How to Process A Persimmons and Know When They are Ripe

American Persimmons are so delicious when ripe and not so much when not ripe. What fruit is good anyways when unripe?! Here we share some tips we have on how to know American persimmons are ripe and how to process them, plus how we love to eat them. If you want one of those bumper stickers email us your full name and address at jenniferatthecommonmilkweed.com. It's our gift to you for displaying it proudly and helping to spread the American Persimmon love.

[@kathleenebsen2659]

I had a nice harvest from my wild persimmon trees this year. I do pick some fruit from the trees that are soft and the calyx comes right off. I shake the trees and pick up the big harvest from the ground. I wash and prep the fruit and pulp it. If I can detect any astringency I will add a little baking soda. I freeze or dehydrate the pulp. My dehydrator has fruit leather trays that work very well. I like to dry until the leather is still pliable. I have a wonderful, shelf stable resource always available. It can be rehydrated and used like fresh. I like to snack on the leather. We love persimmon cookies and persimmon bread. It’s divine !

[@thecommonmilkweed]

OOOOOO! Your dehydration method sounds so wonderful. I was so curious if it would lose all the flavor. We don't have enough pulp this year, but I am so doing this next year. Thank you for letting me know how. COOL!

[@PlantNative]

Gorgeous caps!

[@thecommonmilkweed]

I just love, love, love them! :)

[@janetgernand9123]

Have you tried putting the persimmons for a minute in boiling water to get the skin off easily…kinda like how when people can tomatos?

[@thecommonmilkweed]

Never have. Did you?

[@kellyleonette]

Thank you! Very helpful.

[@thecommonmilkweed]

Great! Hope you get to eat lots of persimmons. :)

[@SEPU03]

Hello new to your channel with the persimmons in mind that it loses its flavor when cooked have you ever thought of trying to make it like you would a pumpkin pie if so do you have the recipe if it worked out

[@thecommonmilkweed]

Ohhhhh man! We just adore pie and that would be sooooo good. Pies are cooked too so we haven't tried it, but we do see a very interesting looking recipe in Euell Gibbon's book. The icecream so far remains our favorite. Buuuut....I can't stop thinking about pie now. I would want to make it with maple syrup. oooooO!!!!

[@dixxebell]

My Mom and I put up a couple jars one year...it was good!

[@thecommonmilkweed]

You canned the pulp? How did it hold up to the canning process?

[@janetgernand9123]

I would love to can them! Can you please provide more info on how to do it?

[@namAehT]

Strangely enough, we *have to* peal the fruit from the tree we harvest from. If we don't, the resulting puree is horribly astringent. It's a wild tree so that may be part of it.

[@thecommonmilkweed]

Wow! We only harvest from wild trees too so that shows their variability.

[@pepperreed.33]

Wonderful! What ice cream recipe do you use?

[@thecommonmilkweed]

We use the one that came with our icecream maker. We've tried others, but then we overtop the machine. Whoops! ;)

[@barbarasimoes9463]

I now have six trees. Some are only 1-2 feet, and others are close to six feet high. I am getting impatient to get fruit! I have a Squeezo that was my mom's. I also have her Foley Food Mill which worked remarkably well for currants. I can't wait to try the Squeezo with both my persimmons and quince (pre-cooked!) I was wondering if, after thawing the paste, do you ever just eat it straight up? Also, I was wondering if you ever dehydrated them? When I have a glut of cherry tomatoes, I slice them in half and dehydrate them. OMG, they are so incredibly sweet. I toss them into tossed salad and what a treat! I bet you could dry the persimmons for a really sweet treat!

[@thecommonmilkweed]

Yes, upon thawing, we eat spoonfuls, put them into smoothies, put them into icecream. All are delicious! I think our least favorite way to eat persimmons is in baked items. They just get swallowed up with other flavors, even using minimal spices. I've not tried dehydrating yet. I keep thinking about drying a leather, but we need more pulp first. It's precious!! :)

[@janetgernand9123]

Can you use a regular colander and a flat pestle?

[@thecommonmilkweed]

We've tried many different methods, but this one works best for us. I say give it a go and see how you like it.

[@wolfgang1198]

Are you going to have seedlings available this year?

[@thecommonmilkweed]

I just emailed you back. It's exciting to connect with you. THANKS!