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Hello all, I have some eggplants that have a few fruit on them and was wondering when to harvest? These are the black beauty variety. I know I read that your suppose to harvest before the loose there shine and turn dull? Is this the rule of thumb? I enclosed some pictures of my eggplant. Thanks everyone.

Bottom line, eggplants are harvested immature, before the seeds develop and harden, regardless of size. Sometimes they don’t get as big as they are supposed to, but begins to mature due to stress, etc. and you’d better harvest if you want to eat it.

I haven’t grown Black Beauty variety before so I’m not sure, but I sometimes go by the feel of the skin and blossom end.

I go by feel and that dull thud sound when tapped.
I also like to pull when skins are still shiny, not sure if there's truth to it but most of the time it works.
If they go too long, the seeds seem to be larger and much more.
That eggplant in your pic is lobed. It looks like a meatball eggplant?

Yes, harvest eggplant before they lose their shine. They will also feel harder as they mature. Young eggplant should give when you press the skin. They get harder and more bitter as the seeds mature and the skin gets duller.
People salt eggplant slices to get rid of some of the bitterness and it removes some of the water as well. Black Beauty is a good one to use if you are going to make eggplant parmesan.

Asian prefer the long skinny eggplant because if they are picked shorter there are fewer cuts and less bitterness. I usually cut my eggplant and keep them in water to keep them from being exposed to the air; browning, and turning bitter. Thai eggplant is the exception. Thai's like their food to be sweet, sour, bitter,spicy, and salty. The blend of these tastes is balanced in every one of their dishes. The small round thai eggplant is very seedy and provides the bitterness they like in their dishes.
I like long green eggplant because it takes longer to get hard so it can stay on the bush longer.

You cannot really harvest them too early. People will harvest them shorter so they can use them whole in some dishes.