I live alone. When I buy a bag of lettuce, I divide it up into serving sizes in quart size bags. In each bag, I place a single saltine cracker that I have wrapped in a paper towel, then press the air out. I have had a bag of lettuce stay good for two weeks. Saves me a lot of money. The cracker absorbs the moisture in the bag.
By Linda from Bloomington, ILfrom Bloomington
This page contains the following solutions.
When chopping iceberg lettuce, it is a use it now, or lose it, because it goes brown! Or does it? Cut it and store it in PVC free plastic wrap and containers or any container with the chemical free plastic wrap and it will not turn brown for a day or more.
I buy romaine lettuce when it is on sale, and have found a way to keep it fresh and crisp for up to 4 weeks. Wash your romaine and core it when you get home from the supermarket.
Are you sick of your pretty head of lettuce turning brown and rotting in just a couple of days? Me too. I made a little discovery last week.
To make your romaine lettuce last longer, rinse well, then wrap it with paper towels and put it into a food storage bag. It lasts a long time this way!
Refrigerate lettuce in a sealed, opaque container, such as Tupperware, to keep it green and crisp at least twice as long. Paper bags or black and white newsprint also works, but a container seals in moisture.
You can often recover wilted lettuce by soaking it in ice cold water with a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar. Place it in the fridge for about an hour and it should be much more crisp.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
We just got a food saver and we want to freeze up salad mix. I want to know the best way to freeze lettuce, or if you even can. I can't find anything about freezing lettuce.
By cathi from Vancouver, WA
To my knowledge, lettuce has too much water in it to freeze it. It would thaw and be a nasty slime like stuff.
Yeah, I agree with Dedeswrkshop. I've had lettuce get frost on it, and it got damaged (I was able to remove the frost-damaged spots and the remainder was okay). You can try it, but I don't think it will be successful.
Yeah, think about how soft frozen and thawed strawberries are. The freezing break the cell walls of the plant and it will loose its "crispness".
Why don't you make and freeze some lettuce soup. Try the following website and see if there are some lettuce soup recipes.
How about if you vacuum seal it and keep it in the fridge, one week's worth at a time. Just make sure to cut the opening in an even line, or the sealer won't seal when you re-seal it.
I have frozen romaine hearts for use in green Smoothies by first blending the leaves with just a little water in my Vitamix blender, then freezing in ice cube trays. Then I add the frozen cubes to green Smoothies in whatever amount desired.
I too have a food saver and have found that if you want to store for salad, unfortunately you can't really freeze it - it comes out rubbery. However, I DO mix all my garden veg together and seal in the food saver system.
I too have a food saver and have found that if you want to store for salad, unfortunately you can't really freeze it - it comes out rubbery. However, I DO mix all my garden veg together and seal in the food saver system. Eliminate as much moisture as possible - add croutons (discard after opening saved food as they absorb excess moisture) and a couple drops of lemon juice and it can hold for a month in the fridge
What setting should I put my crisper on for storing lettuce?
By sheila from Burlington, NJ
You have a "humidity level" setting? Open about half but the one thing you should never do to lettuce: cut it with a metal utensil. Alwyas plastic cutting tools or tear it apart by hand. The lettuce lasts longer that way. (Chemical reaction to metal caused it to go brown)
Just a tip - our crisper has a meat or vegetable setting. It kept sliding over to meat (kids?) and the produce would freeze, ruining any with a high water content like lettuce.
Anybody have a best way to store lettuce once you "open" the head? I don't like plastic bags, bowls take up too much room, and I've been using the cereal box wax liner with a paper towel to absorb moisture. Any better ideas would be welcome!
By BonnieAlice
I am presuming you mean head lettuce. To reduce size, cut in half and remove the core; then cut in quarters. Any kind of container will work and this smaller size may be a help to you.
Careful preparation of your romain lettuce can help increase its shelf life and make it easier to quickly make a delicious salad. This is a page about cleaning and storing romaine hearts.
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