water to rind ratio - talking oranges and shrinkflation

[Zeno Marx]

I've been buying 8LB bags of oranges for a couple months now. Some of the best oranges I've had for years. Started out as Navels, but now Sequoia. Never heard of Sequoia oranges until now. I noticed how thick the rinds are, but not until I took my garbage out did I realize how much weight the rinds are. They sometimes are a full 1/2 inch thick. You start out with these full-sized softballs and end up the size of a Pinky bounce ball (hopefully, some of you remember these balls from throwing them against the garage door and playing catch with yourself). If I wasn't so lazy, I'd run a couple of bags through the experiment of weighing the rinds as I eat the oranges. It would not surprise me if I found 1/3 the weight of these 8LB bags is rind. I'll bet money (already am) that this is intentional. It's smart (and scuzzy) to sell so much weight in rind. The difference between them loading up frozen foods with water is that I can actually eat the water. I could candy these stinking rinds, but...I don't wanna. I have used a couple in my waffle batter, but that isn't the point. It's not that I think they're going into the lab and designing an orange that is almost only 2/3 edible, though it is entirely possible, but I do believe they're hybriding this crop to be exactly that: 2/3 edible. I've never seen oranges with rinds this thick.

 

[ftrplt]

The "Cara Cara" oranges I usually buy are much the same way. The damn rinds could stop a bullet!! I'm tending toward Minneola, and other, tangerines. Shrinkflation is everywhere!!! FTRPLT

 

[Timbo]

You could always make chunky marmalade with them. Had a glut of citrus here a couple of years ago and we're still eating the marmalade we made back then.

 

[Singed]

I wonder if this has anything to do with premature harvesting so that produce can be shipped greater distances. For example, bananas and tomatoes are regularly harvested early and artificially ripened to give them a longer shelf life, that's a big part of the reason they have less flavour and grainier texture than local produce. Left to ripen longer on the tree the peels would toughen and the natural oils would concentrate more while the flesh continues to expand beneath the peel.

 

[Natch]

I noticed similar in the slices of Blood oranges in my Old Fashions. I want to muddle the pulp, but avoid crushing the rind, and as the rind's get wider, it's increasingly harder to avoid it. Aaaaah, the difficulty of my life. I think I'll start a Go Fund Me page to compensate for this personal tragedy. You would all help me out here, right?

 

[ftrplt]

I thinly slice the Orange peel before muddling them. I also use a dash or two of Orange Bitters!! FTRPLT

 

[daveinlax]

I picked this monster off a neighbors tree yesterday. Thought I hit the jackpot until I cut it open. What a disappointment. His other tree has delicious thin rind ruby’s but most are very small.

 

[Carlos]

I suspect that orange rind thickness may vary from year to year. We recently bought some Navels that have that very thick rind.