What is the average shelf life of a grape? How long do grapes last in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer? What is the best way to store grapes to increase their shelf life? Find out the answers to these questions and more below:
Shelf Life of Grapes
| Pantry | Refrigerator | Freezer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw | - | 7-14 Days | 12 Months |
What is The Shelf Life of Grapes?
The grapes last in the pantry until they are ripe. The grapes continue for around 4-5 days in the refrigerator and three months in the freezer. If you want to extend the life of grapes, then don’t wash them and remove the moldy or bruised grapes before placing them in the refrigerator.
What Should You Assess While Buying The Grapes?
First of all, assess whether the grapes are healthy and ripe:
- Examine the texture of grapes: look for grapes which are plump and firm. Avoid the grapes which are shriveled. Avoid the grapes with excess moisture in the sealed bags.
- Look at the skin of the grapes: choose the grapes which have right shade, the ripe red grapes have a purple hue if they have green tinge it indicates the red grapes are not mature. The black grapes have a full bluish-black shade while the green grapes have a slight yellowish hue. Along with the skin tone, look for the silver colored dusting present on the skin of grapes known as bloom. It is for the protection of fruits to prevent them from rotting.
- Look for stems, the healthy grapes are in clusters and should be flexible and green.
- Check for the season before buying grapes.
- Choose from the variety of available grapes. Choose the ones which are slightly sweeter for eating. The more delicious grapes are preferred for table grapes. The most common ones include Concord, Canadice, Mars, and others.
- Select tart or very sweet grape for preparing a jam.
How to Handle Grapes?
Do not wash the grapes before storing them. It is essential to clean the grapes before you eat them to clean them from any pesticides or bacteria. Storing grapes leads to the formation of mold and rotten grapes. Rather than washing the entire bag of grapes, remove the grapes you need to serve and clean that bunch of grapes. Rinse them with cold, clean water from the tap. Place the washed grapes on a paper towel and serve them on a plate to prevent the spillage of water while you are eating.
How to Store the Grapes?
Keep the grapes in the original packing. The bags in which the grapes are sold protect the grapes allowing them to breathe. These bags have ventilation holes for moisture to escape and keeping the grapes away from the molds or getting spoiled quickly as they might rot in an unventilated bag.
You can also store the grapes in a sealable sandwich bag which allows the grapes to breathe so that you can freeze them
Keep the grapes in a cold environment. For short-term storage, place the grapes in a fridge at the temperature of 30-32 degrees Fahrenheit. If you want to store the grapes for smoothies or long-term, then put it in the freezer. Just merely wash the grapes, dry them and de-stem the grapes and store them in the fridge for extended periods.
How to Cook With Grapes?
Many people often consume grapes as a fruit, but they can be used for cooking purpose as well. There are many different ways to utilize grapes in cooking, for example, cakes, grapes served with roasted chicken, grape tarts, grape jams, grape chutneys, grape sauces or ice creams.