Moldy raspberries! How distressing! That's Katie's problem. Can you help her?
The past few times I've bought rasberries at the store, I've gotten them home to find them moldy on the inside of the fruit. It's usually not much, but enough to make me not want to eat them. Is this a common problem? How do I make sure that my raspberries won't be moldy if I can't see the inside when I'm purchasing? Or is this something I should just accept and eat anyway because it might not kill me, and I should think of more like cheese?
Katie, we definitely would not eat super-moldy raspberries; it gives them a really unpleasant flavor. (Wet dog, sort of?) But as for avoiding it, all we can advise is to open the package and check really carefully. It's hard to find good berries in the grocery store, too; perhaps there is a local source or farm close by where you can pick your own?
Readers, do you have any other advice for Katie on how to avoid moldy raspberries?
Related: Quick Cocktail: Raspberry Limeade Cooler
(Image: Flickr member grendelkhan licensed for use under Creative Commons)
I hate this too!
If you are buying already packagesd raspberries, or even picking them yourself, go for packages that don't pile them on top of each other. Ideally you would have a single layer, but that usually isn't feasible. Raspberries are so delicate that the weight of just a few layers squeezes out the juices and that moisture will cause mold to grow quite quickly.
If you aren't eating your pruchased raspberries right away then take them out of the original container and store them in a single layer on a plate or cookie sheet. And don't wash them until you are ready to eat, if at all.
view Mama Ark's profile
Also, even if you can't go pick them yourself, I recommend only buying them when they're in season near you. If you're getting them from South American they'll be spending more time in shipping and will have more time to develop mold.
view eden713's profile
I have a rasperry bush and have picked them, put them in a bowl and found them moldy the next day. So it's not just a grocery store problem.
Like Mama Ark said, they have to be in a single layer and dry. And eat them quickly too!
view Nikita's profile
If there's a you-pick-em place near you, you could try that. It's a lot of fun if you go with friends, although it doesn't really seem to be any cheaper.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
Even the farmer's market ones have mold--they are just that fragile.
view ValHalla's profile
I'm not sure what you're using them for, but frozen raspberries are often frozen within hours of being picked and so are less likely to have problems with molding. So if you're going to add them to a cake or spoon them over ice cream or mix them in yogurt, then maybe just buying frozen would work.
If you want to eat them by themselves, then, well, I'm not sure. :)
view laetitiae's profile
That happened the last time I got a grocery special on raspberries, always peer into the box for moldy or mashed ones, but the mold was inside the berry and the taste was to awful to eat any of them. Blackberries seem consistently
better.
view Kate (NC)'s profile
Quick cooling of the fruit after it comes in from the field is also essential. Keep this in mind if you are going to a U-Pick.
view Andy M.'s profile
Before you leave the store, open the box and test one or two berries......exchange the box immediately if you get some bad ones.
view ohjodi's profile