Strawberries are delicate fruits that are prone to spoilage and mold easily. When stored in the refrigerator, they usually only last for a few days. However, experts say that by using a common household item to wash strawberries with water before refrigerating them, their shelf life can be extended up to two weeks.
Nancy Birtwhistle, a former winner of the BBC reality show “The Great British Bake Off,” often shares life hacks, including practical tips for storing food, on social media. Recently, she took to Instagram to share a short video with her nearly one million followers, revealing a trick to keep strawberries fresh in the fridge for up to two weeks.
In the video, she explained her method for washing strawberries using a solution of two teaspoons of citric acid (or 70ml of lemon juice or white vinegar) mixed with 60ml of boiling water in a large bowl. After dissolving the citric acid, she added 400ml of cold water and submerged the strawberries in the solution for cleaning before draining them.
Birtwhistle emphasized that there’s no need to rinse the strawberries after cleaning them, just let them dry and transfer them to a jar for storage. According to her, these strawberries can last up to two weeks in the refrigerator.
She suggested using the water used to wash strawberries to clean kettles and sinks, rather than pouring it down the drain. Birtwhistle also shared a creative tip for making strawberry syrup by saving the discarded stem ends of strawberries, accumulating around 100 grams, and combining them with an equal amount of sugar in a jar.
By shaking the jar containing the strawberry stems and sugar mixture daily for five days, an exquisite strawberry syrup can be created as demonstrated by Birtwhistle in the video, which she described as the most delicious and clear syrup.
The syrup can be strained through a coffee filter and poured into another container for consumption. She recommended serving the syrup with ice cream or other desserts as a delightful addition.
An article by the American magazine “Real Simple” previously also endorsed methods to extend the shelf life of strawberries, including using white vinegar. By mixing white vinegar with water in a 1:3 ratio, soaking the strawberries in the solution for a few minutes, draining it, patting the strawberries dry with paper towels, and storing them in a glass container with a slightly loose lid in the refrigerator, strawberries can be preserved longer.
White vinegar is effective in preserving food due to its acetic acid content, which gives it its acidic and pungent smell. When vegetables and fruits are soaked in white vinegar, their acidity increases, effectively killing microbes and prolonging their freshness.