Preserve Fresh Fruit Salad
Fresh fruit salad is a nutritious and delicious dish that will spoil quickly unless some method of preserving it is used. There are several commercial products designed to preserve fruit, and they all use the same combination of ingredients: dextrose, ascorbic acid, citric acid and silicon dioxide. These products will keep fruit salad fresh for about four to six hours, depending on which fruits are in the salad mix, and can be found in the canning section of your local grocery. A homemade preservative can be made using just a pinch of salt, lemon juice and canned pineapple juice.
Instructions
1. Prepare the preservative. Fresh fruit will quickly begin to wilt and turn brown as soon as it is cut, so be prepared to add the preservative immediately. If commercial preservative is to be used, make sure it is open and ready to go. If you plan to use homemade preservative, use the following recipe:
1/8 cup cold water
1/4 cup canned pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pinch salt
Combine the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
To measure a pinch of salt, dip the tip of a chef's knife into salt until the crystals cover 1/4 inch of the blade tip. This method can be used to measure a pinch of any dried spice or seasoning.
2. Cut fresh fruit into bite-sized pieces. Place the cut fruit into a large mixing bowl. Mix until the fruit is blended well.
3. Add the preservative to the cut fruit. Mix well, coating the fruit pieces evenly with preservative. Keep the fruit salad refrigerated until you are ready to serve it; allow the fruit pieces to remain in the excess juices until you are ready to place the salad into a serving dish.
4. Strain excess liquid from the fruit mix before serving it. Use a colander or strainer to drain all of the fruit at once, or use a slotted spoon to strain individual portions to order.
Tags: pinch salt, canned pineapple, canned pineapple juice, Fresh Fruit Salad, fruit into, fruit pieces, homemade preservative