Yesterday as I drove back from Indianapolis I stopped in Washington, Indiana and visited with Uncle Gene and Aunt Betty. My husband had called and asked me to stop and pick up something for him from Gene. They were both great and we enjoyed sitting on the back porch and sipping sweet tea on a lovely and very warm spring day. (Aunt Betty gave me the now famous Aunt Betty's 1-2-3 Cake)
Today when I got to my computer Aunt Betty had sent me this wonderful tip about preserving the life of your fresh berries. Very timely as the season for fresh strawberries is fast approaching! I can't tell you how may times I have paid $4.00 or $5.00 for a little carton of berries only to have them at least be partially molded when I pulled them out to use. This tip makes perfect sense too.
When you arrive home from the grocery mix together 1 part distilled white or cider vinegar to 10 parts clean fresh water and swish about in a large bowl or basin. Empty your fresh berries into the solution and gently agitate them about. Drain well and store in the refrigerator as you normally would.
The berries do not pick up the vinegar flavor but just the little bit of vinegar will KILL the MOLD SPORES!! Happy days. Betty said the berries should keep a week without mold which is a marked improvement as I have seen them mold in a day before.
So enjoy your fresh berries longer this year, you can bet I will.
5 comments:
Thank you so much for this tip! When strawberries are in season, we sometimes buy 1-2 flats a week. I painstakenly wash and dry each and every one so that they will keep longer. The vinegar solution sounds way easier!
QUESTION: Do they need to be completely dry before storing them, with this method?
She didn't say specifically. It was "drain well" I usually turn on the ceiling fan in my kitchen and put a towel on the counter top and spread them out a little while with the fan running after I remove them from the colander. They are not totally dry but they are not terribly wet either. Good luck!!
that's a great tip- I just had to throw out some berries that started to mold on me.
I love this tip so much that I linked to it in my post today! Thanks again!
I'd also like to invite you to stop by and link up any strawberry recipes you'd like to share. :-)
http://earning-my-cape.blogspot.com/2012/05/chocolate-dipped-strawberries-and.html
Thanks. I do visit your blog and enjoy it!!
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