The right way to Retailer Blueberries So They Final Longer

At Severe Eats, we take the science of meals storage—look forward to it—significantly. I bear in mind studying Kenji’s tomato storage article again in 2017 and instantly flipping all my tomatoes over, chastising my then-boyfriend for considering I’d had a really unusual momentary lapse of produce storing judgment. Daniel’s bread refrigeration piece modifications lives usually, per the suggestions in our SE employees e mail inbox. And Genevieve’s deep-dive into the steps essential to protect strawberries stays a perennial high performer for the location, even in months it is senseless to eat strawberries! 

So it stands to purpose I’d take the official Severe Eats blueberry model of these experiments very—look forward to it—significantly! And I did! If I wished to find out the best possible strategy to retailer blueberries for longevity, freshness, and taste, I must be meticulous. Like, now-husband-rightfully-thinking-I’d-lost-my-whole-mind-re: produce meticulous!!

After a deep-dive into present blueberry storage literature, a cross-reference of my inexperienced bean and cherry assessments from final 12 months, and a glance into all mentions of produce storage on Severe Eats, I recognized and arrange a collection of assessments to find out the easiest way to retailer blueberries. I examined 18 completely different strategies, together with ones that supported present theories about the easiest way to retailer blueberries, in addition to people who straight opposed agreed upon strategies. Along with difficult accepted strategies from the world outdoors of Severe Eats, I additionally put berry storage strategies from the Severe Eats canon to the take a look at to see if what labored for, say, strawberries, additionally labored for blueberries. The! Outcomes! Will! Shock! You!

What We Know About Blueberries (and Blueberry Storage)

Blueberries are “true berries” in that they’re fruits that come from the ovary of a single flower and have their seeds embedded inside their flesh. By this definition, strawberries and raspberries usually are not berries, however as a substitute are combination fruits, which come from a number of carpels of the identical flower. Blueberries have thicker skins than these combination fruits, they usually have greater ranges of anthocyanins—the water-soluble pigment liable for the fruits’ shade—than juuust about every other “berry” (elderberries and mulberries being the exceptions). 

A September 2014 Postharvest Biology and Expertise examine confirms that probably the most salient issue resulting in blueberry demise (see: shriveled or burst fruit on account of moisture loss) is temperature. The upper the temperature, the extra accelerated the fruits’ metabolism. The upper the metabolic charge that happens, the likelier it’s that blueberries will lose moisture and start to interrupt down.

The Exams

Contemplating all of the above, I strongly suspected {that a}  good chunk of the berries I examined, together with the blueberries left at room temperature, wouldn’t yield the best outcomes. 

I first eliminated all of the berries from the bundle and picked by way of them to take away any dangerous berries from the batch. Then I divided them into batches and proceeded with the assessments outlined beneath.

• Unrinsed blueberries of their unique packaging at room temperature
• Rinsed blueberries of their unique packaging at room temperature
• Unrinsed blueberries of their unique packaging within the fridge
• Rinsed blueberries of their unique packaging within the fridge
• Unrinsed blueberries of their unique packaging within the crisper
• Rinsed blueberries of their unique packaging within the crisper
• Unrinsed blueberries in a shallow bowl within the fridge
• Rinsed blueberries in a shallow bowl within the fridge
• Unrinsed blueberries in a shallow bowl within the crisper
• Rinsed blueberries in a shallow bowl within the crisper
• Blueberries soaked in a vinegar tub, then rinsed, then dried in a shallow bowl within the fridge
• Blueberries soaked in a vinegar tub, then rinsed, then dried in a shallow bowl within the crisper
• Unrinsed blueberries in an hermetic container within the fridge
• Rinsed blueberries in an hermetic container within the fridge
• Unrinsed blueberries in an hermetic container within the crisper
• Unrinsed blueberries in an hermetic container within the crisper (only for enjoyable, actually)
• Blueberries washed in scorching (125°F) water, drained, dried delicately however utterly in a salad spinner triple-lined with paper towels, positioned again of their unique container, and saved on a shelf within the fridge.

The 2 assessments I used to be most assured in have been the third and the final ones listed above. The third—unrinsed blueberries saved of their unique packaging within the fridge —most logically follows all present blueberry steering. The latter—rinsing in scorching water, drying totally, and storing within the fridge— is strictly Genevieve’s confirmed strawberry storage winner, as it’s Kenji’s earlier than her and Harold McGee’s earlier than him. The concept behind this scorching water software (versus simply leaving the berries alone) is that you would be able to thrust back mould and lengthen their shelf lives.

The Outcomes

In my first batch of assessments, the unwashed blueberries thrown within the fridge went a full 9 days earlier than I observed any signal of decay or mould. They’d barely misplaced weight at that time too. Actually, I might’ve fed them to my toddler up till about day 11. Conversely, my scorching water-washed berries felt tender almost instantly after their tub. I gave them till day 4 (and a ~16% drop in mass) earlier than giving up on them utterly. It’s price noting Kenji doesn’t specify this method is most applicable for blueberries in his unique produce-washing investigation. He examined it on blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries (all of that are combination fruits, I ought to add? Perhaps!?). 

After my assessments have been full, Genevieve and Daniel ran follow-up assessments of my successful storage technique—the unwashed, unique packaging one—towards the new water technique. Genevieve had related outcomes to mine; Daniel, who was testing on lovely farmers market berries, discovered no distinction in batches throughout many days (he finally needed to lower his assessments quick for PTO causes).

Genevieve, Daniel, and I’ve run theories about anthocyanins and water solubility forwards and backwards for weeks since then. Are these hyper-pigmented fruits a nasty thought to clean since you’re actively ruining them within the course of? We all know the soundness of anthocyanins are additionally impacted by temperature. Is that why the new water bluebs fared way more poorly than my room temp-rinsed ones, which, on common lasted about six days earlier than mould sightings!? Or perhaps Daniel had a special number of blueberry! Perhaps his have been simply brisker than mine and Genevieve’s! Perhaps whenever you’re not coping with freshest blueberry—even when it seems to be good!—you are coping with sufficient deterioration on a microscopic degree that the new water rinse simply ruins all the pieces. 

I spoke to Professor Penelope Perkins-Veazie, who’s cited repeatedly within the first examine linked above right here, through e mail, and she or he famous: “Anthocyanins are usually considered extremely water soluble (round 80%), however as a result of blueberries are fairly advanced in anthocyanins and different flavonoids, I do not know if the [two are related]. So far as longevity, corresponding to storage life, I am fairly positive that there was no work to look particularly on the shelf life and quantity of anthocyanin in blueberry.”

Conclusions: The right way to Retailer Blueberries So They Final Longer

All this to say: The best manner to make sure you’ll have brisker blueberries for longer is to get them into the fridge precisely as you got them as rapidly as attainable. (Value mentioning: My countertop blueberries went to hell in actually 4 hours on an East Coast morning in July.) However should you’re trying to really feel higher about mould spores and don’t have to maintain your blueberries round for the week, go forward and provides them a scorching rinse and a radical dry. To recap, this is the only and finest strategy to retailer blueberries:

• Take away any moldy berries from unique packaging.
• Retailer remaining blueberries (in that very same packaging) within the fridge. (In case your blueberries are available in a cardboard carton and that carton turns into damp, you must switch the berries to a clear, dry container after eradicating any moldy berries.)
• Rinse effectively proper earlier than consuming.