How to choose a good pomegranate and how to keep it

A pomegranate is one of those fruits whose inside is hard to guess from the outside. A few tests still help.

Choosing

• Weight. This is the most reliable test. Pick up two fruits of the same size; the heavier one is juicier. A light one has begun to lose water inside.
• Skin tension. The skin should be tight enough to hug the seeds. If it gives under your thumb, the fruit is old.
• An angular shape. Perfectly round fruit is usually picked early. As the seeds swell they push the skin outward and the fruit takes on flat, angular sides. An angular pomegranate is a ripe one.
• Colour misleads. Depending on the variety, skin can be yellowish, pink or deep burgundy. A pale fruit may well hold dark seeds.
• Splits. Fruit left too long on the branch splits. If the split is fresh and dry the inside is usually fine, but it should be eaten straight away.

Keeping

A whole pomegranate lasts a week or two at room temperature and up to about two months in the vegetable drawer of a fridge. The skin dries and hardens over time; that is not a bad sign, and the seeds inside stay juicy for a while longer.

Loose seeds keep for about five days in a sealed container in the fridge. In the freezer they last for months: spread them in a single layer on a tray, freeze, then bag them so they do not clump together.

The easy way to open one

Do not cut it in half. Score a ring around the crown with a shallow knife and lift it out, then score the skin along the lines of the white membranes visible from outside and pull the fruit open with your hands. It separates into sections, and because no seeds are cut, no juice is lost.