Once harvested, strawberries don’t keep ripening. Unlike bananas or avocados, which is climacteric, strawberries are non-climacteric and their sugars ceases developing at the moment of picking. A firm, still-tart strawberry that still shows some orange or white in it is just going to get softer as time passes; it won’t ever turn sweet.
That is the first rule for handling this fruit. If in doubt as to readiness, look at the fruit: It will have a uniform, deep red all over, from its stem to its tip. Berries that are pale pink (and also good for shipping) is still green inside and not yet ripe enough for immediate eating. Examine the center: If there’s any white left in the berry’s insides, then it was picked before ripening. Color on the outside best indicates ripeness, as it shows the amount of sugars within fruit.
How to Pick, Store, and Enjoy Fresh Strawberries
A great pick also depends on what kind of strawberry you’re eating. Everbearing and day neutral strawberries will produce more berries but on a smaller scale. June-bearing strawberries comes out all at once in early summer and produce larger, sweeter fruit. This happens because they put all their energy into one big crop instead of spreading it across many small ones. If you’re looking for jam-making material or want something that will taste good fresh, go June-bearing.
Storing the fruit properly also preserves it. Moisture is strawberries’ enemy. Washing them before storage will break their cellular structure and invite mold to set up shop. So let the berries stay dry as long as possible, right up to eating time. In the meantime, put them unwashed in the fridge in a single layer on paper towels that provide some air space between berry. They’ll last a few more days like this.
To keep them for longer, wash and hull the berries. Flash-freeze them on a cookie sheet so they don’t all clump together as one big hunk of frozen berry. Then, transfer them to freezer containers.
If you want to protect the crop while it grows, you have to protect it. The birds like the fruit, especially as it turns from green to red, so that is why they do it. Net the plants as early in the season as possible. This prevents birds from getting to the fruit first and causing you to lose it.
Mulch with pine needles or straw to keep the berries up off the ground. Molding begins more quickly if the berries touch the soil. That’s called “dirt splash.” Don’t water from above, water at the base of the plant instead to keep the leaves dry and lower the risk of disease.
How you pick also matters. Don’t pull hard, this damages the plant and can cut back on next year’s crop. Instead, hold the stem just above the berry between thumb and forefinger and twist gently as you go. It shouldn’t of take much force to free a ripe berry from the plant. When in doubt: don’t tug. If you need to really hang in there, it isn’t quite there yet.
To test if it’s ready, sniff right at the stem. Sweet-smelling, strong fragrance equals fully ripe strawberry. No smell? Wait one more day. A fermented or alcoholic smell means it is past its best and will be soft inside.
It’s all about timing, as every berry has its own small window when it’s ripe and ready (two or three days, tops). If you pick them too soon, they will have no flavor and be bland; if you pick them to late, sugar formation stops the moment the stem is cut off. Letting them ripen a bit longer (patience!) brings out deeper color and aroma. It’s worth the wait because the result has a more intense taste. A deep red color throughout means they’ve reached their sugar peak.