Dates are not only delicious, they have a much longer shelf life than most fruits so you can buy them in bulk and save money! First, however, you want to make sure you purchase dates as fresh as possible to ensure that long shelf life of your dates once you bring them home.
When dates are in season (September through November is when most harvesting takes place in America), fresh dates can often be found in farmers markets in California and Arizona, which is where the bulk of date crops are harvested. The good news is you don’t have to sleuth out a farmers market to get fresh dates. As they have earned their place as a star superfood, dates are everywhere from health food stores to supermarkets, even via bulk mail order!
When selecting dates at the supermarket, look for plump, shiny-skinned ones. They will look wrinkled, but shouldn’t be hard to the touch. Keep an eye out for crystallization — that’s a sure sign that your dates are not as fresh as they should be at the time of purchase.
Most fresh dates that you purchase at the store or even at the farmers markets have been “cured,” which means they’ve hung on the trees and dried naturally a bit before being harvested so that they last longer once picked. These dates will last up to two months in an airtight container at room temperature; they can also be store in the refrigerator up to a year. Dates also can be stored for over a year in the freezer. Because of their high sugar content they do not hard freeze. This will lock in the moisture for later use.
As they continue to dry on their own, they will crystalize — a process that results in white spots or fine dust that is actually sugar, not mold. To remove the powdery sugar and rehydrate your dates that have gotten a bit dried out, simply wrap in a damp paper towel until they plump back up. Heating them slightly will help the dates reabsorb the crystalized sugars.
All of our dates at Sphinx are hand sorted and packed as needed to ensure top quality! Our date gifts are also made fresh at the time of order.