When shopping for fruits and vegetables, it’s natural to pick the ones that look the best and the freshest, but there might be a better way to judge produce. Redditor Jackytar suggests weight instead.
Photo by Moyan Brenn
Why? Because heavier produce holds more water. Jackytar argues this is better in the case of oranges because you want a juicy orange. Delightfully named redditor Dungmaggot explains this is a good way to judge all produce:
This is true of almost all produce but especially fruit. Apples, oranges, lemons, peaches, plums, grapes… Don’t select them by their looks, pick them up. They should feel heavier in the hand than they look like they should. If the produce feels heavy then check it for bruises or mouldy bits. If it passes both tests then you’ve got your produce.
For more tips on selecting the best produce, check out our complete guide .
Select oranges by how heavy they are. Heavier = juicier = better [Reddit]
Comments
2 responses to “Find Better Fruits And Vegetables By Weight, Not Looks”
It works folks! This is how I have been deciding which apples to buy for a while now. It’s over two years since I have brought home dud ones.
I suppose so, but realise that if it’s nutrition you’re after, I’m not sure water weight is an automatic guarantee for that necessarily. I’d combine that with smelling the fruit (assuming the produce is at a ripe [enough] stage, of course) – often a sweet emanating smell is a big indication that it’s a great piece, with lots of sugars inside, antioxidants, and other correlating phytochemicals, as the fruit was designed – and I guess visual clues like richness of colour which is also a pretty strong correlator to nutrition, in most cases.
Just realise, that (surface) blemishes (that you know are just surface bumps and scratches – not signs of bug or fungal damage inside) – are the one thing you should be IGNORING and that’s where people go wrong, choosing cosmetic perfection over health – and that’s one of the many things gone completely sour, (pardon the pun) in the modern conventional agricultural produce and distribution system of today: cosmetically perfect, but nutritionally destitute, vacuous shells of what they should be by the time it gets to the consumer. The fact they WAX apples (and other fruits?) is proof they have it all wrong and put other factors over nutrition, which is something ever consumer should be aware of.