The best way to clean strawberries is under the sink faucet, whether in a colander or in your hands, running cold tap water over them gently for 10 to 20 seconds. According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), cold water removes anywhere from 75 to 80 percent of pesticide residue from produce.
Simple sink rinse: The simplest and quickest way to wash strawberries is to rinse each berry thoroughly with cold, running tap water. Place your strawberries in a colander, then run them under cold water as you rub each strawberry gently to remove lingering dirt.
Here's how to do it: put the amount of strawberries you want to wash in a colander (try to keep them in a single layer, wash in batches if you need to) and run them under cold water for about 20 seconds, moving them around to make sure you get all sides rinsed off. Then, they're ready to eat!
Method 3: Wash Strawberries in Hot Water
Heat water to about 125°F, and soak your berries in the water for just about 30 seconds. This will kill any bacteria without damaging or cooking the berries. Then allow them to dry thoroughly on a towel, and store as directed above.
Soak the strawberries: Add the fresh strawberries into the vinegar water and allow them to soak for about 10 minutes. Don't worry, they won't taste like vinegar! Drain and rinse: Drain and rinse the strawberries (removes all the vinegar taste don't worry!), then lay them out on a towel to dry.
Don't Pre-Wash Your Strawberries
Strawberries will stay their freshest when dry and cold, and any added moisture will soften the strawberries and encourage mold growth. So instead of washing all of your berries right when you get home from the store, wash them as you plan to eat or prepare them.
Place the berries in a large bowl and wash them in a vinegar-water bath: 1 cup of white vinegar and 8 cups of water. Let the berries sit in the vinegar-water bath, gently moving them to help dislodge any dirt, grime and letting the vinegar kill spores and bacteria.
When your strawberries start to look kind of mushy or bruised, you can soak them in a bowl of ice water for 20 minutes to revive them. After 20 minutes or so in an ice water bath, the strawberries plump back up and turn bright red again.
Bacteria from the outside of raw produce can be transferred to the inside when it is cut or peeled. After preparing each food item, wash kitchen surfaces and utensils with hot, soapy water. Do not wash produce with soaps or detergents. Use clean potable cool to room temperature water to wash items.
Step 3: Soak for approximately 20 minutes (any longer can create a soggy berry and any shorter isn't as effective). Step 4: Lift the colander and rinse the fruit thoroughly under cool water. Pat the fruit dry with a clean cloth or paper towels.
Do you wash strawberries with stems on or off? Always keep the stems and leaves on the strawberries until after you've washed them. Removing the stems damages the flesh and allows them to absorb whatever you wash them in.
Do strawberries last longer washed or unwashed? To keep berries fresher for longer, you want to wash as you go. This means, only wash the strawberries that what you plan to eat immediately and leave the rest unwashed. Washing exposes the berries to moisture, and moisture leads to mold.
If it is necessary to wash the strawberries, place them in a colander and gently rinse them under cool water before removing the stems. If the stem is removed the water will have a greater affect on the texture and flavor of the strawberries. After washing, immediately pat the strawberries dry with a paper towel.
All you have to do is pop these "sad" strawberries into a bucket of ice water for 20 minutes and boom! They're back to being bright red and perfectly juicy again.
Typically, cold water works great on blood, as well as food, beverages and water-based paint, while hot water works best on protein-based stains. Unfortunately, there's no golden rule to stain removal. For example, most food stains should be soaked in cold water, unless it's egg, mustard or a tomato-based product.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends washing produce under cold running water — go ahead and wash your hands before and after you do the food, too. (If your bag of salad or other greens says it's pre-washed, no further work is needed.)
For the most part, rinsing produce in cold water is for the purpose of removing pesticides and soil that may contain bacteria.
Both water soaking and cracking increase the incidence of fruit rots pre- and post-harvest.
You can dry strawberries by laying them out on a baking sheet lined with clean paper towels or a kitchen towel. Gently but thoroughly press the tops and sides of the berries to remove excess water before storing them in the fridge.
Rinse with vinegar solution: Soak strawberries in a vinegar solution (one-part white vinegar and three parts water) for a few minutes. Then drain them, pat them dry, and place them on a clean paper towel in a glass container. Loosely place the lid on and store in the refrigerator.
The primary rule about washing strawberries is simple: wash strawberries when, and only when, you're ready to eat or cook with them. Washing strawberries ahead of time only introduces moisture that wasn't there before and will make them go bad much faster.
Washing strawberries immediately exposes them to moisture, and moisture on fresh berries makes them moldy. Refrigerate unwashed strawberries and only wash berries right before eating them.