Iโve been doing food storage content since I started food blogging, and this piece was inspired by my 2012 video on How to Store Berries for Weeks.
Are you ready to science?! ๐งช
The winning method kept fresh strawberries mold-free and ready to eat for weeks.
How to Buy Strawberries
No storage method can save crappy berries. Sorry, Carol! Always pick strawberries that are shiny, bright red, and free of bruises, blemishes, or mold. Take a look at the bottom of the cartonโyep, Iโm that guy who opens it up.
How to Keep Strawberries Fresh Longer
The internet is swimming with advice. Some of it is good. Some of it is taking horse pills for COVID.
Storing fresh strawberries boils down to two things: how you prep them and how you store them. Prep means banishing mold spores and bacteria before they stage a takeover. Storage is just as crucial because berries are picky divas. Proper storage helps extend their life.
The experiment will be broken up accordingly.
How to Clean Strawberries
Produce is filthy AFโfrom the moment strawberries hit the ground to the way theyโre shippedโso washing isnโt just about looking pretty. The goal is to zap bacteria and mold spores that would otherwise spoil your fruit. Get rid of those bad actors, and your strawberries will stay fresher, longer.
I am testing 6 different methods for washing strawberries. ๐๐ซง
Once your berries are cleaned, itโs crucial to get every drop of water off them before storingโany lingering moisture is a one-way ticket to mold city. You can easily dry them in a few different ways.
- Let them air dry.
- Pat them dry with a towel.
- Run them in a salad spinner lined with a towel.
- Blow-dry them gently with a blow dryer.
I prefer the salad spinner method, but not everybody got one. Thatโs ok. The key is that they are dry. You do you.
Control Method
For the control method, I ainโt did a thing. Just left the berries as they are from the store.
Rinse Method (Water Bath)
This is the second easiest method to execute and probably the most common. Place the berries in a colander and rinse them thoroughly under water.
Hot Water Bath Method
This is the first method that kills the bacteria and mold spores dead, I hope. Soak berries in water that is 140 degrees F for 60 seconds.
Vinegar Bath Method
Like the previous method, this one is about killing bacteria and mold dead. Soak berries in a vinegar solution that is 3 parts water and 1 part white vinegar. Let soak for 15 minutes.
Like the previous method, this one is about killing bacteria and mold dead. Soak berries in a vinegar solution that is 3 parts water and 1 part white vinegar. Let soak for 15 minutes.
Baking Soda Method
Similar to the method above but with baking soda, which has been known to clean produce better than bleach!
Soak berries in water with baking soda for 15 minutes. You want 1 tablespoon of baking soda for every 4 cups of waterโno need to rinse them after.
Vinegar & Baking Soda Method
Can you double up on these powerful natural cleaners? When I did my first video on this, I combined the two. Yes, they can cancel each other out, but only to a degree. Volume matters.
If I add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to 800 pounds of baking soda, do they cancel each other out? Exactly!
For this one, take a solution of 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar and add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to the mixture. Then add in the berries and let them soak for 15 minutes.
The Timeline
A few things about this test. To standardize the storage method, I stored them all in similar containers. Once they were washed and thoroughly dried, they were checked on regularly.
There was not much change up to Day 14 and not a ton of change until about Day 21. That is where things started to turn.
Day 21:
- Control Method: Still good.
- Rinse Method: Signs of decay.
- Hot Water Bath Method: Most signs of decay.
- Vinegar Method: Looking the best. No decay.
- Baking Soda Method: Signs of decay.
- Vinegar & Baking Soda Method: Some signs of decay.
Day 22:
- Control Method: Signs of decay.
- Rinse Method: Signs of decay.
- Hot Water Bath Method: Most signs of decay.
- Vinegar Method: Looking the best.
- Baking Soda Method: Signs of decay. No decay.
- Vinegar & Baking Soda Method: Some signs of decay.
Day 23:
- Control Method: Lots of decay.
- Rinse Method: Lots of decay.
- Hot Water Bath Method: Lots of decay.
- Vinegar Method: Looking the best. No decay.
- Baking Soda Method: Signs of decay.
- Vinegar & Baking Soda Method: Signs of decay.
Day 25:
- Control Method: Lots of decay.
- Rinse Method: Lots of decay.
- Hot Water Bath Method: Lots of decay.
- Vinegar Method: Small signs of decay.
- Baking Soda Method: Signs of decay.
- Vinegar & Baking Soda Method: Lots of decay.
Best Way to Clean Strawberries
And the winner for washing berries isโฆ a 3:1 water-to-vinegar soak!
These berries stayed plump and showed minimal signs of decayโeasily hanging on for at least another week, had I not eaten them. Perfectly primed for smoothies or strawberry shortcake.
Who knew a little vinegar could be such a hero? ๐ฆธ๐ปโโ๏ธ
I was surprised how the control group held up. The baking soda method and the combo of vinegar and baking soda came in second.
This made me feel good, as the combo method was my method from back in 2019. Whew.
I donโt have any scientific proof on this next part. This is just my analysis based on looking at food all day long every day 4EVER. The rinsed berries looked like they never got dry enough. Even though I dried everything the same. The hot water bath method seemed like the berries were cooked. It didnโt show at first but eventually they looked like roasted berries. Eww, David.
How to Store Strawberries
Now the second part of this experiment: storing berries.
There are a couple of things to note about strawberries that determined what methods I tried. For example, they like to be very cold, around 32 degrees F, they like humidity, and they are not sensitive to ethylene gas.
Because moisture is the enemy for all produce in the fridge, it was worth testing strawberries in both sealed containers and those with the lid slightly ajar. Depending on your fridge, this might be a complete nuance, but hey, science is fun!
Lastly, also due to moisture, I tested the methods with and without the containers being lined. All of the methods were tested using strawberries that were washed in baking soda. I chose this without knowing the winner from above.
Oh, one more thing. I removed any bad berries before testing these methods.
Kitchen Counter
I didnโt expect berries to last too long stored this way, but I thought what a great way to appreciate modern conveniences like refrigeration.
Original Container
The berries, after the baking soda wash, were placed back in their original packaging, which is a plastic clamshell container with some holes for air. I tested the original container in two different ways:
- The original container without a paper towel.
- The original container lined with a paper towel.
Storage Container
This method involves food storage containers like tupperware. For this, glass containers that have a silicon air locking seal were used. The following methods were tried:
- Storage container sealed without a paper towel.
- Storage container sealed and lined with a paper towel.
- Storage container with the lid ajar without a paper towel.
- Storage container with the lid ajar and lined with a paper towel.
Mason Jar
Next up is the current internet favorite. I believe half of the appeal here is the mason jar. From salads to overnight oats, these things are trendy AF. And seeing gorgeous berries stacked up inside doesnโt hurt. Sealed mason jars were tested as follows:
- Mason jar without a paper towel.
- Mason jar lined with a paper towel.
Single Layer
This method is not as popular as some of the above ones, but I come across it from time to time. Now itโs time for the Strawberry Thunderdome! One berry entersโฆ yadda yadda. This is berries spread out in a single layer on a tray or plate and covered as so:
- Single-layer tray without a paper towel.
- Single-layer tray lined with a paper towel.
The Timeline
Like above, things were the same up to Day 14 and not a ton of change until about Day 21. That is where things started to turn.
Day 21
- Kitchen Counter: Moldy.
- Original Container: Signs of decay.
- Original Container (towel): Signs of decay.
- Storage Container Sealed:. Still good.
- Storage Container Sealed (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
- Storage Container Ajar:. Signs of decay.
- Storage Container Ajar (towel): Still good.
- Mason Jar: Still good.
- Mason Jar (towel): Still good.
- Single Layer: Signs of decay.
- Single Layer (towel): Signs of decay.
Day 22
- Kitchen Counter: Gross AF.
- Original Container: Signs of decay.
- Original Container (towel): Signs of decay.
- Storage Container Sealed:. Still good.
- Storage Container Sealed (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
- Storage Container Ajar:. Signs of decay.
- Storage Container Ajar (towel): Still good.
- Mason Jar: Signs of decay.
- Mason Jar (towel): Signs of decay.
- Single Layer: Signs of decay.
- Single Layer (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
Day 23
- Kitchen Counter: Gross AF.
- Original Container: Lots of decay.
- Original Container (towel): Lots of decay.
- Storage Container Sealed:. Still good.
- Storage Container Sealed (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
- Storage Container Ajar:. Lots of decay.
- Storage Container Ajar (towel): Signs of decay.
- Mason Jar: Signs of decay and mold.
- Mason Jar (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
- Single Layer: Signs of decay.
- Single Layer (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
Day 25
- Kitchen Counter: Gross AF.
- Original Container: Lots of decay.
- Original Container (towel): Lots of decay and mold.
- Storage Container Sealed:. Still good.
- Storage Container Sealed (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
- Storage Container Ajar:. Lots of decay and mold.
- Storage Container Ajar (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
- Mason Jar: Lots of decay and mold.
- Mason Jar (towel): Lots of decay and mold.
- Single Layer: Signs of decay and mold.
- Single Layer (towel): Signs of decay and mold.
Best Way to Store Strawberries
And the winner for storing berries isโฆ a a sealed container without a towel!
Over the years, Iโve done every comboโtowel versus no towel, lid cracked versus fully closed. But a sealed container with no towel seems to be the winner. Judging by their condition compared to the others, Iโm convinced these berries couldโve stayed fresh for a few more weeks.
I was surprised the towel did not work out. When it comes to greens like spinach, a towel is the thing that makes them last up to 3-times longer. Here it seemed to work against the berries in the long run. Outside of the container with the lid ajar, most were pretty gross by the end.
The counter, original container, and trays all performed how I expected. Unless you wash the original container, the nasty stuff is still there. I didnโt expect any of these methods to do well.
I was most curious about the mason jar. I have been seeing that hack go around for a while. I have tried it a few times myself with no success. No matter the jar size, moldy berries. So I was wondering if I would be proved wrong or the Internetz would. Screw you, Internetz!
Best Way to Clean & Store Strawberries
So here is the TL;DR. The best way to store berries is to wash them in a solution of 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar. Soak them in the solution for 15 minutes. Do not rinse the berries. Dry them completely. You can use a salad spinner or a blow dryer or whatever. But get them dry! Then store them in a clean sealed container with a bit of room in the fridge. Stored this way, your berries could last for up to a month!
How to Freeze Strawberries
Not going to get to the berries in time? Freeze โem! Lay them out on a lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer for at least 4 hours. I suggest freezing them how you plan to use them. That is, cut off the tops or slice and dice them. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe container for storage. Theyโll keep for 12 months.
How to Eat Strawberries
Ripe and ready-to-eat strawberries are fragrant, sweet, and have a slight acidity to them. To fully enjoy their deliciousness, I suggest enjoying them at room temperature. Cold foods are not as intense flavor-wise because of how our tongues work.
You can also eat the leaves of the strawberries. You may not want to, but they can be used as a way to fight food waste. You can blend them in homemade pesto and smoothies or toss them in salads.
