Research supports that all you need is a serving of 8 strawberries a day to improve your health! But there are times when you open the fridge and discover that your fresh strawberries no longer look as bright and beautiful as they did when you brought them home from the grocery store. Keep reading to find out how to tell if strawberries are too bad to eat.
I love that strawberries are low in sugar (only 7 grams per cup) but taste perfectly sweet. That's why you'll find them in so many of my favorite recipes like these Chocolate Strawberry Breakfast Muffins and this Roasted Balsamic Strawberry & Peppered Steak Salad. Now let's prepare for strawberry season by looking at the signs of bad strawberries.
Signs of Mold
First, check your fresh berries for visible mold. A moldy strawberry may appear discolored, have dark spots, or may have green or white patches of moldy parts. Hopefully if you do see mold, it is limited to a couple of moldy berries and it hasn't spread to the whole bunch. If so, you can just throw those rotten strawberries out and enjoy the remaining berries.
Mushy Texture
If you have mushy strawberries with soft spots, this is another sign that those strawberries are too bad to eat. Whole strawberries that are good to eat should have a firm texture. Soft strawberries or ones with bad spots like this will not be safe to eat.
Smell
You'll also want to check the smell. They should have a soft floral smell, so if they have an "off smell" of any kind, it's best to be safe and not eat those.
Taste
As a last resort, you can also judge a bad strawberry by its taste. If it has an off taste, definitely do not continue eating that berry.
Best Way to Store
To eliminate food waste, there are ways to store your fresh produce to make it last as long as you can.
- Don't wash them. With strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries you don't want to pre-wash them or it will cause them to spoil early. The only berries you can wash ahead of time without getting a moldy berry are blueberries. For blueberries, wash them and lay them out on a kitchen towel and very gently roll them with another kitchen towel on top. This works only if they're firm enough. If not, I just let them air dry.
- Store in the fridge. The best place to store fresh unwashed strawberries is in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator to extend their shelf life.
- Give them air. To help prevent moldy strawberries, my favorite storage method are the Rubbermaid Freshworks Storage Containers. They come with a grate on the bottom of the container that lifts your sweet strawberries up and gives them some air. Another way to give them air is to space them out instead of storing them crowded together in a bunch.
- Eliminate Excess Moisture. If there is still excess moisture in , put a paper towel in the top to absorb some of that. The Rubbermaid Containers really do help quite a bit. I have 2-3 of them that I use often during berry season.
If you don't have the storage containers I mentioned, you can store strawberries in their original container, or in a container with air holes. When you're ready to enjoy them, wash only what you're ready to eat.
Hopefully these tips to tell if your strawberries are too bad to eat have been helpful! The next time you have some juicy strawberries to use, check out these recipes for Strawberry Toast 4 Ways. Using cut strawberries, you'll be able to create two savory and two sweet options to give you energy to sustain you through the rest of your day.
