The Simple Way To Check Blueberries For Peak Ripeness

Fellow berry lovers: We've all been there. You take your time searching the containers at the store, trying to find the ripest, most delicious blueberries. Sometimes, you come home to find that you got it right, and you get to enjoy one deliciously sweet bite after another. Other times, you're left with sour berries that leave you longing for pperfectly ripe blueberries. Good news: Finding the ripest blueberries in the store is as simple as looking for a dark blue color with a hint of white or gray bloom (more on that in a moment).

When you pick up a container of blueberries at the store, take your time. Look at the berries on the top, bottom, and sides of the container, and make sure that the majority of them are dark blue. If you see a white or gray powdery coating, it's not a blueberry red flag at all — that's the bloom that blueberries naturally produce as they grow. The bloom is a natural waxy coating that indicates ripeness. If you're able to get your hands on these perfectly colored berries, go ahead and toss them into your grocery cart. You can eat them from the box or go to town making a bakery-worthy blueberry pie as soon as you get home.

When you're shopping for some fruits — like bananas, for instance — you know that they'll ripen as they sit on your counter, making their way to perfect sweetness just before you bite into them. Blueberries, however, are a little different. If you see white or green blueberries in your container, they won't continue to ripen as they sit on your counter. If you have red or light blue blueberries in your container, there's still a chance they may turn ripe over time. If you find that you have a few berries that still need a little bit more time, you can place them in a paper bag with an apple or a banana (both produce ethylene gas, which can help your sour blueberries ripen a bit faster).

Sometimes, you end up with the opposite problem. You bring home perfectly-sweet, dark blue blueberries with a hint of bloom from the grocery store, and you're not sure how you're going to get to enjoy all of them before they go bad. The best blueberry storage method is also the easiest — simply placing them in the fridge, unwashed, can help them last longer than they would sitting on your kitchen counter.