Yum! Raspberry season! I love to throw fresh raspberries into my yogurt or oatmeal in the morning, and frozen berries are great in smoothies. But how do you keep them fresh?
I was getting so frustrated when I’d by a pint of raspberries and 2 days later, half of them would be moldy. What a waste! If I was going to keep up my raspberry addiction for the summer, I had to start doing something different.
Here is what has worked for me:
I just bought two huge containers of raspberries that were buy one get one free. First I threw out any berries with a hint of mold. Then I made a box of berries for me to eat fresh this week by lining a box with a paper towel and putting only perfect, dry berries in there in a single layer. I’m usually the only one eating them, so I didn’t need to many. I close the lid and stick them in the fruit drawer. I’ve had them easily last 5-7 days this way. I always choose the softest ones to eat first when I do this.
Because I bought so many, I planned to freeze a lot of them. If I didn’t, then any crushed or mushy berries would be eaten the day they came home, as those are the first to start molding. This time, I tossed the softest ones into the blender and made a mango-raspberry smoothie. For the rest, I just washed them and put them in a container to freeze.
What do you do to keep your raspberries and other fruit fresh longer? The NY Times has an article suggesting you bathe your berries in hot water when you get them home. I’d love more tips!
Tupperware Frig Savers are awesome for any fruit or veggies.
Stephanie,
Like you, I love the fresh berries, but it is challenging to keep them fresh. Here is the method I use for freezing berries (or any fruit).
I put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread the berries single layer (not touching each other) put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour, or till berries are hard. Once they have been frozen like this, you can put them in a ziplock or container, and you will be able to remove them individually or in any quantity you want without having to defrost the whole thing (don’t use paper towel, it will stick. If you don’t have parchment, just put on the plain cookie sheet).
My daughter-in-law loves fresh berries in her white wine, and I always have some ‘fresh frozen’ berries available (works with grapes too!) and it keeps the wine cold. I do the same thing with any lemons, limes or oranges that look like they will not be used before they go bad. I cut them into wedges, freeze as above and put them in ziplocks. The little ones love to have some orange or lemon wedges in their OJ or iced tea. On very hot days nothing is more refreshing than a glass of cold water with frozen citrus wedges.
Once you start this you will find you use them for so many things, the individual berries or citrus wedges only take a few minutes to defrost, so you will always have fresh lemon or lime juice for recipes, garnishes, smothies, sangria……(and no more wasteful throwing out the fruit)
Great tips! I’ve been freezing them together for smoothies, but I’ll have to try them as ice cubes in lemonade and tea… Yum!