How do you wash your fruits/berries?

[FTMLuc]

Question sparked by a visit to my distant cousin who washed blueberries for DD with dishsoap to “wash off all the nitrates.” I have never thought of washing my fruits and especially berries with soap. Usually I just use water. If something like an apple has that waxy stuff, I peel it after washing. We do have similar parenting styles/values, so maybe she is onto something? I am hoping that the BBB wisdom will shed some light on it.

[mikala]

Uhhhhhh, maybe I'm missing something but I didn't think berries had nitrates? I know nitrates are prevalent in lunchmeats but don't normally associate them with fruit. I can see washing the berries to remove pesticide residues, dirt, etc. but that particular phrase is new to me. I currently just wash them thoroughly in a colander with lots of running water and a little friction but planned to ask a similar question before we get to fresh produce season again. I also try to buy organic when we can but they tend to be so darn expensive.

[waitingforgrace]

I answered just water but some fruits like oranges, melons and lemons I do wash the outside with soap before cutting. I do it so the knife isn't contaminated with dirt or germs from the rind when I cut through it. If I remember correctly this is how people got sick with salmonella from cantaloupe.

[FTMLuc]

melons ... I do wash the outside with soap before cutting. I do it so the knife isn't contaminated with dirt or germs from the rind when I cut through it. If I remember correctly this is how people got sick with salmonella from cantaloupe.

Oh, I do that too. For some reason I always forget that melons are considered fruit. :bag

[SnuggleBuggles]

Nitrates are in soil, right? Isn't that the reason they (used to?) recommend not making your own home made baby food carrots- you can't control the nitrate levels?

Anyway, I just use water.

[Smillow]

I have tried in the past to wash apples with dish soap and then they taste like dish soap so I don't do that. I would never wash berries with soap. I have heard that using vinegar to rinse helps them last longer, but we just wash just prior to eating.

[SoloMelody]

Interesting...I use only water. Because I think a lot of berries etc get pressure washed before packaging to remove dirt/grime.

Back home grandma used to wash/sit grapes in salt water to help remove the pesticides sprayed on. As I write this up I should probably rinse grapes, cherries, berries in salt water......

I have never used dish soap though...thats new to me.

[marymoo86]

Running water

Dishsoap isn't safe for human consumption and fruits/veggies can soak up some of the detergent

[elbenn]

I sometimes use just water, but sometimes I spray a little vinegar on fruits and then wash it off with water.

[sntm]

just water, but I only buy organic fruits (especially berries) so the main issue is bacteria.

[pantrygirl]

Sometimes I just rinse with water but I make an effort to rinse most of my fruit and veggies with water and produce wash from BioKleen. They make a non-toxic wash.

[maestramommy]

Salt water. Don't know why. But my mom washes all cluster fruit (including grapes) this way. One of my Taiwanese friends does this too, so maybe it's an Asian thing?

[lchang25000]

Salt water. Don't know why. But my mom washes all cluster fruit (including grapes) this way. One of my Taiwanese friends does this too, so maybe it's an Asian thing?

I was told to wash most fruit with salt water too, but I don't...

[FTMLuc]

Running water

Dishsoap isn't safe for human consumption and fruits/veggies can soak up some of the detergent

That is what I thought, hense the question to BBB.

[FTMLuc]

For the salt water wash - is there a magic proportion of salt to water? Thank you all for your responses.

[Penny's Pappa]

Detergents are used to help wash away materials that don't readily dissolve in water (e.g. oils). Nitrates are freely soluble in water, so using a detergent is entirely unnecessary. Just use running water.

[maestramommy]

For the salt water wash - is there a magic proportion of salt to water? Thank you all for your responses.

I doubt it. I just do as my mom did. Sprinkle directly from the can, then submerge in water and soak for a few minutes.

PSA. For freshly picked very ripe strawberries, don't soak more than a couple of minutes. Otherwise they will become quite runny.