Are your strawberry plants, whether on the balcony or in the garden, particularly busy and producing one fruit after the other? Of course it has to be harvested! But what if you can't consume or process all the strawberries right away, but you don't necessarily want to freeze them yet? Vinegar proves to be a real miracle cure and is your helper in an emergency. We will explain to you why you can use it to preserve strawberries and how exactly you use it for this purpose.
Make strawberries last longer
At a time when more and more people are paying attention,not to waste food, everyone is looking for healthy ways to preserve food. Fresh fruit and vegetables in particular spoil very quickly. Sprinkling with sugar is a popular option for strawberries, but it's not healthy at all. However, you can use vinegar water to preserve strawberries without sugar. This is how it works:
Prepare a solution by mixing one part white vinegar with 4 parts water. Then place the strawberries in this solution for 5 minutes.Vinegar has a disinfecting effect, so the purpose of this procedure is to kill any bacteria and fungi that may be present that accelerate the spoilage of the fruit.
So that the strawberries don't taste like vinegar afterwards, you have to rinse them well with clean water.
Store strawberries for a long time
After that you canstore in the refrigeratorand process it as usual – just at a later date. It is important that you line the container in which you store the strawberries with kitchen paper. In this way, remaining moisture, which also causes food to spoil more quickly, is absorbed and the fruit remains dry.
Other variants for longer lasting berries
So you can preserve strawberries with vinegar. But there are also a few other resources that you can conveniently already have in the house. They are a wonderful option for cleaning your fresh fruits. Here's what you can do if you don't have vinegar at home:
Salt solution for cleaning the strawberries
You can extend the shelf life of strawberries by cleaning them with salt. The coarse consistency removes dirt particles that still stick with plain water. In addition, salt does not penetrate the inside of the berries and therefore does not change the taste.
It is even better to dissolve a teaspoon of salt per 8 ounces of warm water. As soon as the water has cooled down, you can let the berries rest in it for 5 minutes and then rinse well with clean water.
It is also important here that you either let the fruit dry well before sealing it in a container or line it with kitchen paper.
Preserve strawberries with baking soda or baking powder
In the same way as salt you also useBaking soda or baking powderfor soaking (not washing) the fresh berries. However, you need a smaller amount or dilute the powder with more water - mix a teaspoon with a liter of water. Let the strawberry fruits sit in it for 5 minutes and then rinse them well.
