It is always advised to clean your food, even if it is natural, before ingesting. It is totally relatable to many people who were sometimes washing and drying instantly can be a hassle. But you don’t want to eat the bacteria, right?
The bacteria can usually be the reason for either keeping those on carts or even if you have plucked those freshly from your garden. However, there are some helpful ways for you to avoid the hassle of drying them and all, look at the tips on how you can store these leafy veggies enriched with proteins.
But first, you must read the tips for cleaning your lettuce. Let’s read –
1. Indigenous Method
You can always opt for washers to wash your vegetables. However, there are handy indigenous methods available. Let’s look at that first. There are multiple ways to do this, and none of them are challenging.
- You could directly run them through the water along with rubbing them with your hands. Along with that, you can also separate the leaves by plucking them off and rinsing those under running water.
- You can also chop the head of lettuce before you are going to wash the dirt by swishing it in the bowl.
- Best Tip – If you want your lettuce crispier, refrigerate them overnight by adding a tiny amount or few teaspoons of sugar in the bowl. And adding salt to the bowl of water while cleaning to avoid any bacteria.
- Drying – Check the leaves once they are clean; you can shake the leaves to drain the extra water out from them. After that, you can use paper towels to drain the left water. It is advised that use the dry paper towel twice to dry the lettuce.
2. Washers
There are multiple products for washing vegetables nowadays. One of them is a salad spinner. It is usually preferred as it is considerably quick and more accessible. You just need to put few leaves of the lettuce separately in the colander with filling the water in the spinner.
- Remember, when you wash this, the dirt will sit at the bottom and remove the water. And do the same until you can see no dirt on your lettuce.
- Drying – Keep the lid on the spinner and start spinning the lettuce by turning the handle till they are dry.
3. Tricks To Store
- Also, don’t put the lettuce wet in the refrigerator. Dry out all the water in the leaves.
- Please put them in zip lock bags and gently push out the air in them.
- You can keep them until 6-8 days, but it also depends on the variety of lettuce you are using.
- You can place a paper towel with the lettuce to help it absorb the extra moisture from the leave to keep it crisp.
- Another method is you can keep it in an open bag, the suggested temp. is approx. Thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit by keeping it in the refrigerator drawers. It can be fine for up to one week.
4. Tips
- Make sure you don’t store lettuce with apples, bananas or pears.
- Must Remember – As instructed before, don’t keep the lettuce with the food which emits ethylene gas. The gas does the work of ripening agent naturally. It can result to brown spots on your leaves.
- Suppose you are keeping the lettuce in a cold temp. It will be comparatively better. AS in utmost hot the slimy texture and black spots can develop quickly. Those are generally directed as bacteria.
- It is advised not to use those leaves as the slimy things can be residual of the bacteria, which can be harmful to your health. So, make sure you do not store the lettuce for so long.
- Store the lettuce depending on the variety, like some varieties are advised to eat them freshly after plucking or buying.
Your leafy greens must be washed as instructed above. Why? Because there are not just dirt that can be harmful, it might contain E.coli. It could be potentially dangerous for your health. So, make sure you wash fruits, veggies, herbs or even leafy veggies before ingesting.
