The Blueberry Myth You Need To Stop Believing At The Grocery Store

Blueberry season is almost in full swing, with the overall peak harvest usually happening in July. They're available in some form year-round, but nothing beats the freshness of a summer crop. And when you're shopping for the right box of blueberries at the grocery store, there's one potentially surprising tip that could affect what you pick up.

Tasting Table spoke to Florencia Cusumano, head chef at Butler bakeshop in New York City, who asserted that size does matter, though perhaps not in the way you think. "Bigger isn't better here. Oversized blueberries can be watery and dull in flavor, while smaller ones often carry a more concentrated sweetness."

It's not just concentrated flavor, either. Like other fruits, most of the blueberries' nutritional value is found in their skin. And since the skin-to-pulp ratio on smaller berries is higher due to their size, you're getting more of their essential antioxidants and vitamins per serving with small berries. But getting the best, tastiest blueberries may not be as straightforward as just getting the smallest ones possible.

Assuming bigger is better is one of the bigger mistakes to avoid when blueberry shopping, but so is not checking the box for issues before you buy. And while you're inspecting it for any potential issues, you may notice that the berries vary in size and color. It's not necessarily an indicator of poor quality or uneven ripeness, but rather the blueberry industry at large.

Despite simply being known as blueberries, there are actually many unique blueberry varieties to know about. Lowbush, Highbush, Pink Champagne, Sunshine Blue, and many more are all blueberries, but they all have slightly different appearances and sizes. And when farms sell blueberries for consumer sale, there will often be a mix of several different — but similar — species inside because separating the different varieties is not cost-effective, and consumers generally don't notice or care.

Accounting for the species variety, picking out the best blueberries otherwise covers a lot of familiar fruit shopping territory. Check for under- or over-ripeness, mushiness or mold, and any wrinkles or bruises, which do indicate poor quality or flavor regardless of the blueberries' species or size. And the more small berries there are, the more concentrated the flavor and nutritional profile.

Tasting Table and Daily Meal are both owned and operated by Static Media.