Fresh strawberries can go directly into the refrigerator, but will do just fine on the counter for a couple of days. Remove any bruised or otherwise marred berries and place the rest in a colander or open-weave basket to allow good airflow.
To do this, line a plate, baking sheet or shallow glass bowl with a couple paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Place your unwashed strawberries on top in a single layer, then cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, ideally within seven days.
Because strawberries and other fresh berries tend to have mold spores on their surfaces, they spoil faster when left out at room temperature. Keeping them in the fridge slows down this process so you have more time to use them. It's the best option when you need to keep your strawberries for more than a day or so.
Strawberries should be refrigerated within 2 hours of cutting them. If they are left out for more than 2 hours, throw them away.
Just keep it in an airtight jar in your fridge. "If you put your fruit, like strawberries, in a glass jar in the refrigerator, they stay fresh for 2 to 3 weeks!" This method of storing food is actually pretty popular amongst the zero-waste community.
Though strawberries need the chill of the refrigerator for best keeping, let them come to room temperature before serving. Warmer temperatures allow our taste buds and nose sensors to take full advantage of strawberries' true essence.
Arrange freshly picked strawberries in a single layer on a shallow plate or pie plate lined with paper towels. Cover or fit into a large plastic sealable bag and then seal the bag and refrigerate. Stored this way, strawberries should last at least five-seven days. The strawberries should stay dry and cold.
Why do berries go bad so fast? It comes down to moisture… and mold. Berries tend to be quite porous, water-rich and delicately skinned, meaning they soak up excess moisture in their environment very easily. They also pretty much all carry mold spores, which grow rapidly when moisture is plentiful.
Then cover the container loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate them. Whatever container you choose, make sure it's well ventilated and be sure the berries have enough room to breathe. Properly stored strawberries should last around 7 days.
Once they've been cut into, strawberries should always be stored in an airtight container to keep the flesh from drying out and bacteria from growing. Berries don't last nearly as long once sliced so it's best to keep them whole as long as possible.
If you don't plan to eat your strawberries the day you bring them home, the best place for them is in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. It helps to maintain humidity and keep the berries from losing moisture and becoming dry.
After they've been cleaned and dried, you'll want to store them in an air-tight container lined with paper towels. This will help soak up any additional moisture. If washed and stored properly, strawberries should last about two weeks in the refrigerator.
For whole berries: Freeze the berries in a single layer on a baking sheet to keep them from getting stuck together. Once they're solid, transfer the berries to a container, such as FreezerWare™, or a zip freezer bag such as Glad® Freezer Zipper Gallon Bags.
Don't crowd your berries when storing
Then cover the container with a loose-fitting lid to let excess moisture (a breeding ground for bacteria) escape. You don't want to use airtight containers here.
If your berries came in a ventilated plastic clamshell-type package, wash it with soap and hot water, rinse and dry, then line it with a dry paper towel. Put the clean, dry berries back in the clamshell and store them in the fridge.
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.
Refrigerate if not used right away.
Cold temperatures suppress the flavor of the berries so they will taste sweeter if you let them come to room temperature before eating. The optimum storage temperature for strawberries is 32⁰ to 36⁰F with humidity at 90 to 95 percent.
Quickly remove and discard any berries that are moldy or are touching moldy berries, wash the rest well, and then dry them before storing to prevent new mold. And if more than a quarter of the berries in your container are moldy, discard the whole batch.
Conclusion: The glass jar method is the clear winner. Strawberries that last three weeks in the refrigerator are a total win! You can keep these berries for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.
“If water is contaminated with Hepatitis, the strawberry comes into direct contact with the virus, and it's not likely to be washed off, because they're very delicate; it's not a smooth surface,” he says. “It's not easy to wash it off. So the virus can hide.”
One of the great things about vinegar is that it destroys harmful bacteria so bathing your strawberries in it will keep them fresh longer. And don't worry about your berries tasting like vinegar. You'll be washing it off.
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.
Storing Method: Stored in an airtight glass jar.
About this method: One method I had seen a handful of experts suggest is storing fresh strawberries in an airtight glass jar (like a Mason jar). You just place your unwashed strawberries straight into the jar, screw the lid on, and pop it in the fridge.