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    Home ยป At the Store ยป Fruit & Vegetables ยป When are Asian Pears Ripe?

    When are Asian Pears Ripe?

    Published: Jun 1, 2019 ยท Modified: Oct 11, 2022 by Eric Samuelson

    Learn all you ever wanted to know about Asian pears from when they are ripe to eat to what makes them different than other types of pears. Also find out when the best time of year is to buy them.

    A display of brown Asian pears at a farmers market. The pears are arranged in baskets with a sample box available.

    Pyrus pyrifolia

    For the non-Latin-speaking person, I am talking about the Asian Pear.

    This piece of fruit comes wrapped in confusion.

    Is it a real pear? Is it some different type of apple?

    Does it ever get soft like a "regular pear"?

    Today, we are here to answer all of your Asian pear questions (if I miss one leave a comment below) that you have or didn't know that you have.

    Jump to:
    • ๐ŸŒ What is an Asian Pear?
    • ๐Ÿ‘ What is Good About Them?
    • ๐Ÿ˜ฎ How to Eat
    • โ“ How to Tell if Ripe?
    • ๐Ÿ’ธ Why Expensive?
    • ๐Ÿ What are Apple Pears?
    • ๐Ÿ™‹ Can You Eat the Skin?
    • ๐Ÿฐ Are They Good for Baking?
    • ๐Ÿ‚ When in Season?
    • ๐Ÿ›’ Where to Buy
    A close up view of the side of some Asian pears sitting on a white surface.

    ๐ŸŒ What is an Asian Pear?

    Asian pears, Korean pears, Chinese pears, Japanese pears, and so on are all the same fruit. The Asian pear name comes from the fruit being native to East Asia.

    The name differentiates it from the pears (Bartlett, Bosc, d'Anjou, etc) that we are most used to. Those pears are native to Europe.

    The Asian pears you find in the stores tend to be larger in size than European pears.

    The skin of the Asian pear is different. The skin on these pears is unlike any other pear I have had. It's very thick and peels off easily. My wife said it was like lizard skin. Most varieties are brown or golden in color but you will find some that are more green.

    ๐Ÿ‘ What is Good About Them?

    The three reasons I think people love Asian pears are:

    1. Sweet
    2. Juicy
    3. Crisp

    Sweet - Us humans like sweet things, and every Asian pear I have never disappointed in the sweetness department. The sweetness of these fruits shines through because they are low acid.

    Juicy - What I like most about Asian pears is that they are juicy, which makes them great for eating.

    Crunchy - The rise of the Honeycrisp apple shows how we like crispy fruit. The Asian pear is meant to be eaten crunchy like an apple.

    A display of stacked up brown Asian pears at a farmers market.

    ๐Ÿ˜ฎ How to Eat

    You eat an Asian pear just like you would any apple and pear. Bite into the skin and eat around the core.

    Or you can slice the pear up and enjoy it that way. There is really nothing different about how you go about eating them.

    โ“ How to Tell if Ripe?

    Ripeness can be tricky with an Asian Pear. In other pear varieties you look for the pear to give just barely to gentle pressure at the stem. Or in some pears like the Bartlett you want the pear to turn from green to yellow.

    The Asian pear does have something common with the Bartlett in that you are looking for the green color to disappear. The green color is more subtle with the Asian as it always appears brown in the store.

    Choose Asian pears that do not have any green color in the skin unless it's a variety that does. In my experience, the more vivid the brown color the better. The most common in stores, the Hoshui and it will taste best when the color is more vivid.

    Really you can bite into any Asian pear that you bring home from the store whenever you are ready to eat it.

    ๐Ÿ’ก Tip - Asian pears can be stored at room temperature. They are best eaten that way. I have had some for a couple weeks sitting in a drawer in my kitchen and they did not lose any quality. To get a longer time out of them you can refrigerate them.

    ๐Ÿ’ธ Why Expensive?

    You might have noticed that Asian pears are more expensive than pears and most apples. Why is that?

    I worked at an apple orchard one fall that also had some Asian pears. We were never allowed to pick them up, that was up to the owners alone.

    For them, they were harder to harvest and they never had a sizable crop. These are the kinds of challenges that increase the markup on the fruit.

    Often, Asian pears are sold by the each, and not by the pound.

    Packages of wrapped up Apple pears at at Costco store.
    Sometimes Asian pears are marketed as Apple Pears.

    ๐Ÿ What are Apple Pears?

    No, they are the same thing. Apple Pears is just a marketing name that same brands chose to use because of the pear's apple-like crunch.

    I personally don't like that name and always just call them Asian pears.

    ๐Ÿ™‹ Can You Eat the Skin?

    Absolutely. The skin is more like that of a Bosc pear or a Russet apple. If you don't like the skin you can peel them, much easier than you can other pears.

    ๐Ÿฐ Are They Good for Baking?

    I haven't tried baking with them before, so I had to do a little research to see if there were recipes out there.

    My thought was that Asian pears are too sweet and too juicy for making a cobbler or pie with them.

    There are recipes out there, people do it. I would prefer fruit that is more tart and not as juicy. I think the increased price point is a turn off to baking with them. But by all means give it a try if you want and let us know how it turned out.

    ๐Ÿ‚ When in Season?

    The fall time is when we will see the most Asian pears, although you can start looking for them in late August or early September. They store well, so you can find them well into the winter.

    There is also a crop from New Zealand that you may find in stores in the spring and summer months, but they will be a little harder to come by.

    You may be able to find them in some stores year around, especially an Asian market.

    An orchard sign that reads Virginia Gold Orchard Since 1990. Asian pears. Homegrown & handpicked.

    ๐Ÿ›’ Where to Buy

    Pretty much all major grocery stores will carry Asian pears at least during the fall season. Costco carries Asian pears when they are in season.

    You can also find them at select farmer's markets when in season. They aren't very common here in Michigan, as I have only seen a handful of vendors that sell them.

    I have found them much more at farmer's markets in California. A couple of the pictures in this post are of big displays from an Orange County farmer's market.

    The best place I visited for them was Virginia Gold Orchard in of course Virginia. They have several Asian pear varieties including Shinsui, Sweet "N" Sour, Sunburst, Autumn Sweet, Shin Li, Daisu Li, Arirang, Atago, and Shinko.

    I would love to hear where you are finding Asian pears. Leave a comment below and help us out.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. EL

      June 12, 2010 at 9:56 pm

      Coming late to the party, but I just found this site. I like asian pears, but the variety matters. The usual grocery store version is 20th century, which I find bland, if crisp and juicy. See if you can find Hosui, which has a slight brandy flavor, or Shinsui. Shinko is also good.

    2. admin

      June 13, 2010 at 7:26 pm

      Thank you very much for your informative comment. I will look at for these varieites.

    3. book-a-holic

      June 29, 2019 at 4:18 pm

      I absolutely LOVE Asian Pears. They are just so juicy and delicious, and I like the fact that they are a low-acid fruit. I have trouble with too much acidity, and that is never the case with Asian Pears. I've been finding them in my local supermarkets. The price differs depending on the size. The supermarket closest to where I live prices them at $2.99 each, but they are a good size and can be a meal in and of itself. Another supermarket prices them at $1.99 each, but they are small. The other day I went to an Asian market (I used to buy these pears here years ago when they cost $1.00 a piece) the other day, and the price for one Asian pear was $3.69. It was way more than I wanted to spend. I hope I can find these pears year round.

    4. Eric Samuelson

      July 01, 2019 at 5:16 am

      Thanks for sharing the Asian pear love!

    5. EL

      August 22, 2020 at 1:08 pm

      I bought some today at a local farmers market in Mechanicsville , Va. Sign said Va. grown $ 1.98 lb. I got two small ones for $ 1.84. Ate one seemed ripe , sweet and crisp.

    6. jbeers4Jack

      December 07, 2022 at 12:41 pm

      My Costco, in Northern Va, has had them for the last week or so.

    7. Eric Samuelson

      December 07, 2022 at 2:00 pm

      Thanks for sharing. That is good to know.

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    Hi! I'm Eric : Father of 4, living just south of Ann Arbor, MI. I'm a reformed picky eater finding a new way to not conform. Eating what's in season is my jam (I also make it!)

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