Ripe Strawberries

[jennyjoan]

Recently I have bought strawberries but found them to be tart. Is there any way to find out if and when they are ripe since you can't eat them in the store lOL

[Maydup]

They will all be tart at this time of year. The strawberry season is From May to July, so any winter ones will have come a long distance and picked before they are ripe for the journey. They will not ripen off the plant and best left alone or used as decoration only.

[Buenchico]

My guess is that, if you read the small print on the label, you'll find that the variety is Elsanta. Although Elsanta strawberries can be lovely, many are picked too early and, even though they look ripe, they can then turn out to be hard and sour. (If they've been picked at the right time they should smell strongly, with the aroma possibly permeating any plastic wrapping).

So look for a different variety. The one you're probably most likely to find is Sonata but there are lots of others.

[jennyjoan]

god Chris - you know everything. LOL

Here, I am looking for you anyway.

You know you helped me to locate the headphone socket on my Toshiba TV a while ago. Well I have been trying to insert the headphone again and sound is emitting from the TV regardless.

I then tried some other headphones and the same thing is happening. Any wee ideas Chris. Thanks - and thanks for the advice re the strawberries.

[Buenchico]

Maydup is correct in suggesting that you'll struggle to find really lovely strawberries at this time of year. It is possible though but you'll probably have to pay very high prices for them, as they're likely to be home-grown (or from nearby countries) and cultivated in heated greenhouses.

If you can find them at this time of year, Malling Centenary is a variety that seems to be popular among supermarket shoppers.

[Buenchico]

There's a little prong inside the headphone socket, which is meant to get pushed back when the jack plug is inserted. That breaks the line to the speakers and switches the sound to your headphones. However that prong can get get worn over time and doesn't always function properly. I suspect that you need to get someone to replace the headphone socket in your telly.

[jennyjoan]

right ok thanks Chris - but a very big but I have only used the socket like once and about 3 times trying. so it hasn't been used very much.

[teacake44]

A lot of fruit you buy now is under ripe, for transport, and shelf life reasons, and in my experience don't ripen very well once at home, pears I've found tend to go bad before they've even gone softer. Strawberries taste awful other than the summer months, and then only English, Scottish are tops IMO. bananas turn black over night.

[Tilly2]

I bought some strawberries from the market on Thursday and they made your teeth curl! I simmered them with some water and sugar and made a small quantity of puree. It went very nicely with a dollop of yogurt.

[rowanwitch]

Smell them, if you don't get a strong strawberry fragrance don't bother

[jennyjoan]

ok thanks all - it was I would have liked to use them for making my pavlova but I'll try some other fruit.