Preserving lettuce

AnnPT77

sgt1372 wrote: »

stanmann571 wrote: »

I'll tell you what we did when I worked food service.

Ice water dunk. It's loss of moisture that causes wilting, so you want more moisture not less.

Isn't done just b4 service to crisp and freshen up the greens?

Don't think it makes much sense to store lettuce/greens in an ice bath for a week or more at home (or even in a restaurant for that matter) which is what I thought this thread was about.

Some greens do better stored standing with the cut end(s) in a small amount of water, though not immersed in an ice bath.

This is certainly true for certain cut herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil) - standing them in a glass with a small amount of water in the bottom, loosely covered in the refrigerator, usually works well. (Well, basil keeps poorly mostly no matter what, but that's a different discussion - in a glass of water seems the least worst ). Roots-on hydroponic butterhead lettuces would probably be happy this way. I suspect it might work well with something like a head of romaine, too, but I haven't tried it. Loose leaves, probably not so much.

Lounmoun

The issue I have with ready to eat packaged salad mixes is not it drying out and wilting but being wet and slimy.
Not sure if that is the OP's issue or not.
Buying salad greens whole I am not having any issue keeping it nice for well over a week.

DX2JX2

Lounmoun wrote: »

The issue I have with ready to eat packaged salad mixes is not it drying out and wilting but being wet and slimy.
Not sure if that is the OP's issue or not.
Buying salad greens whole I am not having any issue keeping it nice for well over a week.

Bagged salads are just funky. Any bagged vegetable for that matter. They go slimy incredibly quickly because there's no air circulation to whisk away condensation. I also have a feeling that they're not terribly fresh when bagged at the factory.

jclawst

Lounmoun wrote: »

The issue I have with ready to eat packaged salad mixes is not it drying out and wilting but being wet and slimy.
Not sure if that is the OP's issue or not.
Buying salad greens whole I am not having any issue keeping it nice for well over a week.

Yeah that seems to be the issue which is why I’ve been layering paper towel to reduce the moisture. Seems to work well enough for me to run through a container of salad within a week.

apullum

I just wrap the head of romaine or leaf lettuce in a paper towel, stick it back in the bag, and try to get as much air as possible out of the bag. I plan my week's meals so that I use the stuff with the shortest shelf life earlier in the week.