storing dried figs

January 12, 2012 4:54 PM

Storing dried figs

How do you store dried figs? in the friz or on the countertop? How do you know if it has gone bad?

posted by page123 to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

I don't know about figs specifically, but I store all my dried fruit in the cupboard/pantry/countertop and it seems fine.

I assume you will know they've gone bad when they have mold on them or otherwise look gross. Or maybe if you bite into one and it doesn't taste good.
posted by Sara C. at 4:59 PM on January 12, 2012

I've never dealt with dried figs specifically either, but I store my dried fruit in airtight containers in the cupboard, also. No problems. Perhaps if yours are extremely sugary and not entirely dry, you might want to keep them in the fridge to ward off the growth of nasty things.

This website suggests you store them in an airtight container at a lower temperature.
posted by kpetrich at 5:14 PM on January 12, 2012

Dried figs will eventually grow mold--which is how you will know they have gone bad. If the get more dry than you want them, you can steep them in near boiling water to refresh them.

I just store mine in airtight glass jars in the pantry.
posted by crush-onastick at 5:24 PM on January 12, 2012

In a jar full of brandy.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 5:44 PM on January 12, 2012 [2 favorites]

I know from hard experience that pantry moths will chomp on them given half a chance, so in rigid airtight plastic or better yet glass. And I really like the brandy idea, although that makes for rather a different treat. You know they're bad if they're moldy or have little cobwebs on them.
posted by ottereroticist at 6:08 PM on January 12, 2012

I've had a lot of luck in freezing them.
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 6:30 PM on January 12, 2012

In the fall, winter and spring here in New England, I keep mine in a plastic bag tied with a twisty tie and then put that into an airtight plastic tupperware container and that just sits on a shelf in my kitchen. Don't ask me what is at work here in any scientific way -- I just know that it keeps them moist and soft longer than other methods I've tried (such as in a bag in the fridge, in a container on the shelf, etc.). In the summertime it's bananas humid here so I stick 'em in the fridge after a couple days.
posted by Rudy Gerner at 7:10 PM on January 12, 2012

If you have a lot of them, store them in separate, smaller batches, so that the inevitable mold won't get them all at once. Lower humidity will delay the mold.
posted by spasm at 11:36 AM on January 13, 2012