Since I am trying to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet, I've been on a bit of a kick lately to learn how to take care of fresh produce so that it lasts longer and stays fresh. On Wednesday I showed how soaking apples in juice or lemon lime soda keeps them from getting brown when you pack them for lunch. Also for the last eleven days I have been comparing strawberry methods to find what helps keep them from getting moldy so quickly. In the past it seems they usually go bad on me in just a few days time.
In a post I did last March, I mentioned a tip from Food Lush on rinsing strawberries in vinegar water before storing them, to help kill bacteria, so they would continue to be edible for a longer period of time. So I decided to put it to the test myself.
I purchased some strawberries (actually 3 packages).
I rinsed some in a mixture of vinegar water (1 part vinegar to 10 parts water), and
some in plain water.
Incidentally, in case you are tempted to eat them right out of the carton without
washing them, look how dirty the water was after rinsing them!
I let them drain before packing them back up and putting them in the produce drawer in the refrigerator, along with one container of strawberries that I did not rinse in anything.
I must say, I've never had strawberries last this long, even the ones I did nothing too. I gave up waiting for them to mold on day 11.
My conclusion with my little experiment was that rinsing them before storing them, absolutely makes a difference, just make sure you drain them on a towel to get the moisture off. Rinsing them in vinegar water, or even regular water, made them stay much fresher than doing nothing at all!
Liz in PA says
So glad to read this! I have always heard not to rinse strawberries until you are ready to eat them, so that is what I have always done. And I just threw out a container that had gone bad yesterday! Now I will definitely rinse them right away. 🙂
thanks! Liz in PA
April @ Angel's Homestead says
I'm with Liz, I always heard not to rinse them until you were ready to eat them. I wonder why when it definitely helps them last longer. Thanks for the tip!
Cristina@remodelandolacasa says
Pretty interesting! I also thought we had to rinse them just before eating them! I need to try your tip.
The Better Baker says
Thanks so much for sharing the results of your experiment with us. I've wondered about this very thing, and it's great to know for sure. Thanks for sharing at Weekend Potluck.
Linda Kinsman says
Strawberries are my favorite fruit, so I'm always interested in ways to keep them fresher longer. I'd never heard of the vinegar rinse. Glad you saved me the trouble of testing it out and will stick to rinsing and drying, but I'll do it asap now. Thanks! Stopping by to say Hi from Tackle it Tuesday link up at 5 mins. for Mom. Have a great day.
amanda says
I saw this tip floating around and had to try it because my fruit always goes bad very quickly. This absolutely works! I rinse strawberries, grapes, blueberries and they seem to last for what feels like forever. I use apple cider vinegar, i don't think that makes a difference, just my own preference.
Mariel @ Or so she says... says
Love this! Thanks for linking up at 'Or so she says...'! I'll be featuring this tomorrow at the new link party. Hope to see you back! Have a great night. 🙂
Mariel @ Or so she says...
http://www.oneshetwoshe.com
Rita says
Thank you so much for these tips! My strawberries always go bad before I can get to all of them. I am definitely going to give this a try!