Juicy pears from your own garden taste much more aromatic than imported goods from overseas. In order to be able to enjoy your own pears after the harvest season, you should consider a few points when storing them.

Only pears without bruises and damage can be stored for a long time

Which pears can be stored?

Fully ripe pears will quickly turn brown and mushy if left at room temperature. In addition, not all pear varieties can be stored: Varieties that ripen early in the year, such as William Christ or Gellert's butter pear, should not be left for longer than a few days. However, varieties of pears that only ripen in late autumn can be stored for about two months under the right conditions. These include, for example, the Conference and Boscs Flaschenbirne varieties.
In order to be stored for a longer period of time, the pears must be absolutely fresh and undamaged. A pear with brown spots, damaged skin or fallen fruit should be eaten or processed immediately. Such fruits would become rotten and moldy after a short time, which can spread to the other pears stored.

Optimal storage conditions for pears

Pears like it

  • cool
  • wet
  • and low in oxygen.

At temperatures around 0 °C and humidity up to 95%, pears are stored on a large scale in low-oxygen warehouses for later sale. Although it is difficult to create the optimal conditions at home, it is possible to approach them and create very good storage conditions for the pears.

  1. Choose a storage location that is as cool as possible. If you don't have a cool basement, a garden shed (€24.90) or the garage can also be the right place.
  2. Pack the fruit in plastic bags, such as large freezer bags, and seal them tightly. This ensures that the pears are stored in a low-oxygen, high-carbon atmosphere.
  3. Cut two or three slits in the bag to allow water to escape. There should be no water condensing on the walls of the bag; if it is, cut more slits in the bag.
  4. Bring the pears to the storage location and check them periodically. If you spot a rotten fruit, all the pears in the same bag must be used up.

Store pears in the refrigerator

The vegetable compartment of the refrigerator is the right place for short-term storage of pears. The cool and humid conditions that are suitable for pears prevail there, which means that the fruit stays fresh much longer than at room temperature. Be careful not to store the pears in the refrigerator with apples. Apples give off the ripening gas ethylene, which causes pears and other fruits to ripen and spoil faster.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

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Trees