The Solely Strategy You Must Retailer Lettuce, In accordance with an Expert

There’s one factor I uncover so promising a few current head of lettuce—all that crispness in a position to be piled onto my sandwiches and tossed into vibrant salads. Nevertheless my pleasure quickly turns to disappointment as soon as I open the crisper drawer to find a soggy, wilted mess. This all-too-common experience made me shock what among the best methods to retailer lettuce is.

Preserving your lettuce brisker for longer is all about moisture and storage, says Emily Moyer, Vice President of Regulatory Compliance and Worldwide Meals Safety for the Worldwide Latest Produce Affiliation.

“The large issue to battle spoilage simply is not leaving further water on the lettuce, so don’t wash head lettuce until you’re in a position to eat it,” Moyer says.

Not solely should you stay away from washing lettuce correct when you get home from the store, nevertheless you have to additionally maintain it full. “Decreasing the lettuce exposes further flooring area to lose moisture,” says Moyer. “And further flooring area that’s weak to mould/micro organism throughout the environment, so don’t decrease it until you’re in a position to eat.”

Prepared to clean or decrease lettuce until correct sooner than you serve it retains extra water from amassing on the leaves and reduces the amount of flooring area weak to mould and micro organism. Microorganisms normally develop faster when moisture and oxygen are present.

How To Retailer Lettuce

Lettuce retains larger in extreme humidity, Moyer says, so in case your fridge has a crisper drawer the place you’ll administration the humidity, set it to extreme humidity and retailer your lettuce—nonetheless wrapped in its distinctive packaging—in that drawer. As for temperature, the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration recommends preserving your fridge at or beneath 40°F for glorious meals storage.

It’s moreover key to watch which produce you keep with lettuce. Don’t retailer leafy greens near avocados, apples, or various kinds of produce that launch plenty of ethylene. Ethylene is a gasoline launched by some vegatables and fruits that will set off different types of produce to ripen (and go harmful) faster. Lettuce is delicate to ethylene, which suggests it may truly spoil further quickly when saved shut to those meals.

Counting on the best way you retailer it, the shelf life for full heads of lettuce can vary from one to three weeks. “Shelf life will rely upon how earlier the product is when purchased, and whether or not or not glorious storage conditions are maintained as quickly as at home,” says Moyer. As a result of it’s unattainable to know how earlier lettuce is as soon as you buy it, storing it beneath the appropriate conditions is rather more essential.

How To Revive Wilted Lettuce

In case your lettuce is making an attempt just a bit worse for placed on, you may be capable to perk it up. Moyer suggests inserting it in a bowl of ice water and letting it soak for 15 to twenty minutes. Rinse it beneath chilly, working water, let it drain correctly, then pat it dry (or give it a whirl in a salad spinner) and use it instantly.

“You should not retailer the revived lettuce to utilize at a later date on account of the excess moisture added once more into the lettuce will enhance the spoilage cost,” Moyer says.

What About Bagged Lettuce?

Bagged greens have a complete utterly completely different algorithm than full lettuce. To take care of it current, don’t open it until you’re in a position to eat it. As quickly as opened, you’ll retailer the lettuce in its distinctive bag, nevertheless squeezing out any extra air and fastening the bag with a clip will lengthen its shelf life.

“Scale back, bagged lettuce does not have to be rewashed at home,” Moyer says. “For many who choose to clean it at home, it may truly cut back the shelf life if further water stays on the lettuce.”