Harvesting and Storing Pears
Harvesting and Storing Pears
Pears should be picked at optimum maturity, when they are hard and the color has changed from dark to pale green. They are very sensitive to temperature and should be stored at precisely 29 to 31 degrees.
Wrap individual pears in newspaper and place them in cardboard boxes lined with perforated plastic.
Ordinarily, pears do not ripen at storage temperatures as do apples. Therefore, if pears are stored too long or at too high a temperature, or the temperature of ripening is too high, they will break down without ripening. Often the inside will be rotten but the outside will appear normal. High temperatures are considered to be above 85 degrees for most varieties but as low as 70 to 75 degrees for Keiffers.
