Forum Index > Food & Grub > Mangos, how ya know if they're ripe
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Bryan K
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PostWed Jan 02, 2008 11:20 am 
Got a mango last night but I realized I don't know how firm they are suppose to be. Help....

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Gabigabs
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PostWed Jan 02, 2008 11:39 am 
Mangos are ripe when easily indented with your thumb. Avoid mangos that are so ripe they feel mushy.

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pimaCanyon
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PostWed Jan 02, 2008 4:13 pm 
the best mangoes I've eaten have a red blush to the skin and a mango fragrance that's heavenly. A good ripe mango will be so juicy and sweet and full of flavor, you'll get the sweet juice all over you, but you'll be in ecstasy trying to eat it. It's on par with a ripe juicy peach, but with an exotic fragrance and more intensity to the flavor. Unfortunately, mangoes at this latitude are hit or miss. Best ones I've ever had were right off a tree in Meritt Island, Florida. If they've seen too much man-handling or cold temps, they may not ripen properly, in which case they'll end up tasting a bit (or a lot) like turpentine.

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GaliWalker
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PostWed Jan 02, 2008 4:25 pm 
Gabigabs wrote:
Mangos are ripe when easily indented with your thumb. Avoid mangos that are so ripe they feel mushy.
Correct. One other method is to buy more than one and cut one open to be sure. Mango color may not be an indicator of ripeness; green, reddish, yellow can all be good tasting/ripe. The reason is that the best tasting mangoes are all cultivated by grafting techniques, so they can come in many sizes/colors/tastes. (There are more than 100 varieties!) Once you have had a good mango, no other fruit compares. smile.gif Edit: It looks like the mangoes I am talking about are now allowed in the US: http://www.indiaenews.com/america/20070608/55333.htm

'Gali'Walker => 'Mountain-pass' walker bobbi: "...don't you ever forget your camera!" Photography: flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani
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Akula
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PostWed Jan 02, 2008 5:28 pm 
Mango's, the best fruit there is. IMHO that is. If you like Avocados, and know how to judge their ripeness, try the same test with Mango's. I look for firmness with a bit of give when I gently squeeze them. The color of the skin is not an indication of their ripeness. (again IMHO) If you do get a Mango that isn't quite as ripe as you want, after you peel it, put the chunks in a zip lock baggie for a while. I found that really brings out the juices. Mango Daiquiri is excellent

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover. -- Mark Twain
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Conrad
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PostWed Jan 02, 2008 11:13 pm 
Bought a mango a week before Xmas for a stocking stuffer. It was rich red & green but hard. It's been in a paper bag (or briefly in a stocking) since then. Finally in the last couple of days it started softening. We ate it today. It was good.

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Bryan K
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PostWed Jan 02, 2008 11:47 pm 
My mango is rather firm. I'll give it a few days to soften up. TPayne got me addicted to mangoes on our trip yesterday, he had given me some dried pieces and I couldn't get enough. I was really bummed when he said he was out and then showed me the empty bag. I was gonna go to Costco when I got home but they were closed yesterday frown.gif I'll get some dried ones from there on Friday after work biggrin.gif

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bobbi
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PostThu Jan 03, 2008 5:20 pm 
i love mangoes........but prefer it on the green side! (weird tastebuds). i was raised on a tropical island and mangoes grew in our backyard, along with bananas, coconuts, avocados, sugar cane, breadfruit, lemons, etc....

bobbi ૐ "Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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Bryan K
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PostSat Jan 05, 2008 1:21 am 
Ok I think it will be ready to eat tomorrow, do I peel the skin? Dumb question for most people, but I've lived a very sheltered life hockeygrin.gif

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GaliWalker
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PostSat Jan 05, 2008 9:59 am 
Bryan wrote:
Ok I think it will be ready to eat tomorrow, do I peel the skin?
Yup, you peel the skin. Various ways to eat a mango: 1- The messy way: Peel the skin and dice up the mango 2- The common way: Balance the mango vertically on a table (applying pressure from the top); slice out both cheeks (try and stay as close to the pit as you can while slicing); cut the cheeks into strips and eat the flesh from the strips (similar to a watermelon); for the remaining strips on the pit, do the best you can... biggrin.gif 3- The ghoulish way: Give the mango a really good bruise (I mean palpate the hell out of it!); then slice an opening at one end and squeeze/suck out all the flesh 4- The best way: Slice the mango down to the pit all the way around the middle in one cut. Grasp the two halves firmly and rotate them slightly until the pit comes free in one half - pull the 2 halves apart. Take a spoon and dive in.

'Gali'Walker => 'Mountain-pass' walker bobbi: "...don't you ever forget your camera!" Photography: flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani
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drewcoll
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PostSat Jan 05, 2008 12:21 pm 
Trader Joe's has some nice dried mango too. I've tried the Costco type but like Trader Joe's better. But compromising flavor/texture for cost, Costco is a good bet too. I only like the dry stuff, not the "real stuff." I used to work in a produce stand where there would be piles of the ripe ones... to be thrown away. (by the time the next day came and they were taken home, they'd be goners) Nice gifts, but I never liked them.

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Hiker Chick
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PostSat Jan 05, 2008 7:12 pm 
chow.gif mmmm... mangos

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Tom
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PostThu Aug 04, 2011 4:36 pm 
Just had to bump this thread to say... Damn, the mangos this summer are some of the best I can remember in a long time! Usually they go bad by the time they ripen to prime but the ones I've been getting at my local Thriftway just ripen to perfection.

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Phil
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PostFri Aug 05, 2011 6:09 am 
GaliWalker wrote:
3- The ghoulish way: Give the mango a really good bruise (I mean palpate the hell out of it!); then slice an opening at one end and squeeze/suck out all the flesh 4- The best way: Slice the mango down to the pit all the way around the middle in one cut. Grasp the two halves firmly and rotate them slightly until the pit comes free in one half - pull the 2 halves apart. Take a spoon and dive in.
Awesome. I was preparing to ask and then saw this.

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Chief Joseph
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PostFri Aug 05, 2011 2:19 pm 
Tom wrote:
Just had to bump this thread to say... Damn, the mangos this summer are some of the best I can remember in a long time! Usually they go bad by the time they ripen to prime but the ones I've been getting at my local Thriftway just ripen to perfection.
It has been an excellent year for mangoes, many don't realize that mangoes are the most consumed fruit in the world. I usually shop at Freddy's, they have both organic and regular, I recommend the organic, they are about twice the size, cost about 30 cents more, but are way tastier and usually riper since the organic are not refrigerated at the store I frequent. As mentioned earlier, color is not an accurate indicator of ripeness or sweetness, they should be soft, yet not mushy. One thing not mentioned yet is that the skin becomes slightly wrinkled when ripe.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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