Preserving lettuce

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jclawst
jclawst Posts: 45 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Anyone else take the salad out of the containers and layer it with paper towel to keep the moisture down and hopefully preserve it longer?
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Replies

  • jclawst
    jclawst Posts: 45 Member
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  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    Very nice. Thanks for the tip.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    I find that if I buy the type with the base still attached (whole romaine heads, for example) instead of leaves in a clamshell, it lasts much, much longer in my fridge. We buy those 6-packs of romaine heads from Costco and they are still perfect like ten days later, which is way longer than I get from clamshell mixes even using the paper towel idea (which does work for me.)

    I eat way more lettuce than a human should, though, so our two-person household can easily get through 12 of those heads before they go bad. I really love a salad served in a mixing bowl.
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
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    My Mum used to put a saucer in the bottom of the lettuce bowl in the fridge so that water from the washed lettuce drained away and sat under the lettuce.
  • coueswhitetail
    coueswhitetail Posts: 309 Member
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    I started a garden and was tired of produce going bad quickly, so I bought some of the Rubbermaid Freshworks produce saver containers and I can attest that they work great! They are a bit bulky, but they really help. And I can also say that soaking lettuce in water in the fridge will rehydrate it and make it crisp again. Don't even have to have ice in the water, just a bowl of water in the fridge gets cold enough.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    I don't buy mixed greens as there's a lot of destemming I have to do to make it edible for me. I know you can eat the stems, but I don't wanna!

    I bought 2 heads of romaine the other day, trimmed/deribbed them, put them in a Ziploc with a paper towel on top/bottom, sealed it airtight (yeah, not supposed to do that). It makes it easier/simpler to get people to eat it when I prep it. I don't do anything with iceberg. That shizzle will LAST.
  • Aplant77
    Aplant77 Posts: 112 Member
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    I bought a lettuce container years ago from Tupperware and it is the best thing. I wash up the lettuce and put it in the container and it last a long time!
  • SagePeach
    SagePeach Posts: 37 Member
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    I bought Rubbermaid Produce Saver containers and they're amazing for fresh produce, including lettuce, spinach, kale etc :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    My wife and I have never had issue keeping our greens for a week...we typically eat them all by the end of the week so no extra storing methods necessary.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I don’t go to that extent, but I do put a paper towel in the bag
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I buy a lot of salad greens for my guinea pigs and some for the humans.
    A whole head of lettuce (different varieties) lasts much longer than packaged ready to eat salad stuff. Just tear off leaves as you need them and wash them. You can prep some for a day ahead but leave the rest whole. I keep them in a plastic grocery bag with a paper towel.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,952 Member
    edited June 2018
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    Another plug for whole romaine lettuce having great shelf life.

    This time of year I get mixed greens from my garden. Swiss chard, lettuce, Scotch kale, red Russian kale, and soon Malabar spinach.
  • jclawst
    jclawst Posts: 45 Member
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    The mixed containers of lettuce never seem to last as long and my living situation doesn’t allow me to make the indoor salad garden I’d love to make right now - soon I hope.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,387 Member
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    Farmers market greens (local farms) keep much longer/better for me than the same plant from the grocery store - dramatically so. I assume it's because the picking/processing/transit time is taken to the minimum (compared with anything but home garden).

    Usually, I eat it up faster than this, but I've had a bag of farmers market loose spinach leaves keep at salad-useable quality for as much as 3 weeks, just in a plastic bag in the fridge. Grocery store spinach has never, ever come close.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,981 Member
    edited June 2018
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    Don't buy prepared salads/greens.

    I wrap green onions, cilantro and parsley in paper towels to keep them dry and prevent them from getting slimy. Works most of the time.

    Never wrapped lettuce in paper towels. Find that they stay freshest when kept on the stem and just peel off leaves as I need them. Works,for romaine and iceburg for me.
  • SLLeask
    SLLeask Posts: 489 Member
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    I use the green veg bags, they work a treat for all fruit, salad etc. the I just rinse them and use them again next time...
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    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.

    my ex ='s family owned a restaurant and he was a chef there. thats how he did it.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,981 Member
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    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.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
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    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.

    This is what I do. I store in the fridge dry and then dunk in ice water before serving. It brings them right back.

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