My Korean buddy lets persimmons ripen on the kitchen counter, but you have a tree so I'd wait until they were almost ready to fall, and keep your eyes on the birds!!

They're pretty bitter until they're almost mushy.

I eat my Fuyu's while they are hard. As long as they are fully colored I have never had them be astringent. Usually mine are ripe in mid September but this year everything is off and both of my trees are just now turning orange.

I eat most of them fresh and sliced like an apple. I have tried drying them and it didn't work well. Maybe if I re-hydrated them and used them in something cooked to eat.

For me - both the American and the Asian persimmons have a wonderful tropical aroma and flavor when fresh. I enjoy all the cakes and breads made with them but I don't taste or smell any of that special flavor when they are cooked. Not that persimmon pudding (more like a gingerbread) isn't a bad thing, its just that i don't taste persimmon in it, you could be putting anything in there and calling it persimmon as far as my taste buds know.

A cool thing I discovered with American Persimmons is that if you take a fresh and ripe one and smush it up with your fingers in a bowl. Remove the skin and the seeds and any large fibers. Then add in water a little at a time and continue to smush it up with your fingers - it will make a jelly. Depending on how much water you add it can dilute the persimmon flavor but the cool thing is that it is a jelly without cooking or adding any sugar or pectin - just by adding water and stirring. I plan on trying it again this year and adding in other fruits to see if I can make a decent no-cook jelly.

This is the first year that I have had a crop of Fuyu persimmons, and I am not sure what to do with the approximately 50 tennis ball sized fruit. The ones I have picked so far we have eaten as John recounted by slicing like an apple. I know they can be frozen and eaten like ice cream, but I have limited space in our refrigerator freezer. John, you tried drying them. Were you successful even though you don't sound like you cared for the finished product? Any one else have a suggestion?

Not in your area, but we have more persimmons than I know what to do all as well. The common Japanese ones are different than the American ones because they do NOT need a frost. Ours went to market months before a frost

The acorn shaped Hachiya are best left till a deep orange, slightly soft and skin getting transluscent on the tree. Skip the fruit picker, either grab and twist or use a clipper to cut the stem

The hard Fuyu should be a deep shade of orange but not translucent or soft. If you remove the skin and slice thin, they are yummy dehydrated also. We use a food dehydrator But mostly I eat like an apple.

Somebody mentioned Persimmons???
I just drool when I hear, Persimmons, Guavas, Jujube, Kiwi, and the list goes on.
Ralph, I eat persimmons when they are hard , soft and or mushy...Same with Kiwi and guavas too!! Yumm!!

I finished picking my Fuyu persimmons Saturday in anticipation of last night's big freeze. I eat them when still hard, but I prefer them soft - they seem much tastier. I have noticed that if I put one in the freezer for a couple of days, it is much softer after it thaws out.
We have a recipe for pudding made with American persimmons which I assume will work with my Asian variety. Anyone have any suggestions of other ways to prepare them?

Long ago I stumbled upon a recipe online for Japanese Persimmon Pie. I've never made it myself. It seems like the folks in California have all sorts of uses for Asian Persimmons. I've been turning my mushy ones into smoothies.

Ralph, there are lots of different recipes for pudding; some are cake like, but my favorite is almost like a brownie. There are recipes for quick breads and cakes with them, too, but I agree with John- it seems like when you cook them they lose the persimmon taste, and just are sweet. Our favorite way to eat them is simply to quarter them and eat them while they are orange but crispy. I don't mind when they just a tad soft, but no one else round here likes them that way. They definitely develop more flavor the softer they get, but once they get past slightly soft, they are too soft to eat fresh for even me. Those are perfect for cooking with, though. We've found that if you put them in low boxes they will keep quite a while. Just keep cking and eat them at the ripeness you prefer or use them in baked goods. Once they start to soften even a tiny bit, pop them in the fridge and it slows things down considerably. You can also make thick pancake syrup with them. Not on my comp- send you the recipe later. Enjoy your bounty- thanks to whiteflies we had a paltry 5 this year. Crossing fingers for a good crop next year!

I prefer to eat these persimmons when they are very soft. I also like peaches, kiwi and mangos that way, too. I used to find Japanese persimmons on the "Quick Sale" rack at Harris Teeter and that was the only way that I would buy them. Of course the regular price of over $2 per persimmon was a factor, also. I wonder if you could make ice cream with ripe persimmons? If you take a ripe one and freeze it, it gets softer and almost tastes like some sort of exotic ice cream after it is thawed. I will try mashing one and mixing it with vanilla ice cream and report back how they taste together. John, what do you add to your persimmons to make smoothies?

Ralph - I don't follow any special recipe, just whatever I have on hand. Right now I have a ton of kiwi fruit and persimmons. The persimmons make it kind of too thick to drink, it needs to be thinned with some sort of juice. I have a few that are getting soft. I may try and freeze them and see what I can come up with.

Ralph, if you prefer your persimmons soft, you might consider planting an astringent-until-ripe variety for better flavor (e.g. saijo). They're selected for eating soft, whereas the non-astringent (fuyu) type are all about being able to eat hard. I also understand the astringent-until-ripe varieties tend to have better texture as a dried fruit. For drying they can be harvested while still astringent and the dehydrating removes the astringency. This is pretty much all second-hand information, as I haven't fruited any persimmons myself yet, but I've really gotten into them lately, and I've bought and grafted several different varieties in the last few years.

Thanks for the tip. I definitely prefer my persimmons ripe to the point of almost falling apart. One of the local grocery stores sometimes puts their over ripe Sharon persimmons on the quick-sale rack at a reduced price and I love them. Fuyu are very mushy after freezing and thawing, but I suspect the astringent ones would be more flavor full.

Ralph, if you're borderline zone 8 you might also consider Hachiya. I think that's the astringent variety most widely grown in California and the astringent variety you'd be most likely to find in stores, at least of those grown in the US. Hachiya is larger than Saijo, but Saijo is hardier and Saijo also has a reputation as making especially nice dried fruit. Giombo and Kyungsun ban si also have fans. Just Fruits & Exotics and Edible Landscaping are two mail order nurseries with good selections of persimmons. Even in zone 8 I think I'd want to be sure my persimmons were on D. virginiana (native persimmon) rootstock, though.

Thanks, Cousinfloyd. I will look for one of these astringent varieties, especially Saijo. locally since I am interested in drying some. We froze a lot of Fuyu, but do not have any enough freezer space to last from one season until the next.

Hello Ralph, John, or anyone growing Persimmons. I am planning to plant a couple (i guess u need 2 )of persimmons this spring and would like to know where to buy them. You can email me too !! Thanks In adavance!!

Hi Deepika - I bought mine at the State Farmers Market (I see them there in the fall but they might have them all year). They can be pricey because they are so slow growing while in a pot. So a small plant in a pot can be many years old which makes them cost more. I have Fuyu (which is similar to Jiro) and so far they have survived the last two winters with no damage. We are on the edge of where they do well. These are the ones that you can eat fresh off the tree. Keep in mind if you prune them that they take two years to recover, most fruit trees take only one.

sabji, you don't need two persimmons for cross-pollination, not for any of the varieties that anyone has discusses growing in this thread. Persimmons generally produce all male or all female flowers, so planting multiple females makes no difference at all and planting a male generally doesn't give you any more fruit, just seeds in your fruit.

Thanks! John! I plan to go this Saturday to The farmer's market .. will look for the persimmon chap.

Thanks Cousinfloyd! saves me some money and digging holes!!!

I am guessing it is OK to plant in spring?

also how many year old plant should I buy and what is the approximate price?

I do know that they would get pricier for older plants. My query is the break even point of age and cost?

Thanks again!! :-)

Haha You are so right !! Now you know why i am eager to bite the bullet and grow one.

The problem is the ones i see (harris teeter ) are just not that good tasting

If anyone ever has a problem with too many any kind of fruit.... Iwould love to have them (compensation too)!!!

Update!!
They were several ornamental plant vendors at the Farmer's market today.

But no one had any persimmon or fruit trees for that matter.

Update here!!!

I finally got the persimmon "fuyu" variety form the farmers market. Those things have been flying off quickly. They also had a chocolate variety too. M.mmm