Best Ways To Care For Fresh Picked Strawberries

We all know that the best quality strawberries are the ones you pick yourself out of the field or buy from a local strawberry farmer at the market. These strawberries are almost always the freshest you can obtain. Their taste and red color are exceptional. Nothing really compares to the flavor and aroma of fresh picked strawberries.  Below are a few pointers if you are planning on picking some berries. Of course we always recommend a scale that weighs strawberries.

After you find the perfect farm to visit, you will want to pick strawberries by pinching the stem of the berry between your thumb and index finger. This will reduce injury to either the berry and the strawberry plant. Leaving the caps on helps your berries last for a longer time period too. While choosing which berries to pick, look for the types that are plump, firm, and properly colored. These will end up being the all around best for freezing, preserving, or just simply eating.

After you’re finished picking the berries, take them to the front of the farm and have the bucket weighed and pay for berries based on a certified price per pound digital scale. Strawberries are most desirable when harvested and enjoyed in the same afternoon, but if you have got to preserve them for a longer time, keep all of them in your refrigerator. Arrange the berries in a small jar after throwing out any berries that were damaged or spoiled. Cover the items and keep at around thirty five degrees Fahrenheit for best effect. Do not remove the caps or clean the strawberries until you are all set to use these because if you do that, the berries lose a little of their moisture which tends to bruise the berries and cause the berries to lose their freshness quicker.

Whenever you are completely ready to use the strawberries for a dessert or as a side dish with some ice cream or pound cake, position the berries in a strainer and rinse off with cool water. To remove the caps, give the caps a gentle twist or use the point of a vegetable peeler, trying not to remove any of the berry. There you have it, a basic guide to follow and we hope you enjoy some fresh fruit this weekend!