How to Clean Berries: 3 Tips for Properly Washing Berries

The best way to clean berries—whether it’s blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries—is to hold off on washing them until you're ready to eat them.

1. 1. Store berries in the refrigerator. Keep berries refrigerated until you're ready to eat them. Even summer berries last longer when kept cool. The plastic clamshell containers that most berries come in works well for refrigerator storage. If storing berries in your own container, lay them out in a single layer and leave a crack in the lid for air to circulate.
2. 2. Wash berries when you're ready to eat them. Berries readily absorb excess water. If you wash them and then stick them in the refrigerator, they could get moldy or mushy. Keep berries fresh and avoid mold spores by keeping them dry until you're ready to use them.
3. 3. Rinse the berries in cold water. When you're ready to serve your berries, place them in a colander and give them a quick rinse with cool, running water. Wash strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries in either cold or cool water. Doing so removes pesticides, dirt, and mold.
4. 4. Gently dry berries on the countertop. Take the berries out of the strainer and dry them on the countertop with a paper towel or clean dishcloth. They are now ready to prepare and serve.

There are a few hacks for extending the life of your berries, both before and while you wash them.

1. 1. Preserve berries' freshness with a vinegar bath. You can kill mold spores on berries by subjecting them to a vinegar wash. When you bring the berries home from the grocery store or farmer’s market, place them in a large bowl and fill that bowl with eight cups of water and one cup of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. (You can scale the vinegar mixture up or down, but it should be eight parts water to one part vinegar.) Swish them around and then wash them off—either in a water bath or under running water. You may need to rinse them several times to remove the vinegar flavor.
2. 2. Remember that berries are delicate. While it may be tempting to stack berries on top of one another and dry them off in a salad spinner, berries are delicate. Store and wash them in single layers and dry them gently with paper towels and clean dishcloths.
3. 3. Wash berries before freezing them. Frozen berries are an optimal ingredient for smoothies, but it's important to wash your berries before placing them in a freezer bag. After washing and gently drying them, lay your berries in a single layer on a baking sheet and stick that baking sheet in the freezer for one to two hours. This will let the berries freeze without sticking together. Then transfer them to a freezer bag for multi-week storage. Washing berries before freezing them will rid them of pesticides and dirt, which would otherwise remain present when the berries thaw.

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