# Will no one rid me of this turbulent peach?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937 "2010-07-16T16:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/1 "2010-07-16T16:51:30Z")
Or, how come I keep bringing home crappy peaches? Seriously, for the last 2-3 years or so I’d guess that at least 90% of the peaches we buy and bring home have been of that dry, mealy, mushy sort that are just nasty. I love good peaches - the kind that are juicy and firm and great. I don’t know what’s going on. It’s been independent of where or when we get them. We’re in Vermont, not exactly peach territory, but still. Has anyone else noticed this lately? How do I ensure that the peaches I buy are going be worth it? Incidentally, the nasty dry peaches still make dandy homemade peach ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/2 "2010-07-16T17:03:04Z")
Alas, you gotta get 'em at an orchard stand or a farmer’s market. Supermarket peaches and other fruit are bred for stability in shipping, not flavor. Check out your local yelp postings to see if you have a farm stand within driving distance. And if you find good fruit thereat, buy a whole flat. It’ll all get eaten, I guarantee. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/3 "2010-07-16T17:06:19Z")
Smell the peach before you buy it. If it doesn’t smell like a peach then, it’s not going to taste like a peach later. ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/4 "2010-07-16T17:22:57Z")
Yep - you need to find a local farmer’s market and then ask when the peaches were picked. You don’t want a peach that was picked before July; the ones you get in the store were most likely picked green for shipping. The longer the peach is on the tree, the jucier it is. Living in Vermont, you may have to order your peaches online and have them shipped. Living in Tennessee, I just walk out to my backyard and pick them off my peach trees! ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/5 "2010-07-16T17:39:29Z")
There’s about a 2 week window where supermarket peaches are worth getting, and I live very near a peach growing area. Oh well. I always use the “smell test” twickster mentioned. No smell, not worth getting. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/6 "2010-07-16T18:19:23Z")
Yep, farmer’s market or farm stand. Grocery store peaches = blech. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/7 "2010-07-16T19:07:16Z")
Smell the farmstand peaches also. I’ve gotten burned there as well. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/8 "2010-07-16T19:26:59Z")
Where do you live? Makes all the difference in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/9 "2010-07-16T19:47:07Z")
Sigh. OK, well, yes, ideally I’d be able to stroll down to Farmer Jones’s Ye Olde Fruite Stande and watch him pick a peach at the height of ripeness off the tree and hand it to me and wait for me to bite into it and confirm its majesty, but, _as I said in the first post, Zsofia_\*, I live in Vermont. That means that (a) although we do have an abundance of farm stands, none of them are going to feature peaches that were grown anywhere nearby, and (b), well actually I don’t think I have a (b). Oh, wait, yeah. Now I remember. We actually do shop at a little store not far from us that generally has amazingly wonderful produce for dirt-cheap prices. It’s a great place. Except even their peaches are risky. So what I’m asking is, given as a starting point a pile of peaches from some indeterminate source, how does one go about determining which, if any, are worthy of my time and money and deserve a place at home in my fruit bowl? Sniffing. I’ve got sniffing so far, and I’ll give that a shot. Any other sage words of advice? \*Snarky tone throughout post intended purely for entertainment purposes. No offense meant to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/10 "2010-07-16T20:20:31Z")
Last summer, we bought some peaches from Costco that were wonderful. Best peaches I’ve ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/11 "2010-07-16T20:39:19Z")
sorry, didn’t notice. vemonters are fucked. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/12 "2010-07-16T21:13:46Z")
Maybe I’m weird, but I grew to like hard supermarket peaches. I like them to be freestone peaches that are firm enough that you can cut down the middle and twist them to separate the halves. I then cut those into quarters. I know that the ideal peach is one that’s so ripe that the juice drips down your mouth and your arm, but it’s so messy. I like my peaches neater than that. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/13 "2010-07-16T21:26:43Z")
If you want to go this route, you can order them online as well. [Here](http://shop.durbinfarms.info/product.sc?productId=34&categoryId=27) is an excellent purveyor of peaches from my neck of the woods. They’ve been quite good this year. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-peach/546937/14 "2010-07-16T23:07:55Z")
There are what one would think are decent peaches in the grocery store now. I gave a few the sniff test, but no go, and they were all hard and cold right out of a refrigerator. (the strange thing was, I was attracted by the divine smell of ripe peaches - maybe the store is spraying eau de fresh peach around). I bought a couple, I’ll try leaving them on the counter for a day or two to soften up, but before they rot. It’s a dicey situation.