There are signs of bad quality in grapes, and it's important to know if they've gone bad.
If you choose carefully, grapes add a burst of color and a sweet flavor to many dishes.Whether you're popping them into your mouth as a snack, making your own juice or pepping up your fruit salad, the quality of the grapes you use matters.If you want to get prime flavor, you need to harvest grapes at their peak or buy them from a supplier.What you see is what you get when grapes are cut from the vine.The size, color and firmness of the grapes will tell you what you need to know.You should taste the grapes before you bring them home.
Ripe grapes are either blue, red or light green.If you don't want to harvest dark green grapes, leave them on the vine a bit longer.The "green" grapes are actually white grapes.When the grapes turn a light chartreuse, they are ripe.If a grape is turning brown, it's either going bad or it didn't get the right amount of vitamins while it was growing.Dark green grapes are a better choice than brown ones.There is a uniform color across the grapes.The grapes are getting the same amount of vitamins if they are different colors.Some of the grapes will taste good but others won't.When choosing grapes, don't look for color alone, because some grapes get their final color before they are ripe.
There is a white coating on grapes in the vineyard.This bloom is harmless to eat and perfectly natural, it protects the grapes from premature losing of their moisture and beginning to decay.The bloom gets wiped away as customers and store employees handle the grapes.Pick the grapes that have the most juice in the grocery store.The grapes that still have their bloom are likely older and not as fresh because they lack this powdery coating.
There isn't a standard grape size.The sizes of the grapes shouldn't vary across the bunch.You don't need to memorize grape sizes in order to choose tasty grapes.Look for consistency.The grapes in a bunch should be the same size.Size variations within a single bunch indicate a weak or struggling plant that was unable to support all of its fruit with equal nutrition.When looking at supermarket shelves or standing in your own vineyard, choose grape bunches with consistently sized grapes as these will likely have the best flavor.