Every smoothie box from Craft Smoothie includes five healthy smoothie recipes, plus a range of seasonal produce and organic superfoods which change every week. To help preserve the freshness of your smoothie ingredients and lock in optimal flavour, here are our top storage tips...
How To Store Bananas
Bananas are a brilliant base for superfood smoothies and how you choose to store you bananas can impact the overall taste of a smoothie recipe. Remember, the riper the banana, the creamier and sweeter it will taste. Here's how to decide how to store your bananas:
- If you're partial to a sweet and creamy smoothie - leave your bananas to ripen by storing them at room temperature.
- If your bananas look "just right" and you want to stop them from ripening further - store them in the fridge to slow down the ripening process. The skins will darken but the banana itself will be good to go for your smoothies!
- If your bananas are looking a little green - leave them in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed up the ripening process
- If you like a thick smoothie - chop your bananas into pieces and store them in an air-tight container in the fridge. Make sure the pieces are small enough to be blender-friendly and remember to add enough liquid for a smooth blend!
How To Store Mangos
To make sure your mango is at its peak ripeness and sweetness for your smoothies, press gently against the skin with your thumb to decide whether it should be stored in the fridge, or on the bench. Here's how to know where to store your mango:
- If the mango yields to gentle pressure against your thumb, you know it's ripe and ready to blend, so store it in the fridge to preserve ripeness.
- If the mango does not yield to gentle pressure and you want to give it some more time to ripen, save the smoothie recipes with mango for later in the week and try this trick to speed up the ripening process:
- Add your mango to a brown paper bag with an apple or banana
- Close the bag to trap the naturally-occurring ethylene gases produced by the apple or banana, which can help the fruits to ripen faster together
- Leave the bag at room temperature for one to two days to allow the mango ripen
- If you're only using half the mango for a smoothie recipe, we recommend chopping the full mango and storing half of the flesh in an airtight container for your next recipe. To prep, slice off the cheeks of the mango and scoop the flesh out of the skin using a large spoon. Don't forget to chop off the remaining mango flesh from around the seed!
How To Store Avocados
Just-ripe avos are awesome in smoothies because they're not only one of the most nutritionally-potent fruits, they're also packed with fibre and heart-healthy fats. Plus, they can help your body absorb more nutrients from other plant-based smoothie ingredients. The ripeness of your avocado will determine how you should store it, so here’s what you need to know:
- If the avocado yields to gentle pressure in the palm of your hand - you know it's ripe and ready-to-blend. You can make one of the avocado smoothie recipes in your Craft Smoothie box first, or store your avocado in the fridge to preserve ripeness.
- If the avocado does not yield to gentle pressure and you want to give it some more time to ripen - save the smoothie recipes with avocado for later in the week and try this trick to speed up the ripening process:
- Add your avocado to a brown paper bag with an apple or banana
- Close the bag to trap the naturally-occurring ethylene gases produced by the apple or banana, which can help the fruits to ripen faster together
- Leave the bag at room temperature for one to two days to allow the avocado ripen
- If you're only using half an avocado for a smoothie recipe - store the other half in the fridge in an air-tight container or wrapped in bees wax wrap to limit the surface area exposed to air. Leaving in the avocado seed can also help limit the exposed surface area.
How To Store Pears
Unlike other fruits, pears ripen from the inside out, so don't judge a book by its cover! Here's how to work out whether to store your pear in the fridge or not:
- If the pear gives to gentle pressure at the stem - it's ripe and ready for ya! Either make the pear smoothie recipe from your Craft Smoothie box now, or store the pear in the fridge.
- If the pear is firm to touch and doens't give to pressure at the stem - leave the pear at room temperature before crafting your smoothie.
- If you want to speed up the ripening process - place your pear in a brown paper bag. This traps ethylene (a naturally occurring gas) which pears produce as they ripen. Or place the pear next to your bananas or avocado, which also naturally release ethylene as they ripen.
How To Store Berries And Grapes
- The grapes and freshly-picked berries in your Craft Smoothie box can be transferred straight to the fridge. Keep them in their packaging to maintain freshness - easy as!
How To Store Oranges, Mandarins & Apples
- Oranges and mandatrins don’t ripen further after they’ve been picked, so transfer your oranges to the fridge to preserve their shelf life.
- You can also transfer your apples straight from your Craft Smoothie box to the fridge - they’ll keep fresh in there and be ready to rock when you're ready to blend!
How To Store Leafy Greens And Carrots
Every Craft Smoothie box includes two green smoothie recipes with pre-portioned leafy greens like spinach or kale. Carrots are also a popular addition to Craft Smoothie recipes, as they're an awesome source of beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant which can help protect against ageing and disease.
- After receiving your smoothie box, you should transfer the leafy greens to the fridge as soon as you can. We recommend blending the leafy green smoothie recipes towards the start of the week to maintain freshness.
- Carrots are best stored in an airtight container or plastic bag in the fridge to preserve freshness, as they can begin to go limp when exposed to air.
How To Store Stone Fruit
Apricots, plums, nectarines and peaches
You can expect to see plenty of stone fruit rolling into our smoothie boxes over the summer months, and how you choose to store your stone fruit can impact the juiciness of your smoothie. To determine whether to store your stone fruit in the fridge or in your fruit bowl, take these tips into account:
- If the stone fruit yields when pressed gently, store in your refrigerator until you’re ready to craft your smoothie. It’ll be awesomely juicy so be careful when you’re chopping your fruit to make sure those juices make it into your blender, not all over the bench!
- If the stone fruit is firm to touch, store your fruit at room temperature and keep an eye on it. If it starts to ripen and yields when gently pressed, transfer to the fridge. It’ll be perfect for your smoothies now!
- If you want to speed up the ripening process, place your stone fruit in a paper bag and store at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
How To Store Superfood Bags
Each Craft Smoothie recipe includes a carefully crafted superfood bag with a combination of organic superfoods - nuts, seeds, superfood powders and dried fruit like goji berries and dates.
- Your superfood bags can be transferred straight from your smoothie box to your pantry.
Discover the health benefits of the superfoods we include in our smoothies, or get started to find out how our smoothies can kickstart your day!