A stupid question about fruit

In my attempt to get healthier and eat a more balanced diet, I went to the market yesterday and bought a bunch of fruit and veggies.

I have really been into berries lately, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc. SO I buy a package of each yesterday .(all SO expensive I might addbut that's another story)

So here's my question. The fruit was obviously packaged in small containers and sitting in the produce area - not refrigerated. But when I came home , I put it all in the refrigerator since I like the fruit cold.

Later last night, I go to make my "fruit bowl" to take to work today .. and the raspberries are NASTY & GROSS! - they are all mushy, squashed and downright inedible! I was SO MAD and I basically threw the entire thing out without even eating ONE OF THEM

SO my question is - are you NOT supposed to refrigerate berries? I cannot imagine they will hold up well if I leave them out in this heat, but obviously SOMETHING happened and they went to hell when I put then in the fridge.

Any advice WHY this happened? are they NOT supposed to be refrigerated? Or was this just a fluke??

TIA!!

PS: The other fruit(blackberries, blueberries, strawberries were A-OK)

Re: A stupid question about fruit

I love berries and always refigerate them, but I find that raspberries always go bad REALLY fast. I only buy them when they look as fresh as possible.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

From what I have read you are suppose to store them in the fridge. I think that they may have been in room temperature too long at the store. It makes them go bad quicker.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

I am pretty sure it had more to do with how old the berries were then the fact that you put them in the fridge.

Note: I also always find that you can't mix raspberries with other fruits since the juices from the other frruits make them mushy really fast.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

I always put mine in the fridge. I am leary of raspberries unless I know I will eat them right away -they tend to go bad quicker than other berries.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Thanks for all your quick replies, girls Obviously they do go bad really fast, I never realized eating healthy was so costly

I hadn't thought putting them in the fridge ruined them BUT I swear it was only a matter of hours by the time then went bad !! I guess they were pretty old maybe when I bought them .. ugh

I had a couple when I first came home from the store and they were great, maybe 4 hours later they were mush

I'm mostly annoyed that they cost so much and I didn't eat more than 2 or 3 of them

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Posted by FeliciaDP

Thanks for all your quick replies, girls Obviously they do go bad really fast, I never realized eating healthy was so costly

I hadn't thought putting them in the fridge ruined them BUT I swear it was only a matter of hours by the time then went bad !! I guess they were pretty old maybe when I bought them .. ugh

I had a couple when I first came home from the store and they were great, maybe 4 hours later they were mush

I'm mostly annoyed that they cost so much and I didn't eat more than 2 or 3 of them

Re: A stupid question about fruit

I had one thought, maybe you could get a bag of mixed frozen berries and defrost them for the next day bit by bit as you need them. It must be a little cheaper and then you dont have to worry about them spoiling.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Felicia - I would go to the store and tell them - they should replace them no charge.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Hey Felicia - My trick when I buy berries...always look at the bottom of the container. If the berries look fresh and healthy, buy that package. Also, when I get home, I wash them immediately and put them on paper towels to dry. I then line a tupperware container with paper towels and put the berries in them, cover the top with the edges of the paper towels and put the top on. They will stay better. Another trick I have for fruit, put your bananas in a plastic bag and store them on the counter in the bag...they can last up to 5 days longer without browning.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Too funny - I just read this article a few days ago...

http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-fdburn4313362jun22,0,310292.column

BURNING QUESTIONS
Strawberries need berry special care

BURNING QUESTIONS
Jun 22, 2005

With strawberry season hard upon us, I wanted to find out how best to store them - for the short and long terms. Do they freeze well?

When I called Janie Hibler, author of "The Berry Bible" (Morrow), to ask her advice, she had just come home from a berry conference to confront four flats of strawberries she'd bought two days earlier. "Right now," she said, "everyone should be buying their local berries - they're the best price, and they have the best flavor."

Good berry habits start at the market. Hibler looks for specimens that are bright red and have bright green leaves. She eschews containers that are stained by berry juice. The first thing she does when she gets her berries home is pick over them and remove any that are bruised "or that look remotely mildewy, because one bad berry can spoil the whole basket."

Moisture is the enemy of berries; that's why they are sold in vented cartons - and why you shouldn't wash them until just before you use them. Once you've culled your berries and discarded any rejects, place them gently back into their carton or into a colander.

To refrigerate or not to refrigerate: Prudence Wickham of Wickham's Fruit Farm in Cutchogue confirmed my suspicion that refrigerating strawberries dulls their flavor. To keep for a day or two, she recommends just leaving them on the counter at a cool room temperature. Any strawberries that you know you won't get to in less than three days, store uncovered in the refrigerator.

Wickham cautioned against serving strawberries chilled. "If you can warm them back up to room temperature," she said, "they will regain a lot of that flavor."

One fine option for dealing with a surfeit of strawberries is freezing. Hibler advised freezing them as soon as you get them home. She rigs up one of those over-the-sink colanders, dumps the berries in, culls the bad ones and uses her sink's spray-nozzle to rinse them. She shakes them and then pats them dry with paper towels. "If they're fairly firm," she said, "I'll just put them in 1-quart freezer bags." (If they're soft, she places them individually on cookie sheets lined with paper towels, covers them with more paper towels and freezes them. When they're solid, she transfers them to freezer bags.) Strawberries will keep in the freezer for up to a year, Hibler said.

Puree is another excess-strawberry strategy. Hibler rinses and dries the berries, hulls them, then processes them in the food processor until smooth. This is a great simple sauce for ice cream or pound cake, she said, or a good excuse to make strawberry lemonade. This recipe is from her "Berry Bible."

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Message edited 6/24/2005 3:38:30 PM.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Posted by Kelly

Posted by heidla


Eating healthy is expensive.

I have to disagree with this. I find fruits and vegetables to be sooo inexpensive.

Of course, the effort that goes in to the cutting, cleaning, preparing them, well that's a whole 'nother story.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Posted by Kelly

Posted by heidla


Eating healthy is expensive.

I have to disagree with this. I find fruits and vegetables to be sooo inexpensive.

Of course, the effort that goes in to the cutting, cleaning, preparing them, well that's a whole 'nother story.

Re: A stupid question about fruit

Berries are sensitive. They go bad quickly and because of the thin skin, they really need to be washed. However, you need to wash them before you eat them, not necessarily when you buy them because the water will spoil them. On the other hand, those little containers stink big time, so you can rinse them, shower not bath, and put them on a paper towel on a big plate and put that in the frig. You can put another paper towel on top of them and they should last longer. Also, I freeze them when they start to get mushy and throw them into the blender for smoothies!