits. Keep the ripening kiwis out of sunlight and away from heat sources.
- To make the kiwi fruit ripen even faster, put it in a paper bag or a vented plastic bag along with an apple, banana, or pear. Store the bag at room temperature for 1 or 2 days.
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Test the kiwifruit for ripeness by pressing with your thumb. The fruit is ripe if it yields to slight pressure. A kiwi that's ready to eat is plump and fragrant.
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Eat the ripe kiwis quickly. Make sure to eat them when they're at their peak - otherwise, they'll start to rot.
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Keep ripened Kiwi fruit in the refrigerator for as long as 7 days. You can extend the storage time for another week if you refrigerate them in a plastic bag. The bag lessens dehydration and prolongs freshness.
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Freeze whole kiwi fruit. Simply place whole kiwis in a freezer-safe container and store them in the freezer for several months.
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Freeze sliced kiwi fruit. Kiwi slices make great garnishes or additions to smoothies and other healthy treats. If you have extra kiwis on hand, you can slice them up and freeze them.
- Slice the kiwis and sprinkle sugar on the slices to keep them firm and flavorful.
- Put the sugared kiwi slices on a cookie sheet and slide the sheet into the freezer.
- Transfer the frozen kiwi slices from the cookie sheet into plastic freezer bags. Store them in the freezer.
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Expert Q&A
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QuestionWhat parts of a kiwi am I able to safely eat?Marrow Private Chefs are based in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. It is a chefs’ collaborative comprised of an ever-growing number of chefs and culinary professionals. Though regionally influenced primarily by coastal, traditional southern, cajun, and creole styles and flavors, the chefs at Marrow have a solid background in all types of cuisine with over 75 years of combined cooking experience.You can safely eat the whole thing, but the skin isn’t particularly enjoyable, so it is common to peel it before eating.
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QuestionAre hard kiwi fruit sour?Community AnswerYes, they are.
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QuestionCan I eat the skin of a kiwi?Community AnswerYes, the whole thing is edible.
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Tips
- Kiwis must be exposed to ethylene gas after picking to start the ripening process that consumers complete after bringing them home. If the growers and shippers don't begin to ripen the fruit, the starches aren't converted to sugars quickly enough and the fruit shrivels.Thanks
- Kiwi fruit are good sources of vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, and copper. Kiwi fruits have few calories, are high in fiber, and contain no fat or sodium.Thanks
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Things You'll Need
- Kiwi fruit
- Plastic bags
- Banana, apple or pear
- Paper bags
- Sugar
- Cookie sheet
- Freezer bags
Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about preparing food, check out our in-depth interview with Marrow Private Chefs .
References
About This Article
Article Summary
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To ripen kiwi fruit, start by making sure you buy kiwis that are unblemished and firm to the touch for best results. Then, place the kiwi fruit in a bowl on a countertop and wait 3-5 days for them to ripen. To speed up ripening, place the kiwi fruit next to an apple, banana, or pear, which will expose them to ethylene. To check if your kiwi fruit are ripe, press your thumb against one to see if it gives under the pressure. When they're ripe, eat them quickly so they don't rot. For advice on storing kiwi fruit in the fridge and freezer, keep reading!
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Reader Success Stories
- "I kept wondering why local grocers were selling the kiwis so green. I figured I would look up how to ripen them. Since there is a process, that must be why growers think consumers will buy them unripened." ..." more
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"I kept wondering why local grocers were selling the kiwis so green. I figured I would look up how to ripen them. Since there is a process, that must be why growers think consumers will buy them unripened."
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"I got a great deal on 2 lbs of kiwi, but none were ripe. This helped me ripen some faster and slow some down so I didn't have to eat them all at same time. Love the info that they can be frozen also!"
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"Thanks so much. This was a great help. I won't cut each fruit open to see if the seeds are black and thus able to ripen, though, as I suspect this would open the fruit to decomposition."
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"I didn't know that I could put other fruit that I already had along with the kiwi to speed up the process, or that they could last so long in the fridge and freezer. Thanks!"
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"Learned how to ripen kiwis on the vine in the UK. Didn't realize the seeds had to be black to be successful, great tip to cut one open to find out."
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