How to Wash Grapes and Keep Them Fresh Before Eating
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Learn how to wash grapes. Did you know there is a way to clean & store your grapes that will impact how fast they stay fresh? Clean them naturally without chemicals to preserve their goodness.
How to Wash Grapes and Keep Them Fresh Before Eating
Did you know that there is a way to clean & store your grapes that will have a HUGE impact on how fast they will turn? There absolutely is...
In this post, you will learn how to wash your grapes and keep preserve them longer. A simple solution that will change the way you clean your grapes forever. My kids often go into phases of what fruits they enjoy that week. Some weeks, they eat a lot, and then they decide they have had enough and move on.
I wanted to keep them fresher, and longer in preparation for their enjoyment. Wasting food is not an option in our house. I try to avoid it at all costs and I am sure you do too.
Did you know that grapes are by far one of the hardest fruits to wash thoroughly? Why?
There is a white film, called “bloom,” which is something that you see on several soft fruits and protects the grape from things like moisture loss and decay. Produced by the grape itself, the bloom is mostly made of a waxy substance called oleanolic acid.
Here are some Fun Facts you Probably Don’t Know About Grapes
How to wash grapes properly
Buying grapes and having to toss them three to four days later is not going to save you any money. In fact, you are just throwing away money and not to mention good, healthy, wholesome food. Grapes are by far one of the hardest fruits to wash thoroughly, as they’re always coated with that white, waxy stuff that just doesn’t come off with a regular rinse.
Most will tell you scrubbing will be needed, but that is not true. There are many ways that you can clean them, but I found that this way is the simplest and only requires two items.
Grapes are on the Dirty Dozen List
This year grapes are number six on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list. The list includes the 12 types of produce that have been found to contain the highest concentrations of pesticide residue. YIKES!
Other produce on the list:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale
- Nectarines
- Apples
Comparing Grapes – Different Stages of Age
The image below shows the difference between just purchased grapes up to two weeks old and being properly cared for. You can clearly see the difference it makes.
Keep your grapes fresher longer.
Prepping Your Grapes for Storage
The most important step is getting your grapes in the refrigerator immediately upon arriving home from grocery shopping. Grapes will stay freshest when stored at temperatures between 32 and 36 degrees Fahrenheit.
If your refrigerator includes a crisper drawer, GREAT! This is where they need to be placed. Otherwise, place them in the back of your fridge where it is always a few degrees cooler.
NEXT, don’t even think of cleaning your grapes until you are ready to eat them. That includes leaving them with the stem intact. Washing your grapes and pulling them from the stems will speed up the ripening process.
Rule #1 – Leave them be. I even store them in the bag as-is from the grocery store.
MAKE SURE that your grapes in the bag are loosely placed and not tight. The tighter the fit, the less air movement. Bacteria LOVES, cool, dark places without air. Let’s not give them the opportunity to spoil our food.
How To Wash Your Grapes with Vinegar
No one wants to eat a dirty grape. BLAH! I have come up with a very simple and effective way to clean grapes.
One way that does require a lot of work and packs a punch in terms of keeping your grapes fresher for longer. We are all about simple and effective methods. They always say; “work smarter, not harder.” I 100% agree with this statement.
What you will need:
Two simple ingredients.
One Gallon of Cold Water
Why use Vinegar to Clean And Prepare Fresh Grapes?
Vinegar has been shown to have antimicrobial properties, which is the basis of this method for cleaning produce like grapes. You can choose to use either apple cider vinegar (ACV) or white vinegar.
Both kinds of vinegar have around the same percentage of acetic acid in the 4-7% range. So each type will get the job done. Distilled vinegar is usually the cheapest.
Ready!
First, soak them in a bowl (with stems on) in roughly one gallon of very cold water and add in a 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar.
Not sure how this equation would work for smaller bunches. I do use one of my bigger mixing bowls to soak bunches of grapes all at once. We eat grapes by the handfuls in our house, so cleaning them all at once works for us. I let them soak for 30 to 45 minutes. Set it and forget it.
“Hey, Alexa Set a timer for 30 minutes” – Simple – DONE!
(Check out that water! Gross, right?)
And that, my friends, is how you Clean And Prepare Fresh Grapes.
The best part of this soaking method? There is no need to scrub those grapes individually. The amount of YUCK that is removed from the grapes is amazing. Once they are clean, place them on a dry towel and let them air dry, then pull them from the stems and enjoy.
A simple solution to help prevent food waste.
I would recommend eating them within 72 hours of cleaning them. Again, once clean and de-stemmed they turn rather quickly as we have already learned. Now it is your turn to enjoy longer-lasting fresh grapes!
If you used this method to clean your grapes, we would love to hear all about it. Leave us a comment below and tell us how well it worked for you.
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When in doubt, use vinegar and water! Seems to work for everything! I use it on all kind of fruits and veggies, and it works great!
100% agree!!!
Do you rinse them after taking them out of the vinegar wash?
Hi Elissa,
Yes, just a quick rinse.
I like eating grapes. Most times, washing grapes is very time-consuming and I will try this method. It sounds like a very good way.
I would never have thought of this! I never knew there was a a right way to wash grapes.
So there is a right way in washing grapes. Honestly, I sometimes feel that we have to consume grapes right away at home for fear that they won’t stay fresh long. Now, I know what to do.
Oh wow! I never thought there’s a right way to clean and wash grapes! These tips come in handy since I’m doing it the wrong way for far too long.
Wow these are such good tips to clean grapes! I never thought to clean them like this before reading your post. Thanks for this eye opener.
I’m up for any tips to make food last longer. It is so hard to keep up with foods for the family, and I hate seeing things go to waste.
Exactly!!! I feel the same way.
This is actual very helpful, my grapes always seem to spoil so quickly. Thank you for sharing!
You’re Welcome
I heard about this method. Seems very effective in preserving and cleaning grapes. I’ll do this soon. Thanks!
Honestly, we never pay a lot of attention to how clean the grapes but this is mind-opening. Will start to make sure that it’s very clean.
Fransic –
Wow! This is amazing! I love grapes and it’s one of my favorite fruits! I really hate it when they look dry after I purchased them.
These are good tips. I love grapes. I’ve heard you can store them in the freezer and eat them as frozen snacks too, but I have not tried that yet.
Freezer grapes are so delish!!
I never thought you could wash grapes in a certain way to make them last longer. Thanks for sharing this
You’re Welcome.. We stretch them out as long as we can.
So my laziness of not cleaning them as soon as we get home actually pays off in this instance! We eat a lot of grapes, too, but have always cleaned them as we eat. Although, we don’t clean them this thoroughly so I’ll have to start doing that for my boys.
HA HA!!! YES!!! you have done well my friend.
Vinegar water is a great method for cleaning grapes. It always works well with other fruit and veggies!!
Absolutely does!
After preparing grapes and soak method, I then put on a cookie sheet to dry off. I place sheet of single layer grapes in our freezer. After an hour or so, I pour them in a freezer bag, marked date, we enjoy a small amount each evening. We leave them out to partially thaw, they are refreshing and a healthy alternative to other sugary snacks.
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Thank you, Sharon, for sharing your tip. That is a fantastic way to enjoy your grapes.
Actually, this was the first time I’d ever Googled “BEST WAY TO CLEAN GRAPES”, and I’m 42 years old. This site and your instructions detailing your own cleaning methods grapes were rather strangely, and oddly basically IDENTICAL to those of my own. It was nice reading a “PROFESSIONALS” own methods, tried, true, and backed by science were the same I had been using myself for the last 5 years roughly. It was around 5 years ago that I much like many others, was swept up in the “CLEANING WITH VINEGAR” craze that within my own circles, were begining to take hold. Thank you for your detailed instructions, I really needed to run into this type of article. One that makes me feel like maybe, JUST MAYBE,EVER ONCE IN A WHILE, I really do happen to do things “RIGHT/CORRECTLY”, sometimes. Also gives me a bit of a “CONFIDENCE BOOST”, because maybe, JUST MAYBE, I’m really not as stupid as I think I am throughout my days. They’re roller coasters, UP AND DOWN, all day everyday. I woke up blind in September 2012, and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I regained my vision to what is my “NEW NORMAL”, which is really pretty good, 20/20 per the opthalmologist. Just wanted to say thanks for the article/instructional on cleaning grapes. I guess I’m really not THAT STUPID after all…..JK’ing!!???
OHHH MAN RobT! This is by far the best comment I have ever received. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. IN FACT, I love that you are a “pro” and didn’t even know it. I am sorry to hear about all your medical problems. They can be very frustrating, but your personality is so positive. We need more people like you. Have a wonderful week.