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I've read about various techniques to get arils out of a pomegranate, including from this StackExchange site ( e.g. how to peel a pomegranate efficiently? ), but a problem that continues to vex me is the "bad" arils: those that are mushy and turning various shades of brown, and are unappealing both visually and to taste. I find them in nearly every pomegranate I take apart - it's been truly rare that I've ever taken apart a pomegranate without at least a few of them.

Is there any efficient way to separate these bad arils from the good? They appear to sink in water along with the good arils, so floatation-based separation in water doesn't seem to work, unlike with the pith.

In the absence of any better technique, I've just been separating by visual discrimination, which adds to the tedium of the aril extraction, and certainly doesn't feel efficient.

StoneThrow
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    Sounds like you may not have a source for quality pomegranate. I don't see that many (if any) spoiling arils here in the outskirts of Philadelphia. I think you just have to pick them out. – moscafj Nov 21 '18 at 19:21
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    @moscafj - That may be a good question in and of itself: how do you pick out "good" pomegranates? I buy pomegranates most often from Whole Foods; not for any particular reason, they just happen to catch my eye and I'm in the mood for pomegranates while I'm shopping there. I'd have though you could expect quality produce from Whole Foos, of all places. This is also not a recent observation: I've been buying pomegranates for years, not always from WF, and although the % of bad arils varies, I've rarely, if ever, seen a pomegranate with so few that it's not a minor nuisance picking them out. – StoneThrow Nov 21 '18 at 19:36
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    On the topic of picking out a 'good' pomegranate, from my experience try and feel it all around. If it is soft, brittle or have brown spots, it is most probably bruised while handling and will be mushy from inside. It shouldn't be too hard either, hard ones are often unripe and sour. Also avoid those that are very light in weight, their seeds are often hard and not very juice. – Ess Kay Nov 22 '18 at 11:45

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I always cut the skin along the ridges as described in this answer to your referenced question. This has the advantage of breaking the individual segments out of the fruit mostly undamaged (with all arils still in place).

Once you've broken loose a segment, it's easy to seperate the arils from the white flesh by gently brushing your fingers over them. If there are any bad arils around, you can either leave them in the segment by not brushing them loose or you can dispose them into a seperate container.

Elmy
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