At Critical Eats, we take the science of meals storage—await it—severely. 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 repeatedly, 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 Critical Eats blueberry model of these experiments very—await it—severely! And I did! If I needed to find out the best possible option 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 current 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 Critical Eats, I recognized and arrange a sequence of assessments to find out the easiest way to retailer blueberries. I examined 18 totally different strategies, together with ones that supported current theories about the easiest way to retailer blueberries, in addition to those who straight opposed agreed upon strategies. Along with difficult accepted strategies from the world outdoors of Critical Eats, I additionally put berry storage strategies from the Critical 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 will not be berries, however as an alternative 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 increased ranges of anthocyanins—the water-soluble pigment answerable for the fruits’ colour—than juuust about every other “berry” (elderberries and mulberries being the exceptions).
A September 2014 Postharvest Biology and Expertise research confirms that probably the most salient issue resulting in blueberry demise (see: shriveled or burst fruit as a consequence of moisture loss) is temperature. The upper the temperature, the extra accelerated the fruits’ metabolism. The upper the metabolic fee that happens, the likelier it’s that blueberries will lose moisture and start to interrupt down.
The Checks
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 unhealthy berries from the batch. Then I divided them into batches and proceeded with the assessments outlined beneath.
Critical Eats / Tess Koman
- 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 bathtub, then rinsed, then dried in a shallow bowl within the fridge
- Blueberries soaked in a vinegar bathtub, 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 sizzling (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 had 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 current blueberry steerage. The latter—rinsing in sizzling water, drying completely, and storing within the fridge— is precisely 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 sizzling water software (versus simply leaving the berries alone) is you could chase away mildew and lengthen their shelf lives.
Critical Eats / Tess Koman
The Outcomes
In my first batch of assessments, the unwashed blueberries thrown within the fridge went a full 9 days earlier than I seen any signal of decay or mildew. They’d barely misplaced weight at that time too. Truthfully, I’d’ve fed them to my toddler up till about day 11. Conversely, my sizzling water-washed berries felt tender practically instantly after their bathtub. 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 system is most acceptable 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? Possibly!?).
After my assessments had been full, Genevieve and Daniel ran follow-up assessments of my profitable storage technique—the unwashed, unique packaging one—towards the new water technique. Genevieve had comparable outcomes to mine; Daniel, who was testing on lovely farmers market berries, discovered no distinction in batches throughout many days (he in the end needed to reduce his assessments brief 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 foul concept to clean since you’re actively ruining them within the course of? We all know the steadiness 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 mildew sightings!? Or possibly Daniel had a special number of blueberry! Possibly his had been simply more energizing than mine and Genevieve’s! Possibly whenever you’re not coping with freshest blueberry—even when it appears good!—you are coping with sufficient deterioration on a microscopic degree that the new water rinse simply ruins every little thing.
I spoke to Professor Penelope Perkins-Veazie, who’s cited repeatedly within the first research linked above right here, by way of e mail, and he or she 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, reminiscent of storage life, I am fairly certain that there was no work to look particularly on the shelf life and quantity of anthocyanin in blueberry.”
Critical Eats / Tess Koman
Conclusions: Retailer Blueberries So They Final Longer
All this to say: The best method to make sure you’ll have more energizing blueberries for longer is to get them into the fridge precisely as you purchased them as shortly as doable. (Price mentioning: My countertop blueberries went to hell in actually 4 hours on an East Coast morning in July.) However for those who’re trying to really feel higher about mildew spores and don’t must preserve your blueberries round for the week, go forward and provides them a sizzling rinse and a radical dry. To recap, here is the only and greatest option 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 a cardboard carton and that carton turns into damp, it is best to switch the berries to a clear, dry container after eradicating any moldy berries.)
- Rinse nicely proper earlier than consuming.