British berry season officially started this month and lasts until the end of September. But nothing says summer quite like a juicy strawberry.
Unfortunately, strawberries don’t have a very long shelf life, and for those households who manage to resist eating a whole punnet in one sitting, here are the best storage methods to make strawberries last longer.
Soaked in vinegar then dried
One of the most common methods on the internet involves dunking strawberries in a vinegar solution.
Using a 1:3 ratio, take one part vinegar (white or malt) and three parts water and add to a bowl.
Place the strawberries in the solution and leave for 10 minutes.
Drain them and dry the strawberries as thoroughly as possible – Food52 suggests using a salad spinner lined with paper towels to remove almost all the water.
Once dried, transfer the strawberries into a clean container, that is lined with a paper towel. Loosely place the lid on – do not seal it – and put the container in the fridge.
According to The Kitchn, “by the end of the week, practically none of the strawberries had gone bad”.
“Not a single” strawberry was discarded and “the only noticeable spoilage was a few dark spots here and there”.
While this storage method takes time and effort, “it’s definitely worth it”.
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“The strawberries stayed fresh, vibrant, and firm the entire week and showed practically no signs of spoilage.
“They looked as if I had just taken them home from the store and were (almost) as fresh as day one.”
Original container
When it comes to buying strawberries at the supermarket, don’t pick up any punnet, carefully inspect the fruit inside to see if any of the berries are mushed or starting to spoil.
At home, open the punnet and sort through the strawberries, discarding any that are going bad or mushed, then place the strawberries back in the container and in the fridge.
The experts revealed: “By day seven hardly any of the strawberries had spoiled. Almost all of them were still fresh and vibrant, and only a few of them showed any signs of spoiling.”
This storage method is the easiest and the results “were pretty great”.
“The container kept the berries much fresher than most of the other storage containers, and it took practically no time,” The Kitchn said.
“Not rinsing the berries made sure they were dry, and the container seemed to give them enough air circulation without being exposed.”
Note: moisture is the biggest enemy when it comes to reducing strawberries’ chances of spoiling.
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