How To Clean Blueberries Without Turning Them To Mush

Is there anything worse than a mushy blueberry? Many would argue not. At their best, blueberries are firm enough that they almost pop in your mouth — unleashing a combination of sweet and tart flavors that no amount of blueberry candy or artificial flavoring can replicate. Added to anything from your oatmeal to your green salads, this firmness provides all the freshness your recipes need. Preserving that when you're washing them, however, isn't quite so simple. If your berries are even the slightest bit over-ripe — as berries from the grocery store so often are — cleaning them incorrectly could jeopardize everything. If you get a batch of blueberries and you notice that they've already gone a bit soft, the best thing you can do is clean them using the water bath method. 

As opposed to rinsing them under damaging running water, the water bath method is much gentler on your berries in that it only involves soaking them in a bowl. For the absolute best results, add a type of vinegar — such as distilled white, malt, apple cider, or wine vinegar — to your water bath and use a colander to hold the berries in the water. All-natural and food safe, vinegar will actually help to keep your berries fresher for longer by killing any mold spores or bacteria and rinsing away pesticides, while the colander will ensure an even soak and protect their shape. Added at a 1:4 ratio of vinegar to water and left to soak for about five minutes, you'll have firm, non-mushy berries to enjoy for even longer.

Once you've nailed washing your blueberries to avoid mushiness, the next step to ensuring they keep their firm texture is to store your berries the right way. Berries are notorious for going bad in the fridge, but there are ways around it — and it all starts with a good vinegar water bath. From there, however, you're going to need to ensure that you dry them off completely. This is another point in which you'll want to handle them with care by drying them gently, using either a paper towel or tea towel, a type of small towel associated with its namesake drink. Then, transfer them to a towel-lined, airtight container where they can all fit in a single layer and place them in the fridge. Stored this way, your berries should last you anywhere from three to seven days.

While opening the plastic container they come in and running them under cold water might be the easy way to wash your blueberries, it does nothing for their texture — and, as we stated earlier, there's nothing worse than a mushy blueberry. Nevertheless, if you find yourself with a batch that isn't suitable for direct snacking, you can make other uses of them. Somewhat soft blueberries that haven't molded or don't have a smell will work just fine in preparations that don't lean on their texture, such as baked in muffins, simple blueberry bread, pancakes, or used to make a homemade blueberry simple syrup. You can always freeze them and throw them in your morning smoothies, too.