Collection and storage of strawberries. How to store strawberries at home: an overview of methods and recommendations How best to store strawberries at home

20.02.2024

Sort through the strawberries, discarding any soft or moldy berries.

Remove inedible green sepals. Strawberries are usually sold with sepals. They need to be removed before freezing.

Think about how you want to freeze the berries. You can freeze the whole berries, but if you are going to use these strawberries in the future to prepare different dishes, it may be more convenient for you to cut the berries into pieces of the desired size or mash them in advance. If you freeze and then defrost the berries, they will be more difficult to cut, although you can easily puree the thawed berries. Large berries, cut into pieces, can be frozen and thawed more evenly.

Add sugar or sugar syrup (optional). If you add sugar or sugar syrup to the berry, this will help better preserve its taste, aroma and shape, but not everyone likes the fact that this makes the berries too sweet. If you decide to go this route, use 100 grams of sugar for every liter of berries, whole, chopped or pureed. Another way is to prepare a rich sugar syrup by mixing sugar and warm water in a 1:1 ratio, then cool it in the refrigerator and pour over the berries until they are completely covered with syrup.

It is better to add sugar or sugar syrup to the berries when they are already placed in containers. However, it is best to decide whether you will add sugar in advance to leave room in the container for sugar or syrup.

Consider using pectin syrup instead of sugar (optional). This is a good option if you like unsweetened strawberries, but want to preserve their flavor and shape better than is possible with conventional, “dry” freezing, without adding any ingredients. You will need to buy a package of pectin powder and brew it with boiling water. The amount of water needed per package varies and depends on the specific brand of product. Leave the syrup to cool completely before pouring it over the berries.

Place the strawberries in a freezer-safe container. Plastic and thick glass containers work well, but make sure they are freezer safe first. Another way is to freeze the berries in a plastic freezer bag with a zip closure. Do not pack the strawberries too tightly, otherwise the berries will freeze into a single mass. We advise you to leave the container 1.5-2 centimeters empty at the top, because the berry increases in volume when frozen.

If you are freezing the berries “dry”, without adding sugar or syrup, it is best to scatter the berries loosely in one layer on a baking sheet or freezer tray and freeze for several hours. After this, the frozen berries can be placed in containers or bags. This way you will get individual berries. which can be taken out one at a time, and not a frozen, single conglomerate.

Before eating, the berries must be partially defrosted. Remove the strawberries from the freezer and let them defrost in the refrigerator for a few hours. If you want to speed up this process, you can place the strawberries under cold running water. You should not defrost the berries in the microwave or use other defrosting methods; this can turn the berries into an unappetizing, shapeless mass. You can eat the berry when there are still ice crystals on the surface; fully melted strawberries often become soft and soggy.

In each specific case, the defrosting time depends on the size of the berries and the freezing temperature. Large volumes of berries frozen together may need to be left overnight or even longer.

End of May, beginning of June. Strawberries appear on the shelves of markets and markets, one of the most beloved berries, the taste and smell of which is remembered forever almost from early childhood, unless, of course, you were allergic to it. In addition to being an extremely tasty berry, strawberries are rich in vitamins and minerals. With the help of this very real vitamin complex, the blood is cleansed, the immune system is increased, and the functioning of the stomach, kidneys and the entire urinary system improves. In cosmetology, strawberries are widely used for masks that improve the condition of facial skin. The strawberry season is short-lived, only a few weeks, but I really want to keep this taste of summer longer! We will tell you in this article how and where to store strawberries correctly so that they retain maximum beneficial properties.

How to properly store strawberries

Strawberries are an extremely fragile and sensitive berry; they spoil quickly. The berry can be stored very little; it is damaged by the slightest pressure. The best option is to consume strawberries immediately after purchasing or picking. When purchasing, you need to pay attention to the color and hardness of the berries. It should be bright red, without dents or dark spots.

There are actually three ways to store strawberries:

at room temperature (no more than 8 hours);
in the refrigerator (no more than 5 days)
in the freezer (up to 12 months.

How to store strawberries in the refrigerator

If you bought strawberries with a reserve, they can be placed in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. You need to lay out the strawberries in one layer and cover with film.

Storage temperature

Strawberries can be stored in the upper compartment of the refrigerator at a temperature of +2-6°C for up to 2 days. And if you put it in the lower compartment with a temperature of up to +2, you can store strawberries there for up to five days.

We would also like to note that you should not store strawberries in the plastic containers in which they are sold. After purchasing, you need to transfer the berries to a container more suitable for storage, optimally one that is as breathable as possible.

Important points when storing strawberries

Never wash strawberries. This berry, like a sponge, absorbs any moisture. Washed strawberries dramatically reduce their shelf life, especially in the refrigerator. Just wipe each berry with a napkin.

Sort strawberries after picking them from the garden or purchasing them. It is worth remembering that just one berry can ruin all your strawberry supplies, because... Mold tends to spread very quickly.

Choose the right containers for storage. Strawberries need to breathe, so the ideal solution would be a wooden or cardboard box with ventilation. Also, do not put many layers of strawberries in one container.

How to preserve strawberries for the winter

Freeze whole berries;
Freeze strawberries with sugar;
Freeze as a puree;
Cook compotes or jams.

How to freeze whole strawberries

To freeze whole strawberries, you need to choose ripe, freshly picked berries. You can determine freshness by the cuttings and leaves. If they are curled or have lost their bright green color, then these strawberries are best processed.

It would be correct if you first wash the strawberries, place them on a paper towel to drain and only then remove the stems. You need to freeze the berries in portions on a tray so that they do not touch each other. And only after preliminary freezing can you pour the berries into a bag and put them in the freezer. This way, you can remove fresh frozen strawberries in portions as needed.

In this form, strawberries can be stored for up to 10 months.

How to freeze strawberries with sugar

To freeze strawberries with sugar you will need 200 g of sugar for every kilogram of strawberries. First, wash the berries and cut them into halves, then place them in a tightly closed container, for example a zip bag, and sprinkle with sugar.

How to freeze strawberries as puree

You can also puree the strawberries and put it into ice cubes. You can freeze strawberry puree with or without sugar. To preserve the color of strawberry puree as much as possible, sprinkle it with lemon juice before freezing.

If frozen, the puree can also be stored for up to ten months.

Other ways to preserve strawberries for the winter

Of course, you can make compotes, preserves and jams from strawberries and safely enjoy them all year round, but such dishes contain an order of magnitude less vitamins than fresh berries.

If strawberries are stored correctly, they can extend their freshness for up to one week without losing their taste. But if the berries were purchased from a store counter, then the time that passed from the moment they were picked to the moment they were bought is almost impossible to determine. In this article, you will learn the best way to store strawberries in order to extend their shelf life. What to do if there are a lot of berries and difficulties arise in using them before they spoil. And also about how to properly store strawberries in the freezer.

How to select berries for storage

So, the berries are collected or purchased at the store. And then the question arises: how to store strawberries? Provided that you buy it in a store, the shelf life directly depends on the right choice. First of all, you need to carefully examine the berries during purchase in order to identify signs of stale strawberries. To do this, you should pay attention to the presence of crumpled berries and strange stains in the packaging - this indicates that it has most likely already begun to rot. And wet berries spoil much faster. Under no circumstances should you eat strawberries that have mold on them. If the berry grows in your garden, then it should only be picked when it is ripe.

We have decided which is better to choose. Now about how to store strawberries at home. First of all, we need to sort it out, throwing away the berries that have already developed mold. After all, it spreads throughout the strawberries and can quickly spoil them. We, of course, would like to buy fresh and ripe berries, but, unfortunately, among them there will always be a couple of spoiled ones, and therefore it is better to sort them out right away. This should also apply not only to strawberries, but also to fruits that may be stored near them.

Processing strawberries immediately before use

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

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

Some people recommend washing it in a vinegar solution. Table vinegar and water clean the surface of the berry from harmful bacteria and viruses much better than ordinary water. To do this, you need to take one part vinegar and three parts water. The resulting solution should be used in the form of a spray, spraying it onto the surface of the berry. But to remove all the dirt, simply rinsing in water will not be enough, so you should wash each berry with gentle movements.

Storing strawberries in the refrigerator

Now it’s worth figuring out how to store strawberries in the refrigerator:

It will remain fresh as long as it is stored in a cool place. The most suitable temperature for this is considered to be from 0 to 2 degrees.
To protect strawberries from drying out, you need to place them at the bottom of the refrigerator, in a plastic container or bag, but do not close it tightly.
To remove excess liquid from the berries, dry them with a paper kitchen towel.

Storing strawberries in the freezer

Since strawberries can also be stored in the freezer, let’s look at all the recommendations regarding this:

You should not freeze soft and spoiled berries - this does not make sense, since they have already lost their taste.
Bright red berries are good for freezing, so it is worth sorting out the strawberries before putting them in the freezer.
You need to take care to remove the green sepals, since strawberries are sold with them.
You need to decide how exactly you will freeze the berries. You can freeze the berries as a whole, but this method is not very good if you are going to use these strawberries to prepare a variety of dishes. It may be more convenient to immediately chop it into pieces of the desired size. Thawed berries cannot always be cut exactly the way you need them. So sometimes it's worth cutting it up before putting it in the freezer. If you have difficulties choosing the form in which the berries will be frozen, then it’s worth looking ahead and understanding what dishes you will use it for.

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

To preserve the berry's taste, aroma and shape, sugar syrup or sugar itself is added to it. The only downside to this method is that some people don't like that it makes the strawberries very sweet. If it was decided to use this method, then for each liter jar of berries you need to put 100 grams of sugar.

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

What is the best way to store berries?

Berries should only be placed in containers in which they can be stored. An example would be plastic containers that are suitable for freezing, or a thick plastic bag with a special closing mechanism.

Before putting strawberries in the freezer, do not pack them tightly. Since the berries can freeze to each other, and you will get “one whole” instead of separate pieces and strawberries. You should also not completely fill the container with berries, because they expand when frozen.

If you freeze strawberries without adding sugar, then you can use a freezer tray. To do this, you need to pour the berries on it in an even layer and leave it in the freezer for several hours. Then you need to put them into bags. The advantage of this method is that you can take the berries one at a time, rather than tearing them apart from each other.

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

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is worth saying that before storing strawberries in the refrigerator, you need to sort them out, throw away all soft and moldy berries, and also remove excess liquid with a paper kitchen towel. To prevent strawberries from getting chapped, they should be stored at the bottom of the refrigerator in a loosely closed bag or food storage container. Do not forget that the berries can be frozen, and, based on your preferences, do it with or without sugar, since storing strawberries for a long time in this way is much more convenient.

Strawberries are called the queen of berries, and for good reason, because they are tasty, healthy and visually attractive. Since ancient times, strawberries have resembled a heart, so strawberries are associated with love experiences, bright and juicy memories. Speaking about the beneficial qualities of the berry, it should be noted that it has a high content of vitamin C, antioxidants, and potassium, which helps enrich the body, helps with diabetes, prevents heart disease, and reduces sweating.

How to store strawberries

The best way to consume strawberries is fresh. But if you need to leave the strawberries for a couple of days, you can spread them unwashed on a dish and leave them in a cool place. At room temperature, fresh berries will last for 2-3 days.

How to store strawberries in the refrigerator

Strawberries are a very juicy berry, which upon contact with water begins to release juice. To extend the shelf life of strawberries, do not wash them before placing them in the refrigerator.

Storage instructions:

Place the purchased strawberries out of the bag and remove the spoiled berries.
Take a tray and line it with a layer of paper towel.
Place the berries on a tray in one layer so that they do not touch each other.
Cover the tray with a paper towel and place in the refrigerator at a relative temperature of 2-5 degrees Celsius.

How to properly freeze strawberries

If there are a lot of berries and they will not be eaten in the next few days, it is better to freeze the strawberries. Frozen strawberries are convenient to use as needed; they retain their shape, but may lose some useful qualities when deep frozen.

Freezing instructions:

Wash fresh berries and remove leaves.
Remove spoiled or unripe berries.
Place the strawberries on a paper towel to dry.
Prepare a dish or tray on which to place strawberries in one layer.
Place the container in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, having previously set the emergency berry freezing mode.
Then take out the berries and put them in a bag, removing the air from it.
Place the bag in the freezer for long-term storage.

You can store strawberries in the freezer for about a year.

How long do strawberries last in the refrigerator?

The storage temperature of strawberries directly affects its shelf life:

at temperatures from +2 to +5 °C - 2-3 days;
at a temperature of -2-0 °C - about a week;
at temperatures from -12 to -5 °C - 2-4 months;
at temperatures from -20 to -14 °C - 10-12 months.

When the season for collecting juicy, aromatic and surprisingly tasty strawberries comes, you want to enjoy them for more than one day.

But what to do with a fresh harvest if you can’t eat the berries right away, how to store strawberries for consumption in the coming days? This is especially true for berries that were not grown independently, but purchased at the market or in a store, because it is unknown how long it was there.

How to prepare berries for storage in the refrigerator

In a vase on the table, strawberries will last a maximum of 12 hours, in the refrigerator - 2-7 days, if they are of high quality. Before storing strawberries at home, you need to prepare them for storage:

We use only fresh berries for storage that have not had time to soften, darken or spoil. If fragments of berries remain on the walls of a container with purchased strawberries, they will “live” in the refrigerator for no more than 12 hours. If you need to know how to properly store strawberries collected in your own garden, choose only red and hard specimens that have not yet softened.
We sort through the collected or purchased berries, discarding those that are spoiled and too soft. If at least one moldy berry remains in a container with strawberries, mold will cover many others during storage.

Before storing fresh strawberries, take a cardboard box, wooden container or plastic container: they must have holes for air circulation.
Place the unwashed berries (we wash them only before eating) in a container, layering them with paper towels: they will absorb excess moisture. Place the strawberries with the petioles down, but loosely: there should be 0.5-1 cm of free space between them. The berries that come into contact with the barrels become waterlogged, soften and spoil in the coming hours after it was decided to store the strawberries at home.

If there were a lot of moldy berries in the harvested crop, it would not hurt to disinfect it with vinegar water. Mix water with table vinegar in a ratio of 3 to 1, pour it into a bottle with a spray bottle and, before storing the strawberries in the refrigerator, spray the berries.

You can simply wash the berries in the resulting solution. Afterwards, be sure to dry the strawberries, placing the berries at a distance from each other on kitchen or paper towels. Excess moisture will cause strawberry fruits to rot quickly.

It is better to keep prepared strawberries in a special compartment of the refrigerator, the temperature of which is within 2 degrees, not higher. It is important that there are no fruits and vegetables nearby that have been spoiled by mold, otherwise the berries will also become infected with it and quickly spoil.

You should not close the container with berries with a tight lid; it is better to cover it with a linen towel or gauze so that the air passes freely and does not stagnate.

How to store fresh strawberries: timing

Dense, fresh and ripe berries that have not been attacked by mold can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 7 days if the temperature in the compartment does not exceed 2 degrees Celsius.

If the temperature in the refrigeration section is maintained at 2-6 degrees Celsius, the berries will last only 2-3 days. The lower the temperature and less moisture, the longer the strawberry crop is stored.

What is the best way to store strawberries if they are washed? It is better not to store such berries, but to eat them within a few hours. But, if there is a lot of it, and you had to wash the crop due to severe contamination, store it in the refrigerator for no longer than 24 hours. The washed berries must be removed from the sepals and placed in a plastic container, covering the bottom with a waffle towel: it will absorb excess moisture.

Now it’s clear how to store strawberries collected in your own berry garden or purchased at markets or in a supermarket. Still, it is better to consume it in the first hours, and freeze or preserve the remaining strawberries.