Peaches are sometimes tricky to pick out. You can smell, squeeze or eye one only to bring it home and find out that it just doesn’t suit your taste. The more you know about a peach the more informed you’ll be when picking out the best one.

Firmness & juiciness: Yellow peaches are ready-to-eat when soft and juicy; they’ll yield slightly to gentle palm pressure and have a balance of sweet and tart flavors. Some peach lovers like them when slightly firm, when they’ll be a little more tart. White peaches are naturally less tart so they are sweet and can be ready-to-eat when still firm and crunchy. Both varieties will taste sweeter and juicier as they soften.

Color: Red blush of a peach is beautiful but, it doesn’t tell whether the fruit is ripe. Instead, look for a uniform yellow background color, (golden yellow on yellow peaches, creamy yellow on white peaches) with no green around the stem.

Ripening & refrigeration: If you grabbed a few firm peaches and want to eat them a few days later, allow them to ripen and soften at room temperature. Then place peaches in the refrigerator only when they have reached your desired level of ripeness. Keep them out of the sun when ripening at home.