Handling, picking tips for great berries
Here are some tips on choosing and handling berries, as spring ushers in the fresh fruit season:
General reminder: Berries are low in calories, have no fat, but do have lots of vitamin C and dietary fiber.
Strawberries: They don't ripen off the vine, so look for bright red berries with green caps.
Blueberries: Those picked earlier in the season are less sweet than those picked late, so it's important to taste them and adjust as necessary the sugar a recipe may call for.
Raspberries: They come in varieties colored black and yellow as well as red. Their high price is due to their fragile nature and the need for careful hand-picking.
Blackberries: They grow wild, they freeze well and can be used for a winter's worth of recipes.
Buying berries: Choose berries that are firm but not too hard, are even in color and shape, have no signs of mold, and have a faint fruity aroma.
Keeping berries fresh: Buy only what you plan to eat in a day or so. Keep them covered and unwashed (and, in the case of strawberries, unhulled) in the refrigerator. If they are washed they may deteriorate.
Freezing: Rinse delicate berries lightly in cold water and pat dry to keep them from crumbling.
To freeze, when they've been patted dry, spread across a cookie sheet so they do not clump together.
Once frozen, they may be packed together in airtight plastic bags or containers and stored in the freezer for 6 months.