Pears should be picked at a maturity stage when they are hard and the color has changed from dark to pale green. Select only perfect specimens for storage. Pears are very sensitive to temperature and are ideally stored at 29 to 31 degrees F. The storage life of some pears can be one-third longer at 30 degrees F than at 32 degrees F. Precise temperature control is required to prevent freezing at these temperatures. It may be difficult to maintain these temperatures in the home refrigerator. Generally, the closer the pears can be stored to these temperatures, the longer they will store.
Pears lose moisture rapidly. For storage, wrap individually in tissue or newspaper and store in cardboard boxes lined with perforated plastic. Pears ordinarily do not ripen at these cold storage temperatures. If pears are stored too long, or at too high a temperature (above 85 degrees F for most varieties, but as low as 70 to 75 degrees for Keiffers), they will break down without ripening, often becoming brown inside, while the outside looks sound.
