by Mel L.

Created on: December 15, 2011   Last Updated: December 18, 2011

To make a delicious cranberry sauce, it’s a must to start out with the freshest, best quality ingredients available. The purer the ingredients the better your sauce will taste.

So before you hit the market, here are some hints and tips to picking out cranberries. A helping hand to make your cranberry sauce the best it can be; for this season, or any other.

Quality in Cranberries

Quality in your cranberry is imperative as a good or bad cranberry can make or break your sauce. So when buying cranberries it is essential to know what to look for. A good cranberry will be plump, shiny, firm, and a lovely hue of red. Typically the deeper the red, the richer the cranberry flavor.

Beware of those that are shriveled or have brown spots on them. These cranberries are bad news, and, depending on the size of your sauce batch, can ruin the taste of your sauce.

If possible, try to avoid buying in a little plastic pack, where it is common for undesirable berries to hide. Instead, try buying in bulk. This way the shopper has the upper-hand, able to sift through the barrel or tray to acquire the finest. Not to mention buying in bulk is typically less expensive.

Shopping for Cranberries

Now that you know how to identify from the good, the bad and the ugly here are three places where you’re sure to find good, if not fantastic, cranberries.

Mother Nature is the best place to find premium cranberries. This way you can monitor your berries and pick when they are at the peak of freshness. If you don’t happen to own a cranberry bush, ask a neighbor or a friend; mature cranberry bushes produce many berries, so they’d surely love to share.

Buy local at your Farmers’ Market. At a Farmers’ Market you’ll find the next best possible quality to Mother Nature. Farmers and gardeners take great care to ensure the product they represent is quality. It’s their business to create a good relationship with locals. So not only will you get a top quality product, but you’ll also forge the spirit of community.

A store that sells organic produce is your next best bet for premium cranberries. But be careful and make sure to inspect your berries. Flawed berries are often found at conglomerate stores, and are often times over priced.

So enjoy your cranberry hunting!

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