'Start with your nose': The Fruit Nerd's tips for choosing the best stone fruits

No one knows disappointment like someone who has excitedly packed up beautiful peaches at the store, only to take a bite at home and find they are bitter and firm.

Bland apricots and sour nectarines tend to evoke similar feelings of frustration.

Thanh Truong, aka The Fruit Nerd, says that because most farmers pick stone fruits before they are ripe for their aesthetic appeal and their shelf life, it's not uncommon to see some that aren't as soft and gentle as they could be.

We spoke to Thanh for his tips on picking the best stone fruit this summer.

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Before we dive in, a note on storing your stone fruit.

Don't put it in the refrigerator," Thanh says.

"If you've ever eaten a chewy peach or nectarine, it's probably because it was stored between three and 10 degrees," he says.

To allow the fruit's genes to tell it to soften, it must be stored at room temperature.

Finding a sweet peach starts with the nose, says Thanh.

He says it should be soft, even if it's firm.

"My second piece of advice is to look at the skin, but probably not where you think you should look."

He says most people look for red blush and lots of it.

"But actually there are so many different varieties of peaches whites and yellows that each variety has different percentages of blush."

Instead, look for the background color that is hiding under the blush.

If it seems a little green, this tells us that the fruit was probably picked too early.

Darker yellow or orange skin tones are best.

It's ready to eat when the line, or point, of the fruit yields a little when you squeeze it, even if the rest of the fruit still seems firm.

S' it's soft all over, you probably only have that day to eat it, Thanh says.

Looking for speckles is key with nectarines, Thanh says.

This are sugar spots and represent how bad the fruit is.

"It's actually a sunburn on the skin. The fruit is dehydrated in this area and concentrates the sugars", explains Thanh.

If there are only speckles at the bottom, the top of the fruit won't be as sweet.

p>Nectarine with speckles at the top and below are your best bet.

Choosing a fully ripe apricot is difficult for farmers, Thanh says, because by the time it reaches us at the store, it will be too soft and “almost oozing.”< /p>

"So you're going to find that the apricots won't be as sweet as the one from your garden. aunt."

"But give them a smell, and if they give that apricot smell, it will be good to eat."

For plums, it is important to Expect them to get a little soft, because they're going to be a lot sweeter and juicier, Thanh says.

During the summer season, you'll probably come across 10 different varieties of black plums, Thanh says.

"And the same goes for peaches, nectarines, apricots and others," he says.

"So enjoy all your varietals this summer and even try different grape varieties if you can."