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Tired of wasting money throwing away produce that goes bad way too quickly?
This is my tried and true method for keeping berries fresh for weeks, strawberries in a jar. I only go to the store for produce once every 3 weeks and keep it fresh. I wash my produce in one evening and have it ready to go for easy food prep meals and snacks. Prepped fruit and veggies make an enticing-looking fridge also. The time spent helps to stay on track with your budget and health goals and feeding your family from scratch.
Properly washed, dried and stored berries can last weeks in the fridge. When I get home with berries either from the store or produce stand, I put the berries in a large bowl of water and a glug of white vinegar. I hardly measure anything, I get it from my Grandma Branch, but it is about a ¼ cup of white vinegar to your bowl of cool water.
I didn't actually know until I was curious about the term, but a glug is an actual measurement. It is about 2 Tbs or until the bottle audibly glugs. So who knew I actually did measure the entire time? A glug isn't a term used as frequently as a pinch.
Soak the berries for 2-3 minutes; if it is much longer they can get mushy. Next, I swish around my hands in the water to mix up the berries and try to grab any leaves or debris that floats to the top. Then I rinse the berries with cold water in a strainer or colander (you can find the strainers I use here) and check for additional dirt that might need a little rub.
This step, I feel, is a key to my success that I just passed over before I started canning and food preservation. As I am laying that fruit out to dry, I go handful by handful and check over each piece making sure I didn't miss any stems or bad fruit.
This is also when I separate pieces of fruit if something needs to be eaten sooner, a bad part cut away, or just a treat for the chickens. If it is a strawberry or larger piece of fruit and has a bruise on it but still 75% good, I will cut that part away and put it in a glass container to be eaten first in the next smoothie or as a snack. By first washing away the mold spores on the fruit and getting rid of any pieces of fruit that are damaged, it leaves you with the perfect fruit that can be stored longer.
So while the fruit is drying, here is a little bit about behind the scenes of this photo because I always want to be real.
This beautiful spread is actually on top of a large cardboard box that my cabinets are in because we are in the middle of a major home remodel, and I haven't had a kitchen since Valentine's Day. Yes, we are still happily married. The only thing in my kitchen for the last 5 months is our kitchen sink, which is going out tomorrow (the 4th of July).
I do as much meal prepping as I can one to two days a week to be out of the way the other days and still have home-cooked meals. My daughters and I have food allergies/sensitivities, so most of what we eat is from scratch. As we build this blog, we will be updating posts on how we have survived a DIY kitchen remodel.
Making sure the fruit is dry is so important! First, I lay the fruit out on towels on the counter. I have a large bath size towel that is perfect for berries that might stain my kitchen towels. Then, I let them sit out for a couple of hours and rotate the fruit around to get dry on all sides. If I run out of time that evening, I will put the fruit on plates and put it in the fridge overnight to finish the process.
After everything is dry, I store it in glass airtight containers. I use mason jars in all sizes (like the half-gallon size here and gallon size here) and Pyrex glass containers. I bought the glass Pyrex containers at Costco, which come in a set of a variety of sizes and easy locking lids (you can get them online here). Finally, I put a folded up paper towel to collect the moisture on some items; this is a must for berries and salad greens. Then I gently place the fruit in the container and put the lid on.
Even though we try to be as eco-friendly as we can be, this is one occasion where we use paper towels. I would rather use a paper towel than waste food, which has helped us keep food fresh longer.
Month-old blueberries!
These blueberries were purchased Memorial Day Weekend; it is now the 4th of July. Normally I would use them up before picking up more, but now I am curious to see how long these will last.
As we are using up the fruit in the fridge, I do a quick peek at the remaining pieces of fruit each time I open the container; if I spot any that are starting to go bad, pull them out right away. With having everything prepped, we are eating fruit and veggies daily, so it's easy to keep an eye on what needs to be eaten up quickly.
By now, I imagine you are wondering how I fit all of these fruits and veggies into my fridge. I love having it at eye level and in clear glass so you can really see what you have and it's easy to grab. One of my favorite things is a clean and organized fridge and food storage; it helps me cook when I know what we have.
How to Wash, Dry, and Store Strawberries
Equipment
- Timer
- ¼ Measuring Cup
- Paper towel for jar
Materials
- ¼ cup 5% Distilled White Vinegar
- 10 cups Water
Instructions
- Place the berries in the water/vinegar solution.
- Set a timer and soak the berries for 2 minutes.
- Rinse.
- Place berries on a large towel to dry (a few hours).
- Set a paper towel at the bottom of a jar and place DRY strawberries in the jar.
- Put the lid on the jar and store in the fridge.
- Next day, check for condensation in the jar.If there is condensation in the jar, remove the lid and wipe the inside of the jar with a towel/paper towel to remove the condensation. Place the lid back on the jar and put back in the fridge. You may need to repeat this process every few days as there is still moisture in the berries even though you let them dry on the counter.
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