How to Store Strawberries at Home: An Overview of Ways and Recommendations

If the strawberry is stored correctly, it can prolong its freshness for up to one week and not lose any taste. But if the berries were bought from the store counter, then the time that passed from the moment when they were collected, until the moment they were bought, it is almost impossible to determine. In this article, you will learn how best to store strawberries in order to extend its shelf life. What to do if there are many berries and there are difficulties in using them before they deteriorate. And also about how to properly store strawberries in the freezer.

How to choose a berries for storage

So, berries are collected or bought in the store. And then the question arises: how to store strawberries? Provided that you buy it in the store, the shelf life directly depends on the right choice. First of all, you need to carefully inspect the berry during the purchase, in order to identify signs of stale strawberries. To do this, pay attention to the presence of crumpled berries and strange stains in the packaging - this indicates that it is likely already started to rot. A wet berry spoils much faster. Under no circumstances should you eat strawberries on which mold was formed. If the berry grows in your garden, then it should only be harvested.

With the fact that it is better to choose, we decided. Now about how to store strawberries at home. First of all, we need to sort it out by throwing out the berry on which mold has already started. After all, it spreads over the strawberry and can quickly spoil it. We, of course, would like to buy fresh and ripe berries, but, unfortunately, there will always be a couple of spoiled ones among them, and therefore it is better to immediately sort them out. This should also be applied not only to strawberries, but also to fruits that can be stored next to it.

Strawberry treatment immediately before use

How to store fresh strawberries? In order for the berry to remain fresh as long as possible, it is necessary to wash it only before consuming it. The fact is that it absorbs water well, and as a consequence, it becomes depressed and begins to deteriorate much faster. To avoid this, strawberries should be washed only when you want to use it for an interesting dish or just eat it.

The procedure for washing berries is mandatory and necessary, since we wash off harmful microorganisms from the surface and prevent the entry into our body of chemicals that may be contained in the soil. And in order to dry the strawberries, you can use paper kitchen towels.

Some recommend washing it in vinegar. Table vinegar and water much better clean the surface of the berries from harmful bacteria and viruses, compared to ordinary water. To do this, take one part of the vinegar and three parts of the water. The resulting solution should be used as a spray, spraying it onto the surface of the berry. But to remove all the dirt, a simple rinse in the water will be inadequate, so you should wash every berry with gentle movements.

Strawberry storage in the refrigerator

Now you need to understand how to store strawberries in the refrigerator:

• It will remain fresh, provided that it will be stored in a cold place. The most suitable for this is the temperature from 0 to 2 degrees.
• To protect strawberries from drying, it is necessary to place it in the bottom of the refrigerator, in a plastic container or in a bag, but do not close it tightly.
• To remove excess liquid from berries, it is necessary to dry them with a paper kitchen towel.

Strawberry storage in the freezer

Since you can store strawberries in a freezer, we will discuss all the recommendations about this:

• Do not freeze soft and spoiled berries - it does not make sense, since they have already lost their taste qualities.
• For frost, the berry of bright red color is well suited, so it is worthwhile to sort strawberries before putting it in the freezer.
• It is necessary to take care of the removal of green sepals, since strawberries are sold with them.
• It is necessary to decide how you will freeze berries. You can freeze the berry as a whole, but this method is not very good, in case you are going to use this strawberry to cook a variety of dishes. Perhaps it will be more convenient to grind it to pieces at once with the right size. The defrosted berry can not always be cut exactly as you need it. Therefore, sometimes it's worth it to cut it before you put it in the freezer. If there are difficulties with choosing the form in which the berries will be frozen, then it is worthwhile to look in advance and understand what dishes you will use it for.

How to store strawberries and at the same time preserve its taste?

To preserve the taste, flavor and shape of the berry, a syrup of sugar or sugar is added to it. The only downside of this method is that some people do not like that after that the strawberry becomes very sweet. If it was decided after all to use this method, then for each liter jar of berry it is necessary to put 100 grams of sugar.

Sugar syrup can be prepared by mixing sugar and warm water and cooling the resulting mixture in the refrigerator. Fill it with berries so that they are all covered with syrup - the ratio of components should be 1: 1. Adding it is best to do when the containers are already filled with strawberries.

What is better to keep the berry

Stack berries are only in containers in which you can freeze food. An example is a plastic container that is suitable for freezing, or a tight plastic bag with a special closing mechanism.

Before you put the strawberries in the freezer, do not put it tightly. Since berries can freeze to each other, and you get "one whole" instead of individual pieces and strawberries. And also do not completely fill the container with berries, because when they freeze, they expand.

If you freeze strawberries without adding sugar to it, then you can use the freezer pan. For this, it is necessary to pour the berries onto it in an even layer and leave it in the freezer for several hours. Then you need to put them in packages. The advantages of this method are that you can pick berries one at a time, rather than rip them apart.

Now the freezing of berries has become very popular, as storing strawberries in the refrigerator, namely in the freezer, is very convenient.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is necessary to say that before you send the strawberries for storage in the refrigerator, you need to sort it out, throw out all the soft and moldy berries, and also remove the excess liquid with a paper kitchen towel. In order to prevent the strawberry from getting weathered, it must be stored in the bottom of the refrigerator in a loosely closed bag or food storage container. Do not forget that the berries can be frozen, and, starting from their preferences, do it in sugar or without it, so How to store strawberries for a long time in this way is much more convenient.