Will these brussels sprouts keep until turkey day?

November 18, 2018 12:59 PM

I’ve never had to store fresh brussels sprouts for longer than a day before...

We’re making the oh-so-trendy roasted brussels sprouts (yum!) for turkey day. In a shopping frenzy Saturday, we got a stalk of sprouts. Once we got them home, we realized we really don’t have any place to store the stalk other than on the countertop.

Will the sprouts last, out on the counter, until turkey day? Or will I have wilty sprouts by then?

If wilty, will cutting the sprouts from the stalk and storing them in the fridge keep then green and solid until Thursday?

Thanks!

posted by Thorzdad to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Best answer: It's fine. Leave the stalk on the counter and they'll be 100% fine for Thanksgiving. You may need to pull some leaves from the very outside.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:05 PM on November 18, 2018

Best answer: I've kept Brussels sprouts for over a week. I'd give you a more accurate time frame but if I was good at tracking veggie time frames my life would be very different.
posted by bunderful at 1:08 PM on November 18, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I've never bought them 9n a slack, but they keep just fine in the fridge for well over a week.
posted by Enid Lareg at 1:11 PM on November 18, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks all!
posted by Thorzdad at 1:26 PM on November 18, 2018

Best answer: We get these frequently and I prefer to cut them off the stalk and keep them in a bag or bowl in the fridge, but they're fine on the counter, they just get a little wilty after two or three days. I don't think it has much impact on the taste (or safety).
posted by mskyle at 1:39 PM on November 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: They are fresher and keep longer on the stalk in comparison to cut. If I had to choose between keeping them on the counter on the stalk and keeping them off the stalk in the fridge wrapped/bagged until Thursday, then I would cut them off and put them in the fridge in some airtight situation like a container or bag. Sprouts can keep for a long time (more like cabbage and less like lettuce) and they are very fresh still on the stalk. After a long time, sprouts become more cabbagey and towards bitter in flavor. These should be fine but I'd prefer them not wilted.
posted by RoadScholar at 2:37 PM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Fresh: Cut them very close the stalk and put them in the fridge, knowing you'll pare them back before roasting.
Fresher: Keep them on the stalk at room temp, hope you don't have any flies around.
Freshest: Put the stalk, whole, in a cool but not freezing area. e.g. a garage, between an interior and exterior door or windowsill. (I've kept a huge stalk like that for much longer than I deserved to)
posted by Cold Lurkey at 4:15 PM on November 18, 2018 [6 favorites]

Best answer: A tip I’ve recently been using with produce is to put it in the fridge with a couple paper towels, which absorb the moisture and keep the produce crisp. Definitely has helped keep leafy things fresh longer. We recently roasted some Brussels sprouts that were in the fridge for a little over a week and they were just as good as the ones we made fresh from the store.
posted by notheotherone at 9:27 PM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have stored these on the stalk in a bucket with water covering the cut stem, like cut flowers. In a cool place, usually outdoors on a porch.
posted by chocolatetiara at 8:36 AM on November 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, all. Everyone gets a Best Answer. In the end, I’ve gone with chocolatetiara’s method of storing the whole stem in a container with little water.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:27 PM on November 20, 2018