Ask Evan: What’s the Best Way to Store Strawberries?

Do you have a cooking question you need answered? Write to me. Whenever I get a question from a Good Food listener I answer it right here on the Good Food Blog. You can email me a question to goodfood@kcrw.com, leave one on Facebook or add one in the comments section here. This week’s question came from Brigid:

Hi Evan! How do you store strawberries? If I put them in the ‘fridge, they seem to shrivel and lose their juiciness. If I leave them on the counter, they get moldy too fast. What should I do?

My answer, though not scientifically informed is what I do based on trial and error over many strawberry seasons and much crying over moldy fresh market berries. First of all I’ve learned not to buy more than I can eat or preserve within 3 days. Better to gorge one day then “save” them only to discover they’ve molded three days later.

I wash them in cold running water to cut down on the mold spores that are already living on them then I gently toss them in a paper towel lined bowl to dry them. I arrange them in layers on paper towels inside a storage container. So paper/strawbs/paper/strawbs, no more than two layers high. Cover with lid or plastic wrap. Eat quickly!