Friday, June 8, 2012

How to Prevent Moldy Berries

I received this e-mail this morning and thought I would share it with all of you.  Disclaimer, I have not had time to try this for myself but it sure makes good sense!
Berries are delicious, but they're also kind of delicate. Raspberries in particular seem like they can mold before you even get them home from the market. There's nothing more tragic than paying $4 for a pint of local raspberries, only to look in the fridge the next day and find that fuzzy mold growing on their insides. Well, with fresh berries just starting to hit farmers markets, we can tell you how to keep them fresh! Here’s a tip I’m sharing on how to prevent them from getting mold in the first place: Wash them with vinegar. When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably work best) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted you can't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge. The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft. So go forth and stock up on those pricey little gems, knowing they'll stay fresh as long as it takes you to eat them. you're so berry velcome!

2 comments:

Chanda said...

Great idea! Thanks for the tip!

Annie Lee said...

Whoa! You've just saved me a ton of money this summer! I hate it when those fuzzy things invade my otherwise perfectly juicy fruit!