Strawberries, though delightful, are quite tricky to store. We all love buying and eating them but, when it comes to storage, there’s always the woe of them not staying fresh. Here are five ways to ensure your berries have a longer shelf life. Let us know How To Keep Strawberries Fresh?
How To Keep Strawberries Fresh?
Paper towel method
This is a very simple, hassle-free way to store strawberries for about three to five days in the refrigerator.
- Take any container, and place a paper towel at the bottom. Make sure that it covers the whole surface, including the walls.
- Now, sort through your store-bought or farmers’ market strawberries and make a quick inspection for any bruising.
- You can simultaneously start loading them up. Put the lid on and that’s it. You’re done!
Generally, the store-bought strawberries have packaging with ventilation holes. This, more often than not, results in drying.
Prepping with Paper towels method
This method may not be as hassle-free and effortless but, it increases the shelf life of your strawberries by up to a week. You’re going to have to start with prepping them up.
- Like the previous method, line your container up with a paper towel, start cutting off the top and place the cut side down (you don’t need to wash them before slicing the top off).
- As you’re doing that, do not forget to sort through for any bruises and remove the defective ones from the lot. You may use them right away instead of keeping them for later. Put the lid on the filled container.
- Keep that sealed in your refrigerator and, you’ll have fresh berries for at least a week.
Vinegar solution method
Now, this is probably the most labor-intensive of all the methods listed here, but, on the plus side, it keeps your strawberries fresh for about two weeks. You can also opt for this method if you don’t want to freeze or preserve them in some way and wish to eat them fresh as long as you can.
- Take about six cups of water. Add three-fourths a cup of vinegar to it, and stir it.
- Now grab a colander and put it in the solution followed by putting the berries in it. Let the berries soak for three to five minutes.
- Lift the colander while the solution drains out of it and have them rinsed. Place a paper towel on a cutting board and put the berries on it to absorb all the excess moisture.
- Once done, start putting them in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Again, line the container with a paper towel. Start laying the strawberries in it (gently). When the first layer is done, cover it with a paper towel and start putting the second layer.
- Continue layering until all the berries are in. Put the lid and store it away in the refrigerator.
The lazy-man’s method
This is for the days when we don’t feel like doing anything, but still want to get the most life out of them. It will keep your berries fresh for about seven to ten days.
- Get a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Sort your berries and put them into the jar while skipping the bruised ones.
- Make sure not to overcrowd the jar. Seal the lid and put it in the fridge. When you want to eat, take it out, wash it, and Bon appétit!
The terminator
The terminator is the ultimate resort which you turn to if you want your batch of strawberries to have longevity and be free of chemicals. Follow the steps to see why.
- Wash your strawberries in an allegation of water, vinegar, and baking soda. The vinegar is good at killing mold and e-Coli and the baking soda removes the pesticide residue.
- The combination required is three parts water and one-part white vinegar. Then add one teaspoon of baking soda to it. [Note: Add the baking soda slowly since it reacts vigorously with acids].
- Add the strawberries to the solution and let that sit for fifteen minutes.
- Transfer them to a salad spinner after lining it with a paper towel to avoid bouncing and mushiness. Start spinning.
- After drying the strawberries in the spinner, get a container. Line it with paper towels, and transfer the berries.
- Do not seal them as tight as previously. Close the lid of the container (not airtight) and store it in a crisper drawer.
Conclusion
The thing with strawberries is that unlike other fruits (strawberries are not even fruits if we are being technical), they don’t ripe after being picked. Instead, they start rotting instantaneously. Also, just like leafy greens, they can grow mold too. We could always try freezing them, but that takes out the ‘fresh’ from fresh berries. There’s no holy grail to abide by when it comes to their storing as we all consume them differently, but a little effort will take your berries a long way!
