It is important to select breadfruit at the right stage of maturity. To use breadfruit as a potato substitute select a fully mature, firm fruit. The skin should be greenish-yellow with slight brown cracking or crusting around the individual sections and a few splotches of dried sap. The flesh is firm and creamy white or pale yellow in color. A ripe breadfruit has a yellow-green to yellow-brown peel and is soft to the touch with a sweet, aromatic smell. The ripe flesh is creamy white or yellow color. Fruit that are not quite mature are bright green and bleed a sticky white sap when cut or bruised. The flesh will still be pale green 1 to 5 mm beneath the skin.

Steam

Place the sections of fruit skin side down in 3 to 5 cm of lightly salted water or in a steamer, add garlic if desired. Steam for 15-20 minutes until tender and the fruit can be easily pierced with a fork. Steam longer for dishes that require mashed fruit. Remove and prepare as desired. Cooked fruit can be refrigerated for several days or frozen in plastic bags for one to two months.

Bake

To bake breadfruit, rinse and clean, cut in half and place cut side down on an oiled baking sheet or in a shallow baking pan with 1 to 2 cm of water. Bake at 375-400°F for one hour or until the fruit can be easily pierced with a fork.

Microwave

Rinse and clean, cut in half and place cut side up in a shallow baking dish with 1 to 2 cm of water. Cover and cook on high for 3-5 minutes or until the fruit can be easily pierced with a fork.

Fire, BBQ, or Gas Grill

Breadfruit can also be cooked over a fire or on a BBQ or gas grill. Place a whole breadfruit, mature or ripe, on the fire or grill, turning until it is uniformly blackened and tender. Remove from heat and use the flat side of a wooden spoon or knife to tap the skin and soften the fruit. Carefully peel and add butter or coconut cream and salt to taste. Another rich, delectable dish is to take the cooked fruit from the fire, remove the stem and core, and pack the cavity with coconut cream or canned corned beef. Return to the heat for 5-10 minutes until the oil has penetrated the flesh of the fruit. Peel and enjoy.

Ripe fruit

Bake soft, ripe, whole fruit for 40 to 60 minutes at 350°F. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Split while hot and season with butter, salt, and pepper. They are also delicious baked with butter or coconut cream, sugar, and cinnamon.

Immature fruit

Immature green fruit, size of a ping pong ball or golf ball, tend to produce a sticky white sap, so rinse well in cool running water. Coating the knife with cooking oil will help keep the sap from gumming up the blade. The sap may also stick to the cooking pot, so use one that can be scrubbed with a rough pad. Cook whole or slice into rings or sections, skin and all. Cook in lightly salted water or steam until tender, marinate or dunk into your favorite dressing or dip.

Breadfruit is well suited as a base for a range of consumer products because of its high starch content, pale color, and mild flavor. The wide range of corn, rice, and potato products available could be made with breadfruit. Development of breadfruit products is still limited. Chips are a popular item and available on a small scale in local markets in the Pacific and Caribbean Islands, the Seychelles, and Malaysia. Canned bredfruit chunks are produced in Jamaica and available in stores in the USA, Canada and Fiji. Boiled breadnut seeds are also canned in the Caribbean. Raw and cooked seeds can be ground into meal. Breadfruit can also be dehydrated, freeze-dried, or frozen. Dried breadfruit is ground into flour which can substitute a portion of wheat or other flours used in making bread and baked goods. One health advantage is that breadfruit is gluten free. Starch can be extracted from firm, mature fruit. The starch and flour are used to make breakfast foods, porridges, crackers, and snack foods. In Ghana, research is underway to develop nutritious infant food using breadfruit and breadnut.