# Underripe oranges **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 17, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128 "2021-03-17T21:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/1 "2021-03-17T21:29:17Z")
Long story short, I ended up with a bunch of oranges. They were free, and I usually have an orange or apple with my lunch, so I took them. Well, most of the oranges have tinges of green on them. And they’re no very juicy, nor sweet, and they’re very tough and fibrous. Conclusion: They’re underripe. I know that some fruits will ripen a bit more when left out on the counter. Does that work with oranges? Alternately, is there anything tasty I could make from them that wouldn’t suffer from the underripeness? . . . And no, Discourse, this topic is NOT similar to [“Are short-lived radioactive materials more dangerous than longlived ones?”](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-short-lived-radioactive-materials-more-dangerous-than-longlived-ones/651853), but thanks for asking. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/2 "2021-03-17T21:37:37Z")
Every link in the Google search says “Oranges don’t ripen any further once they’ve been picked.”, you’re out of luck. Also, Screwdrivers, they might suffer from the underripeness but after a couple you won’t notice! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/3 "2021-03-17T21:39:26Z")
Oranges don’t continue to ripen after they are picked. I guess the best use would be for marmalade, but for all that effort, you probably want to pony up for some ripe fruit. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/4 "2021-03-17T21:48:55Z")
I mean … how bored are you ?? > **[Healthfully](https://healthfully.com/556004-how-to-ripen-oranges-in-the-microwave.html)** > > Find your way to better health. I can’t vouch for this, but the premise is pretty solid. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/5 "2021-03-17T21:53:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, most of the oranges have tinges of green on them. I’m not doubting that your oranges are underripe, but this isn’t a reliable indicator. Many quite ripe oranges aren’t orange at all until they are dyed or treated with ethylene gas. As with tree leaves and their fall coloration, the orange color of the fruit isn’t apparent until the chlorophyll is gone. Sometimes this happens due to dropping temperatures at harvest time, but in warmer parts of the world, it doesn’t happen at all, and the fruit will remain green unless treated. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/6 "2021-03-17T21:57:51Z")
Well, yeah, I wasn’t concerned about the greenness in isolation. It’s just a clue as to why they’d be not very sweet nor juicy, which I do care about. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/7 "2021-03-17T22:22:28Z")
Tough and fibrous may mean “frost damaged." ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/8 "2021-03-17T22:24:39Z")
Lately all of the oranges I get from Costco have been on the underripe side. The supermarket ones have been riper, although sometimes they’re on the verge of going bad. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/9 "2021-03-17T23:42:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And no, Discourse, this topic is NOT similar to [“Are short-lived radioactive materials more dangerous than longlived ones?”](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-short-lived-radioactive-materials-more-dangerous-than-longlived-ones/651853), but thanks for asking. ^ I find this hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/10 "2021-03-17T23:48:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And no, Discourse, this topic is NOT similar to [“Are short-lived radioactive materials more dangerous than longlived ones?”](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-short-lived-radioactive-materials-more-dangerous-than-longlived-ones/651853), but thanks for asking. I’ve yet to see a situation where that feature has gotten even close to showing a similar thread. I wonder how it works, and if it could be refined. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/11 "2021-03-19T20:37:41Z")
I had a thought: What if I dried them? Peel them, section them, lay them out on a cookie sheet, and put them in the oven all day at the lowest setting. Would that do anything interesting? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/12 "2021-03-19T20:40:52Z")
Orange Jerky? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/13 "2021-03-19T21:02:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And they’re no very juicy, nor sweet, and they’re very tough and fibrous Is “not sweet” = bitter? If so, fab, and the marmalade suggestion is spot on. Here’s a foolproof (well, me-proof) Delia Smith video on how to do it: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0ly5Jk-nZF0/hqdefault.jpg "Delia's Techniques - How to make Marmalade") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ly5Jk-nZF0) Only criticism of the vid - the set is a touch too hard. I described my efforts in the [Coelacanth Jam](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coelacanth-jam-a-thread-to-update-the-medlar-chronicles/924830/35) thread. j ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/14 "2021-03-20T00:40:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I had a thought: What if I dried them? Peel them, section them, lay them out on a cookie sheet, and put them in the oven all day at the lowest setting. There are lots of recipes for just that online. Google dried orange slices recipes. Are you sure all the oranges are sour, and not just the single one you tried? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/15 "2021-03-20T00:57:25Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Is “not sweet” = bitter? I have a hard time imagining how any citrus could ever possibly be bitter. And they haven’t all been equally bad, but none of the three I’ve had so far have been very good. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/16 "2021-03-20T07:12:52Z")
Just a guess here, but intuitively I would think that fully ripe oranges are more radioactive than under-ripe ones, and thus probably have a shorter half life. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/17 "2021-03-20T14:42:07Z")
The pulp isn’t bitter, the rind is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underripe-oranges/938128/18 "2021-03-21T12:36:59Z")
For what it’s worth, I asked my mom, the preserves-maker in the family, and she didn’t reckon it’d be worth the effort to make marmalade with all the more oranges I have, but she suggested potpourri.