Every summer, my refrigerator reaches a point where it’s approximately 40% strawberries. Some are destined for shortcake. Some end up in fruit salads. Some disappear one by one while I’m standing in front of the open refrigerator, trying to remember why I’m in the kitchen. And because I prep so many of them, I’ve developed strong opinions about the process.
Recently, I came across a video showing how to remove strawberry tops with a fork. The comments were full of people calling it brilliant, and that’s when I realized I’d accidentally filed this technique away under “things everybody knows.”
The truth is, I spend a lot of time thinking about food. Call it an occupational hazard. Somewhere along the line, kitchen tricks start blurring together. Is putting a wet paper towel under a cutting board common knowledge? Is everyone using that last bit of jam to make a fabulous cocktail? Does everybody know you can hull a strawberry with a fork? I genuinely have no idea anymore.
What I do know is that I’ve been using this trick for years, and every summer it saves me from one of my biggest kitchen pet peeves: wasting perfectly good strawberry. It always pains me a little when I see someone slice off the top with a knife, losing a chunk of fruit in the process. One strawberry isn’t much, but when you’re trimming several pounds over the course of a season, it really starts to add up.
The fork trick is faster, wastes less fruit and doesn’t require a specialty gadget you’ll use exactly twice before losing it in a drawer. That’s my favorite kind of kitchen trick.
What is the strawberry fork trick?
The strawberry fork trick removes the hull while leaving almost all of the fruit intact. To do it, hold the strawberry in one hand and slide a fork beneath the leafy top. Give it a slight twist, then pull upward. The stem and leaves should pop right out, leaving almost all of the fruit behind.
That’s it.
To be fair, strawberry tops are perfectly safe to eat. I usually don’t even bother removing them when the strawberries are headed for smoothies because everything gets blended anyway. But for summer desserts like strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie and beautiful strawberry trifles—or for a bowl of berries you’re planning to snack on—the fork trick is hard to beat.
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