Seckel Pears - A Guide to This Petite Fruit

Learn all about the small sized Seckel pear from from what they taste like, when to buy them, and how to tell if they are ripe.

Seckel pears growing in a tree ready to be picked.

Do you believe in the saying "good things come in small packages"? You might become a believer if you were to try out the small Seckel pear! This post is going to tell you about this variety and why you might want to seek it out when it's in season (I will tell you when that is as well!)

What are Seckel Pears?

Seckel pears are a colorful pear. They are considered a green pear but often you will find a lot of red blush on them and even some brown coloring. Size wise they are the smallest grown commercially available pear you are going to find. I have tried another variety of pear called Moonglow before that was equally small, however I have only seen those from one grower at a farmer's market in Ann Arbor, Michigan, so they are not widely available!

The variety was believed to have first come into existence in the late 18th century. It was one of the varieties of fruit grown at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate. He was known for being quite the fruit connoisseur. The Esopus Spitzenburg apple is type of fruit that was grown there.

What Do They Taste Like?

Sweet is the name of the game with Seckel. These pears are sugar bombs. Sometimes you even see them just being called "Sugar Pears". They have a mild pear flavor, not the most flavorful one I ever had, but definitely better than a lot of them. I prefer the flavor of these over the flavor of Bartlett for example, but a variety called Aurora is my all time favorite.

The bag also claims that they are the sweetest pear and I can testify that this is true. They are very sweet. They make the perfect snack for kids. I think everyone will love their flavor. They are my favorite.

How to Tell When They're Ripe?

Here is the tricky part. When Seckel pears are perfectly ripe is a very small window. If they become overripe they are no good. They get a fermented flavor that is very off putting. You are better off eating them underripe than overripe for sure.

The best way to tell if they are ripe is if you gently press at the stem end of the fruit and it gives just a little bit. That's when they are perfect. If it gives too much they are overripe. To speed up ripening, you can place them in a brown paper bag, but make sure you are regularly checking on them to be sure they haven't gone too far.

When Do You Find Them in Season?

Seckel pears are in season in the fall. You will not find them year round. September and October are the prime time for them, but you may find them into early winter. Pears like d'Anjou and Bosc are more widely grown and last longer (in cold storage) which is why you see them in stores all the time.

This fall when they are in season, you can use some Seckel pears to make my delicious Homemade Pear Applesauce. Yum!

Where to Buy

A lot of major grocery retailers will have the pears when they are in season. I have seen them before at stores like Kroger, Whole Foods Market, Meijer, and others. Typically they are sold in plastic bags by weight.

More Pears to Learn About

I hope you learned something about Seckel pears in this post, especially about making sure they don't get overripe (trust me out of all pear varieties I have had, these are the worst ones when overripe!).

Want to learn more about pears? Check out these fun, fact filled posts: