It’s crucial to understand how to clean grapes and why they require a good scrub before you grab a snack. Fortunately for you, your pantry likely already contains everything you need to wash them. Use one of our two methods to wash grapes before picking up a bunch.
Why Is It Necessary To Clean Grapes Before Eating
Being one of the “Dirty Dozen,” or produce most likely to contain pesticides, grapes are included on the list. When produce contains such harmful chemicals, extra time and attention must be taken to ensure that it is thoroughly cleaned. what is good news? You probably already have the food-safe cleaning tools you need in your kitchen!
What Time of Day Is Best for Cleaning Grapes?
While it may be tempting to wash your grape bunches all at once, washing grapes is best done just before consumption. The extra moisture left over from pre-washing will provide bacteria with more moisture to flourish, hastening the aging process.
How To Clean Grapes?
Use one of the techniques listed below to make certain that your grapes are exceptionally clean. Use anything you have in your pantry, but make sure you always have baking soda on hand because it’s excellent for cleaning grapes.
Wash grapes with salt and baking soda.
Pick the grape bunches you want to consume and give them a quick rinse under cold water. Add one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of baking soda to the bowl of grapes. For about a minute, gently shake and clean the grapes with your fingers. Next drain the grapes with cold water and put them in a colander or fine-mesh strainer. Eat after drying off.
Wash Grapes with Baking Soda and Vinegar
This technique is for you if you’re a firm believer in using vinegar for cleaning. Put as many grapes in a bowl as you’d like to eat.
Add enough water to the basin to completely submerge the grapes. Add 2 tablespoons each of vinegar and baking soda (you can use distilled or apple cider vinegar). To uniformly coat the grapes, gently shake the container with your fingers. Let the grapes 10 to 15 minutes to soak in the solution.
Remove them from the bowl, put them in a colander or sieve, and then wash them in cool water.
A cleaning technique I DO NOT advise
A technique for cleaning grapes that I’ve came across involves using flour as the scrubbing agent, which I strongly advise you against employing. The procedure is the same whether you’re using salt or baking soda, with the exception that you’d use flour. Don’t do this, please!
This is why. Gluten allergy, sensitivity, and celiac disease are quite frequent. As the mother of a child who has a severe allergy, I can attest that one item that allergy sufferers frequently believe to be risk-free is fresh produce.
In reality, grapes that have been washed in flour pose a serious risk to anyone with an allergy or a youngster. I still advise you to use one of the other techniques in this post rather than flour even if you’re only cleaning grapes for your own household and not for a potluck or shared snack.
In regards to Commercial Produce Washes
The effectiveness and safety of these washes have not been examined. In my opinion, they add unwanted chemicals to your produce and are at best a waste of money.
The aforementioned techniques are unquestionably just as effective as commercial produce cleaners, if not more so. Also, using these straightforward produce cleaning techniques will always be less expensive.
How to Keep Grapes Safe
If your refrigerator has a crisper drawer and there is room in it, you should keep newly purchased grapes there unwashed. Your cleansed grapes will no longer have much of the protective bloom on them.
Wait until you’re almost ready to eat your grapes before washing them because doing so dramatically speeds up the process of their drying up and turning rotten. My general rule of thumb is that after washing, they must be consumed within 12 to 24 hours.