Acorn Squash is a member of the fruit community. In taste, it is mild with buttery flavor and for season, it is a winter fruit. It is commonly tested for both savory and sweet. You can cook this amazing squash and serve it as a baked, roasted, steamed and many more ways. Thankfully, this is easy to prepare, however, removing it’s hard peel ain’t that easy.
But how to tell if acorn squash is bad? Well, generally speaking, this amazing fruit is easy to store at room temperature and lasts up to 2 months. Ironically, it will only last 2 weeks when you store it in your refrigerator. That being said, this tends to live in hot temperatures.
Here in this article, we will talk about this amazing fruit and the lifespan of it, more importantly how do you save it from spoiling. Let’s delve in and grasp our whole article right now.
7 Ways To Know When Acorn Squash is bad?
The easiest way to inspect between green and orange color. However, there are many ways to determine your Acorn Squash is bad, let’s talk about it below:
Before you are going to prepare your Acorn Squash what did you consider for cooking? Well, it is about the firmness of its skin. If it is not firm enough and you collect it from the farm then this won’t stay fresh and especially not an ideal pick for cooking. On the other hand, the inside texture of this fruit becomes soft when the outer shell becomes firm. The soft outer shell tends to remain fresh for a day maximum so we consider it a bad Acorn Squash.
Soft Spots Will Tell
Many people become worried about the color of Acorn Squash. The lifespan of it evolves with different colors. It looks like dark green with the patch of orange initially and then it slowly becomes an orange color over the time. Thankfully, none of these signs will tell you it is bad.
The heck with the bad Acorn Squash is with its soft spots also, when you slice it in two parts then there will be mold or rot inside. If you don’t get to see such conditions, then possibly it is good for preserving or cooking.
Slicing Your Squash Will Tell
When it comes to slicing this fruit, you will come to know whether it is bad or good. When it turns bad then every time you slice it, you will see the slimy grey seeds inside of it have spoiled. Again, when the flesh becomes dull then you may also consider it becomes bad.
The Storing Process Will Tell
How do you like to preserve the Acorn Squash? Well, definitely the right process of storing it will save from spoiling. Normally, it tends to get bad when you keep it in a dark and cool space. We never recommend you keep it inside the freezer. Instead of that, you can preserve it for months no matter, the temperature will rise up to 50 degree F.
Tapping The Acorn Squash Will Tell
When this vegetable is ready to eat then it will sound hollow when you will be tapping it. If it does not sound like that then it would be bad in order.
Floating Your Squash In The Water Will Tell
Good Acorn Squash will float and the bad one will sink into the water. It is one of the easiest ways to determine whether your Acorn Squash is bad or not.
The Surface Will Tell
Previously we have told you that soft spots on the skin will tell you that this vegetable is bad. But how do you inspect it before slicing? Well, here in this case, the surface will tell. In order to do so, simply check the surface of your Acorn Squash and see whether it is shiny or not. If the surface remains shiny then there would be cracks, spots and cuts inside of it which means it is bad.
The moldy Surface Will Tell
The mold surface of Acorn Squash is okay to some extent as you can cut it out and keep the rest. Because the seeds and the strings of it remain intake. However, the inside boldness means the entire squash is bad.
FAQs
What happens to an acorn squash when its skin turns orange?
Well, nothing goes wrong when the skin turns orange. It is merely a sign of a ripe squash. Before that, it becomes dark green and then it slowly becomes orange over time. In both conditions, you can cook and serve as a healthy vegetable.
How do I store the Acorn Squash?
Not all Squash is required to store in the refrigerator. By the way, we suggest you keep the summer squash in the refrigerator. However, the young and green squash is easy to store outside of the freeze at an ideal room temperature.
Can you eat unripe acorn squash?
Yes, you may eat an unripe acorn squash before it becomes orange or get ripped. Green squash is more tasty to eat as well, so there is nothing wrong when eating unripe acorn squash.
Parting Words
Hopefully, you have come to know in what circumstances an acorn squash becomes bad. We have shared 7 different situations of it and if you go through all of them then things would be easier to understand. Keep these hacks to your mind when you are feeding or serving acorn squash to your family to eat, hope it works.