Persimmons are one of my favorite fall fruits, perhaps because they as such a special, seasonal treat. I know many people are put off by the astringency or chalkiness of persimmons, but here’s the deal: a truly ripe persimmon is neither astringent nor chalky, just sweet, smooth, mellow, and delicious. The key is to eat them when they are really, really ripe! In this post, I’ll share how to harvest and preserve persimmons for winter eating.
The Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and lower Midwest states are blessed with the native American Persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, whose genus means “fruit of the gods”.
They are smaller than the Asian persimmons that you often see sold at natural food stores or in Asian markets, and their flavor is slightly different – perhaps a bit muskier and less sweet. I recently read of someone describing them as “pumpkin meets honey.” The trees are prolific and native to this area. In fact, we planted about 15 trees this year, one of which has just started to bear fruit.
How to Harvest Persimmons
I start watching a few local trees in late September – early October. Because native persimmons do not ripen all at the same time as some other fruits do, you will likely find a tree that is both loaded with fruit on the branches with perfectly ripe fruit on the ground.
Look for fruits with a dark orange blush and an almost translucent quality. It is easy to tell the fresh fruit from the few-days-old fruit on the ground by the orange (as opposed to brown) tint to their skin.
Local lore and many internet resources tell us that you should never harvest persimmons until after the first frost. In my experience, I have found this untrue. I have successfully harvested native persimmons for the past three years before a frost.
However, to avoid any astringent or chalky flavor, you want to harvest only the ripest and freshest persimmons. You will know they are ripe and ready to eat because the persimmons will be so soft that they almost crack their skins! Gently pick them off the tree, give the tree a gentle shake, or pick intact ripe persimmons off the ground; if you use too much pressure, you will inadvertently turn them to mush!
How to Freeze Persimmons
Our favorite way to preserve persimmons is to put them through a food mill like this one and freeze the pulp for winter baking.
In the photo above, you can see the simple stainless steel food mill that we use. It comes with interchangeable filters with varying size holes.
I insert the filter with the largest hole and place the mill above a large bowl or pot. After running the fruit through the mill, you will be left with a food mill full of seeds and a bowlful of beautiful orange persimmon pulp.
The first year that we preserved persimmons in this way, I tossed the seeds into the compost, and the next spring, found dozens and dozens of young persimmon trees in my garden beds!
I simply spoon this pulp into quart-sized freezer bags, measuring out approximately 2 cups per bag for easy use in future recipes. The bags then get stacked in our chest freezer. So easy!
Ways to Enjoy your Preserved Persimmon
I like to enjoy persimmons in the classic Persimmon Pudding (using this recipe as a starting point) and in other baked goods such as quick bread and muffins. I usually look for pumpkin recipes and sub out the pumpkin puree for my persimmon puree. You might also like to try the following:
- Adding persimmon pulp to smoothies
- Folding the puree into yogurt
- Persimmon cookies (This recipe is a winner!)
- Persimmon granola
- Persimmon fruit leather
- Persimmon bread
- Adding the puree to pancakes
- Persimmon cake
- Persimmon champagne cocktail
Or you can just eat the puree as is. It’s that good!
If you live in a region where American persimmons grow, I highly encourage you to seek some out! They are one of my absolute favorite fruits and a true seasonal treat.
Love fall fruits and veggies? Try these:
- Foraging for Autumn Olives
- 14 Uses for Black Walnuts
- Hardneck vs Softneck Garlic
- The Best Apples for Hard Cider
We’ve been allowing the deer and other wild creatures to eat our persimmons. I decided this year to give them a try. I inherited my mother’s canning equipment and gave it away to our daughter. I borrowed Mom’s what she called a juicer and tried to work up our first batch. The seeds kept jamming the juicer after 1.5 hours of fighting the juicer I had enough pulp to equal 1 cup pulp enough to make a batch of cookies. if the cookies weren’t so soft and yummy I wouldn’t have spent 3 hours today hand picking seeds out and running the seedless Persimmons through my food processor to only get 3 cups pulp. Hand picking the seeds is too time consuming, I gotta get me one of the juicers that won’t jam up with the seeds, otherwise I’m sorry to say not sure it’s worth the effort.
Yes, you’re right, Sandy, the seeds can get challenging. We use a food mill to process persimmons. We have one with three different hole sizes so we use the largest size and empty out the seeds and skin frequently. Just google stainless steel food mill and you will find a few options that could work!
We recently purchased a 35 acre farm. Found persimmon trees, and assorted nut trees .I have tried persimmon jam, did not like the final texture. Persimmon pies are great, final texture is similar to sweet potatoes.
I completely agree with you about the persimmon jam. It does develop a very strange texture and loses a lot of the sweetness. My favorite way to use the persimmon is to freeze the (raw) pulp and then bake it in cakes, muffins, pancakes. Glad you found the trees on your property – that’s a true gift!!
We purchased some land in SC, as far as frost here goes all the friut would be down out of the tree. This is our second year here. The first year we tried them a couple times but we’re always too chalky. The branches are too high for picking should we try harvesting from what falls to the ground?
Eric, I only harvest the fruit that falls to the ground. That way I know they are very ripe! I just make sure I’m only picking up very vivid orange-y fruit, not fruit that has already begun to turn brown. An unripe persimmon is not a fun thing to taste, as I just experienced again yesterday!!
We put a large net underneath our tree to catch the persimmons when they fall off tree. Works great and they are ripe when fall
Super smart idea! Thank you for sharing!
Just moved to a farmhouse in SC that has what I believe are persimmons. They are dozens of clusters of green fruit on the tree now (the beginning of October), but a few have fallen to the ground. They look a little like limes (in shape, not texture) now, but I noticed on one that the green outer soft “shell” is fading away to reveal an apricot color underneath. Am I right in my formerly city girl assessment?
The ones we have here are not really lime shaped, they are more squat and round with a “hat” on top. However, they do get more apricot colored as they ripen. Without seeing it, I can’t tell you for certain, but there are lots of images of persimmons and persimmon trees online that might help you!
We love native persimmons. Way better than the cultivated varieties. We used to have to go look out and about for the trees but this year we realized we have 5-6 young bearing trees living in the ditch that crosses our property. This year may be the first year for them even too bear. But I am picking up big handfuls every morning and bringing them into the house.
I am thinking how the flavor reminds me so much of a cross between peaches and oranges. Also thinking it would be great added to pumpkin to make a pie with less added sugar. Anybody try that with any success?
I like the idea of adding the persimmons to pumpkin pie! They are so sweet and delicious! What a fun discovery to find that you already have trees growing. We planted several, but only two are doing well. One of which has a whopping two fruits on it!
This pie is delicious.
Sweet Potato and Wild Persimmon Pie
Filling: 2 cups baked sweet potato (you can sub some riced wild persimmons) 1/4 cup sucanat
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup coconut cream , the top layer from about 1 can full fat coconut
milk, put in freezer for 2-3 hours 1/8 cup coconut butter room temperature
2 eggs 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Crust: 3/4 cup raw pecans 1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup non gluten flour
2 tablespoons coconut butter
5 dates or persimmons 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
.Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. .
.Place all crust ingredients into a high speed blender or food processor and
pulse until a dough like consistency forms. It should still look crumbly but
when pressed together become dough like. .
.Pour into a 9 inch pie pan and press down and around the edges to form
crust.
.
.Then, place all filling ingredients into the high speed blender and blend well. A regular blender will also work, it just won’t be as fluffy and smooth. .Pour filling into crust and bake, covering edges of crust in foil if using pie pan, for 40 minutes. Start checking it at 30. If the pie starts to brown on the top too quickly, cover the whole thing in foil. It will still seem undercooked when done, but
it sets more as it cools. When it’s cool to the touch, place the pie in the fridge to set for at least 3-4
hours, but preferably longer. It will set much more as it cools in the fridge
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing!
This sounds delicious! Would it work with pumpkin instead of sweet potato? Also, I have never heard of coconut butter. Could that be replaced with just coconut oil or actual butter or maybe a mix of the two?
Coconut butter is basically the meat of the coconut ground up into a thick paste. It is thicker than oil – it’s like a cross between the oil and a nut butter.
I live in SW Virginia. I’m fortunate to have many wild American Persimmon trees on my property and nearby. Neighbors allow me to pick theirs, though I sometimes have to share with the bear and deer. I too freeze the pulp to use in pudding and baking. I sell the pulp to nearby resorts as well as at the local Farmer’s Market.
That’s great! What a wonderful cottage industry!
Where can I find a good food mill such as you have. Stainless steel of course.
I am guessing that we bought ours through Williams-Sonoma, because that is where most of our kitchen supplies are from. However, I’m not seeing the exact model there. However, you can find a stainless steel food mill in most department stores. Here’s a model that is similar to ours, with the interchangeable strainers: http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2045340/fox-run-4-pc-stainless-steel-food-mill-set.jsp?ci_mcc=ci&utm_campaign=EC%20FOOD%20PREP&utm_medium=CSE&utm_source=google&utm_product=98768827&CID=shopping15&gclid=CjwKEAjwvb2_BRCb_s7Yo7_ZlHASJABz6L0j2TQMeXKwaj9RwERGN0WMicud_x9Kerrjo5N2NFLxnRoCUgvw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CMOYr4n9uc8CFUaRaQodbkQJJw
The native persimmon is called “ornamental” out west because it rarely produces fruit bigger than a walnut. I grafted one of the native trees on a neighbor’s ranch to produce Fuyu and Kaki varieties. The scions will eventually overgrow the root stock around here, but I expect they will get fruit from the grafted limbs for 20+ years. Might be worth trying in your area, but the faster growing trees may not be as frost resistant as natives.
I worry that a non-native persimmon wouldn’t make it. Even just this fall, we were at 12 degrees for several days. But the native trees do fantastic and make delicious fruit!
We love American persimmons, too. What a great fruit, and they’re free! I so enjoy watching your little ones pitch in, helping and learning on your homestead. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Cathy! The kids are great helpers, and enjoy persimmons as much as I do!
Yeach. We have persimmons in our yard and no one eats them. I sure wish you could come to Texas and get them. I have tried several times but I just cannot ‘like’. Ours all go to waste.
I wonder if you put an ad on freecycle or craigslist, maybe someone would come take them!
I’ve never had one before!! Now I’m gonna go looking for them.
I finally ate a pomegranate for the first time a week ago. It’s a bit shady under that huge rock I’ve been living under.
You gotta get out, girl! Just kidding!
Love pomegranates too, although not as much as persimmons! I hope you have the opportunity to try one this fall! Check out the Asian markets or farmer’s markets near you.
We too have the exact same persimmon tree on our homestead. Our youngest just loves eating them. She waits in anticipation each fall for them to fully ripen. We do have issues though with the deer eating them as well. Thanks for the recipe….would love to learn more ways to use the persimmons. I often wondered if there was a way to either water bath can or pressure can them into something
I am sure you can preserve them, but I just like the flavor of them fresh so much! That’s why I’m choosing freezing. But if I had my own tree, maybe I’d make persimmon butter! Yum!
I got some persimmons in my CSA this week & was wondering what to do with them. I think I’ll make the persimmon pudding! Thank you.
I hope you enjoy it! If you use that recipe I linked to, I might recommend decreasing the sugar a bit. Super tasty though!