Staff Writer| Akron Beacon Journal
Q.: I received an email that if I rinse fresh strawberries with vinegar that it will kill off the possibility of mold forming and strawberries will stay fresh up to two weeks.
Is this true? Will it affect the taste? What kind of vinegar, cider or white? How much vinegar to a pound of strawberries?
— Fran Hammerly, Wadsworth
A.: A study by researchers at Tennessee State University showed that rinsing produce with cold vinegar water is one of the best ways to clean it and remove bacteria from it. A study by the editors of Cooks Illustrated magazine produced similar results. It is the Cooks Illustrated article which has made the rounds in email, in some version or another.
To use this method, simply mix one cup of white vinegar to three cups of cold water in a bowl, then use the water to wash your berries. Then rinse the berries with cold water and dry them well.
If you rinse them, the vinegar wash should have no effect on the taste of the berries.
However, moisture is likely to cause more mold than vinegar will prevent, so the drying is a very important step.
In fact, Driscoll’s, one of the country’s largest berry growers, recommends never washing berries before storing in the refrigerator, and washing them only right before you plan to eat them to discourage mold forming from moisture.
Got a food question? Lisa Abraham has the answer. Call 330-996-3737; email her at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com with “Ask Lisa” in the subject line; or write to her at 44 E. Exchange St., P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include your name (initials will be printed on request), hometown and phone number.
