Persimmons

[CrealCritter]

What to do with persimmons? Ferment them?

 

[CrealCritter]

It's kind of weird that they grow best in places where it hardly ever freezes. My neighbor has a male and female tree and her persimmons fruit are still green but are getting big. I'll have to get a second tree. One of mine died. Mine were just planted last year (or maybe the year before but haven't borne fruit yet.) I'm hoping it's close enough to the neighbor's male tree not to need one of my own.

I'm on the northern end of their range and boy it sure freezes here. I saw milled more than my share of persimmon while living in North Carolina. Its hard as a rock and you have to grind the band saw blade to almost a 0 degree hook angle. Really is no longer considered a "hook" grind but a flat grind. If I never sawmill any persimmon again, I would be perfectly ok with that larger diameter logs make really pretty lumber though. To understand how hard it is, persimmon is mainly used as golf club driver heads

 

[bambi]

make bread. It makes a beautiful color and a wonderful flavor bread. Wish I had some right now

 

[CrealCritter]

EAT THEM!!! Some of the more astringent ones are better after a frost. I've been known to freeze them.

So freeze them first in the deep freeze? How long, a couple of days?

 

[CrealCritter]

I don't think I've ever tasted a persimmon. One of the disadvantages of living in snow country.

When ripe they are like a sweet tooth fix.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

EAT THEM!!! Some of the more astringent ones are better after a frost. I've been known to freeze them.

 

[CrealCritter]

make bread. It makes a beautiful color and a wonderful flavor bread. Wish I had some right now

I do know there are basically two kinds growing in the US both wild and domestic.
Domesticated persimmons are favored for food. They can reach 4 inches or more in diameter. They have 4 woody calyx lobes at the base, are quite astringent as FEM mentioned, until ripening around October. Then are very sweet and juicy. They ripen to an orange to orange-purple (the domestics turn almost red) and persist on the trees until absolutely ripe, which may not occur until early winter or after the first freeze. After ripening, the fruit drop or can be shaken from the tree.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So freeze them first in the deep freeze? How long, a couple of days?

I probably let mine go about a week....but never really keep a true schedule. I generally put 'em in one weekend and start using 'em by the next weekend. It's been quite a few years since I had a good haul. One of the neighbors used to grow them commercially - but he passed and the property has been sold.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I don't think I've ever tasted a persimmon. One of the disadvantages of living in snow country.

 

[bambi]

I have never tasted domestic persimmons so I really do not know if they taste different. The domestic when I do see them in the
store are expensive. Have you ever had a Paw Paw?