navel oranges

[flowerbug]

it is pretty rare for us to buy anything other than the small tangerines/tangelos/whatever they are. very thin skinned and usually easy to peel. once in a while there will be a greener one but even those are sweet enough for me. some are seedless and others are not - i don't notice any difference between the seed and seedless types for sweetness.

 

[majorcatfish]

look even the italians are revolting against unripe oranges

 

[majorcatfish]

dw and i just returned from the store....wow it was a hunt for ripe navels found 5 the rest were green and hard..dw looked at the blood oranges she passed on them. the clementines were small and shriveled ...get them ripe while you can...

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Ironically, I find that, in the case of blood oranges there is and ADVANTAGE in getting the ones that are greenish, or, more accurately, greenish brown. It increases the likelihood that you are getting TRUE blood oranges (I believe the type is called a Moro) with the dark purple flesh. To get those you need to find ones with an all over brownish bronze color and a greenish hue to the oil pits on the peel. They also tend to be a bit taller than they are wide.

If what you see looks like a regular orange with a reddish blush to one side of the peel, that's probably the other one, the one what I believe is called the Tangier (which may be half tangerine). And those are not only not as dark inside (they're a sort of orange with a few reddish streaks) they are irredeemably sour and acidic.

Unfortunately, Sunkist (and a lot of the other blood orange producers) do not differentiate, so you find both in the same piles (usually a pile of tangiers with one or two moros mixed in (I think they use the moros for pollination) Which is why you need to know which is which.

This all sort of reminds me of another citrus conundrum I have every year, getting quality yuzus (a kind of Japanese citrus like a little round yellow bumpy round lemon) For my uses I tend to like my yuzus with a plenitude of juice. This is often hard to find since the Japanese usually are using the peel only (with it's grapefruit notes) and any juice is considered a nice, but non essential bonus. So the newer strains often are very dry inside, consisting mostly of pith and seeds. For a long time, it was a real challenge to find good juicy ones (A related fruit called a sudachi is a good substitute, but with the changing of ownership of my local Japanese market, are no longer available) This year was a good year for juicy ones, but who knows what next year will bring.

I got so desperate I actually planted the pits of some of mine in the hope of growing my own outside (a Yuzu tree can take up to -10c so I theoretically CAN grow it outside here.)

 

[ninnymary]

I have been eating 3 oranges a day for the last 1.5 months. They are the best oranges I've ever had, very sweet. They are from my mom's 2 orange trees in Fresno (central valley). Every January I bring bags home and give some to friends and coaches. They all rave about them too. Sadly I'm down to my last 30.