When do you know a papaya is ripe?

[onelife2live]

Just bought my first papaya today..unfortunately I had to buy it inorganic at reg. grocery store because the organic market didn't have any. It's green :eek: and I know green doesn't mean ripe, so how do I know when it's ready to eat? I'm anxious to make the banana and papaya pudding.

Thanks

[fiddler]

Just bought my first papaya today..unfortunately I had to buy it inorganic at reg. grocery store because the organic market didn't have any. It's green :eek: and I know green doesn't mean ripe, so how do I know when it's ready to eat? I'm anxious to make the banana and papaya pudding.

ThanksHow to tell if it's ripe: The skin of the papaya turns yellow to yellow-orange from green when ripe. Once ripe, they will be soft, not hard. They are sweet and creamy once ripe; dry, hard and tasteless if not ripe. Ripen at room temperature and then store them in the refrigerator. You can speed the ripening by placing them in a paper bag with an apple or a banana. There may be some black spots on the skin as it ripens, those can be easily cut away.

The above text was yanked from this site -->
http://www.deliciousorganics.com/recipes/exoticfruit.htm

Cheers,
Gil

[onelife2live]

sucha quick response! thanks for the great tip. :D