How to get the longest freshness time for my veggies with these fancy products
September 11, 2007 9:11 PM Subscribe
(GF hijacking acct) There are a few threads on here about how to keep vegetables lasting longer. I really want to try the easy, no hassle green bags or magic disks or eggs. But which of these are best?
Are the Debbie Meyer's "as seen on TV" bags as good as Evert-Fresh bags? Are EGGs as good as Disks? The leave-em-in-the-crisper-drawer items seem to last longer but do they work better? Are there any that I won't need to keep replacing? There are also these pouches which you seemingly only need to dry for a week to reuse. Do they all work the same? I would appreciate any anecdotes of their use. FYI, I will be using them primarily to keep green leafy veggies (spinach, dandelion, lettuce, etc.) from rotting. Thank you!
Are the Debbie Meyer's "as seen on TV" bags as good as Evert-Fresh bags? Are EGGs as good as Disks? The leave-em-in-the-crisper-drawer items seem to last longer but do they work better? Are there any that I won't need to keep replacing? There are also these pouches which you seemingly only need to dry for a week to reuse. Do they all work the same? I would appreciate any anecdotes of their use. FYI, I will be using them primarily to keep green leafy veggies (spinach, dandelion, lettuce, etc.) from rotting. Thank you!
you could even sprinkle a little bit of water onto your paper bags prior to bagging up your leafy veg thus removing need for sponge all together
posted by koahiatamadl at 6:40 AM on September 12, 2007
posted by koahiatamadl at 6:40 AM on September 12, 2007
From Cook's Illustrated:
There are...two products now in the produce aisles of some supermarkets that claim to slow the aging process of greens as well as fruits and other vegetables. One is Evert-Fresh Green Bags, green plastic bags used to store produce; the other is ExtraLife, green plastic disks that are tossed in the crisper drawer. Both products make use of a mineral called zeolite that neutralizes ethylene, the ripening gas emitted from most fruits and vegetables. In the crisper drawer, ethylene builds up such that it speeds the demise of produce.
To test the effectiveness of these products, we refrigerated red leaf lettuce, green beans, cucumbers, and cantaloupes according to the products' instructions. A third set of produce was stored without any life-extending product.
The ExtraLife disks ($3.98 for one, which is to last for three months) were a complete waste of money, doing nothing to extend the life of the fruit or the vegetables. The Evert-Fresh bags ($3.98 for 10) seemed to have no effect on the melon or the cucumber but did buy the lettuce and the beans a couple of extra days. To our minds, though, this isn't much. In kitchen tests on storing greens, we've found that a loose head of lettuce is best thoroughly patted dry with paper towels (to remove excess moisture) and then transferred to a zipper-lock bag. It should stay fresh for several days.
And more from the incomparable Cook's Illustrated, on storing iceberg lettuce (but can be extrapolated to any greens.)
We tried four storage methods to see which was most effective at keeping iceberg lettuce fresh: wrapped in moist paper towels and stored in a plastic shopping bag, kept in its original perforated cellophane bag, stored in a zipper-lock plastic bag, and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
For each method, we stored two samples, one unwashed with the core in, the other rinsed with the core removed.
After a week, all the samples were still mostly fresh and crisp except for minimal drying on the edges of the outermost leaves; the heads stored in the original packaging had wilted the most but were still usable.
At the two-week mark, the differences were more apparent. The two samples wrapped in moist paper towels retained the crispest leaves. By contrast, the inner layers of the other samples had begun to dry out, becoming bendable and rubbery. Because moisture loss is often to blame when lettuce goes bad, it made sense that providing extra moisture (in the form of wet paper towels) was the winning method.
More interesting was the fact that the plain old plastic shopping bag beat out the zipper-lock storage bag. Because the flimsy (and therefore slightly porous) shopping bag allowed a modicum of airflow, it prevented the buildup of too much moisture and delayed spoilage.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:41 AM on September 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
There are...two products now in the produce aisles of some supermarkets that claim to slow the aging process of greens as well as fruits and other vegetables. One is Evert-Fresh Green Bags, green plastic bags used to store produce; the other is ExtraLife, green plastic disks that are tossed in the crisper drawer. Both products make use of a mineral called zeolite that neutralizes ethylene, the ripening gas emitted from most fruits and vegetables. In the crisper drawer, ethylene builds up such that it speeds the demise of produce.
To test the effectiveness of these products, we refrigerated red leaf lettuce, green beans, cucumbers, and cantaloupes according to the products' instructions. A third set of produce was stored without any life-extending product.
The ExtraLife disks ($3.98 for one, which is to last for three months) were a complete waste of money, doing nothing to extend the life of the fruit or the vegetables. The Evert-Fresh bags ($3.98 for 10) seemed to have no effect on the melon or the cucumber but did buy the lettuce and the beans a couple of extra days. To our minds, though, this isn't much. In kitchen tests on storing greens, we've found that a loose head of lettuce is best thoroughly patted dry with paper towels (to remove excess moisture) and then transferred to a zipper-lock bag. It should stay fresh for several days.
And more from the incomparable Cook's Illustrated, on storing iceberg lettuce (but can be extrapolated to any greens.)
We tried four storage methods to see which was most effective at keeping iceberg lettuce fresh: wrapped in moist paper towels and stored in a plastic shopping bag, kept in its original perforated cellophane bag, stored in a zipper-lock plastic bag, and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
For each method, we stored two samples, one unwashed with the core in, the other rinsed with the core removed.
After a week, all the samples were still mostly fresh and crisp except for minimal drying on the edges of the outermost leaves; the heads stored in the original packaging had wilted the most but were still usable.
At the two-week mark, the differences were more apparent. The two samples wrapped in moist paper towels retained the crispest leaves. By contrast, the inner layers of the other samples had begun to dry out, becoming bendable and rubbery. Because moisture loss is often to blame when lettuce goes bad, it made sense that providing extra moisture (in the form of wet paper towels) was the winning method.
More interesting was the fact that the plain old plastic shopping bag beat out the zipper-lock storage bag. Because the flimsy (and therefore slightly porous) shopping bag allowed a modicum of airflow, it prevented the buildup of too much moisture and delayed spoilage.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:41 AM on September 12, 2007 [2 favorites]
You can help extend the storage time of many vegetables simply by choosing the right ones when you buy them. Look for slightly under ripe vegetables instead of fully ripe ones.
Make sure there are no signs of wilting or browning any place on the surface (such as at the tips of carrots, or the edges of lettuce leaves), because this could be an early bacterial or fungus rot, which will eventually spread over the rest of the vegetable and shorten its storage time.
Also avoid vegetables and fruits that have been wounded in any way, because these open areas will allow bacteria to enter into the plant tissues and cause a faster decay.
Changing the environmental conditions will help extend the storage life of the fruit and vegetables, but some bacteria and fungi are well adapted to such a wide range of conditions that they will be able to spread no matter what, so it is important to start with healthy vegetables and fruit.
posted by Nematoda at 9:14 AM on September 12, 2007
Make sure there are no signs of wilting or browning any place on the surface (such as at the tips of carrots, or the edges of lettuce leaves), because this could be an early bacterial or fungus rot, which will eventually spread over the rest of the vegetable and shorten its storage time.
Also avoid vegetables and fruits that have been wounded in any way, because these open areas will allow bacteria to enter into the plant tissues and cause a faster decay.
Changing the environmental conditions will help extend the storage life of the fruit and vegetables, but some bacteria and fungi are well adapted to such a wide range of conditions that they will be able to spread no matter what, so it is important to start with healthy vegetables and fruit.
posted by Nematoda at 9:14 AM on September 12, 2007
Don't buy more vegetables at any one time than you think you will use in a week. It's easy to overbuy, especially when they are in season and cheap.
I forgot a romaine lettuce in a basement refrigerator bottom drawer and when I remembered its existence, it had decayed and completely liquified. There was only a little stringy stuff and black mold; the rest was eldritch ichor.
posted by bad grammar at 6:25 PM on September 12, 2007
I forgot a romaine lettuce in a basement refrigerator bottom drawer and when I remembered its existence, it had decayed and completely liquified. There was only a little stringy stuff and black mold; the rest was eldritch ichor.
posted by bad grammar at 6:25 PM on September 12, 2007
I'm terrible at using up my veggies before they rot, but I've had very good experiences with Evert-Fresh bags. I found that almost anything would last 1-2 weeks in the green bag in the fridge, even if the same veg would wilt in 2 days otherwise. They're a little expensive so I'd wash, dry, and reuse the bags until they got too nasty (usually because I left a leafy veggie in there well beyond the two week limit).
posted by moonmilk at 7:29 PM on September 12, 2007
posted by moonmilk at 7:29 PM on September 12, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
I find that rebagging lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens from plastic to paper bags when I get them home from the store, and keeping these leafy produce items in the "moist" crisper drawer, is the best way of extending their storage life.
posted by paulsc at 1:21 AM on September 12, 2007