Keeping strawberries fresh once picked

Primrose

Haven't been on here for ages but if anybody else is currently picking a surplus of home grown strawberries & is having a problem keeping them fresh but doesn't want to freeze them you might like to try this. Set them in a large raspberry or strawberry jelly (either made with water or a mixture of milk & water if you want a creamy type jelly) They will store perfectly in a fridge in this state for up to a week without deteriorating. I think it's because they're immersed in another substances and are not exposed to the air which causes them to deteriorate.

Linda32

Thanks for this, yes I bought home lbs of the things last night.

We've got some in the fridge to eat and some frozen. I know they are not supposed to freeze very well. But I just defrosted one in the fridge to see how it was and it was softer than usual but not exactly mush as the books suggest.

I do freeze some as puree and OH has it with yoghurt as well.

McKneff

There are green bags you can buy that keep veg fresh so I presume the same would go for fruit. I put some sprouts in one and forgot about them, I found them in the fridge over a week later, fresh as the day I put them in there.

Poundshops and cheapie stores sell them. About 10 in a pack, washable and reusable. Brilliant.

demystified

We always freeze any surplus, same with raspberries. You can't eat them raw or at least they don't hold their texture, but we put them into flans, trifles, etc and they're absolutely fine.

The jelly seems to make them keep their shape and they taste fine.

cyclonebri1

Every time we have frozen strawbs they got binned, absolute inedible mush

Funky_Bold_Ribena

I eat what I can and freeze the rest for jams and jellies. They get cooked down anyway for that.

forgotmyname

Oh my.. I never thought of jelly...

Too many pies and flans. All that pastry making the fruit rather fattening..

Jelly or trifle with low fat cream of course (not)

Primrose

You can make a milky/crème type jelly with fully skimmed milk and it comes out fine. Just pop the strawberries in, whole or chopped if they're big ones.

cyclonebri1

McKneff wrote: »

There are green bags you can buy that keep veg fresh so I presume the same would go for fruit. I put some sprouts in one and forgot about them, I found them in the fridge over a week later, fresh as the day I put them in there.

Poundshops and cheapie stores sell them. About 10 in a pack, washable and reusable. Brilliant.

The best vac sealable stay fresh or freezer bags I've found come from Ikea, 4 sizes I think and good quality.