Pomegranates are in season in the northern hemisphere from October to February, and in the southern hemisphere from March to May but may be available at your grocery store throughout most of the year.
When searching for the perfect pomegranate, look for fruit with leathery skin that is smooth and firm to the touch and glossy, dark, deep red in color with no blemishes, cracks or soft spots. If the fruit is a perfectly round shape, it is likely an unripe pomegranate. The best pomegranates have a flattened appearance. When the arils are full of juice, they will press against the outer walls of the fruit, giving it an overall squarish or flattened shape. In addition, the outer skin becomes softer when ripe and can be scratched under gentle pressure. Most importantly, ripe pomegranates should be heavy for their size – an indication that the seeds are very full of juice!
Pomegranates are a long-lasting fruit. Stored in a cool, dry place they should last about a month and up to 2 months when stored in the refrigerator.
After removal from the fruit, pomegranate arils (seeds) will last 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator and freeze brilliantly. To freeze the seeds, make sure they are fully dry before arranging them in a single layer on a lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for up to 2 hours to freeze completely before transferring to a freezer safe airtight container. Frozen seeds should keep for 6 months to a year. When thawed, arils will not be as firm as fresh ones (may be a bit mushy) but on the plus side, they will taste the same! Alternatively, frozen pomegranate seeds are available for purchase at many grocery stores. Frozen arils make great additions to ice cream and smoothies!
How To De-Seed a Pomegranate
If the thought of de-seeding a pomegranate seems intimidating, here are a few suggestions to help you get out all that goodness! Before you start, remember pomegranates are messy and their ruby-red juice can stain!
One way to remove the seeds is simply to cut the pomegranate in half, scoring each half of the exterior rind four to six times with a sharp knife. Then, hold the pomegranate half seed-side down over a bowl, and smack the rind with a large wooden spoon ejecting the majority of the seeds. Only a few deeply embedded seeds will remain to remove from the pith (spongy white tissue).
Alternatively, you can cut the pomegranate in half, again scoring vertically into several segments and soak it in water for five to ten minutes. If you break the segments apart under water, the seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the pulp will float to the top, making separation easy! Freezing the entire fruit may also makes it easier to separate.
To prepare pomegranate juice directly from the fruit, put the seeds in a blender and pulse to break up the seeds. Wait a few minutes, then pour through a strainer. Fresh pomegranate juice will last up to 5 days stored in the refrigerator but can also be frozen for up to a year.
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If you’re looking for tips on how to shop, select and store other foods check out these posts!
