Do you wash your produce before eating it? I used to only rinse my apples or pears with a little water and then bite into them.
For blueberries and grapes, I would put them in a colander and rinse them with cold water. While that was a good start, it wasn’t enough to really clean my fruit.
I changed the way I wash my fruits and vegetables. Now I use a vinegar and water solution to clean almost all of my produce that I bring home from the store.
Why does produce need to be washed?
Sometimes produce contains germs, bacteria, and even chemicals. These come from the soil that the plants grow in and the pesticides that are sprayed on plants.
Animals can also contaminate produce while it is growing.
Unless you buy your produce directly from a farmer, your food will be touched by many different people as it is transported from the farm, to the factory, loaded on a delivery truck and stocked in the grocery store.
How to Clean Fruits and Vegetables in Vinegar
While rinsing your fruits and vegetables in water is good. It won’t remove all of the bacteria and germs. You can get your produce much cleaner with a vinegar and water rinse.
Each week when I bring my groceries home from the store, I take about 15 minutes total to properly wash, dry, and store my fruits and vegetables.
1. Make a vinegar and water solution.
I like to use my kitchen sink to clean my produce, but you could also use a dishpan or big bowl.
Add cold water to your sink or bowl and a half to one cup of vinegar. The vinegar will help kill bacteria.
2. Add your fruits and vegetables.
Once your vinegar and water solution is ready, add your fruits or vegetables. I like to wash mine seperately so that it’s easier to sort them once they are clean.
Before you add them, take out any part that is rotten.
Allow the produce to sit in the water for about 3 minutes. You can swish the water around a bit. If you want to scrub some of the produce like potatoes or carrots, you can use a vegetable scrubber.
Even fruits that have peels need to be washed. As you peel and cut through the fruit or vegetables, your peeler and knife will pass any outer germs and bacteria along to the inner fruit.
The only produce you don’t want to submerge in the water is leafy greens. They are fragile and can simply be rinsed in cold water.
3. Rinse produce in a colander.
After 3 minutes of soaking the produce in water, add it to a colander and give it a final rinse with cold water.
It always amazes me how dirty my water is after taking the fruit out of it!
4. Dry completely.
The next step is to dry the fruit and vegetables throughly. This is an important step because you don’t want to store it wet. That will cause mold and more bacteria to grow.
I lay my fruit out on a towel on my countertop and then dry it with another towel.
5. Store produce.
Once your produce is clean, you should store it correctly to make it last longer. Plus, it will save you money and create less waste!
Most of your fruits and vegetables should be stored in the fridge. Use a crisper drawer for the best storage.
Fruit drawers should be stored in low humidity and vegetables in high humidity.
Potatoes, squash, and onions should be stored in a dark cool space. But don’t store the onions and potatoes together as the onions will cause your potatoes to rot faster.
If you have produce that isn’t ripe yet, you can store it on the countertop for a few days. Once it is ripe, place it in the fridge to last longer.
