I personally don’t find tearing or chopping makes a difference – but proper storage definitely does. In theory, cutting the leaves damages more cells, increases their oxygen exposure, and makes the leave brown quicker.
This damages fewer cells, limiting their exposure to oxygen. The rationale behind this is that, when you tear a lettuce, it tears along the natural seams of the lettuce. Some people say a torn lettuce leaf lasts longer in the fridge, compared to a cut lettuce leaf. There is a bit of a lettuce myth going around. Again, bagged salad can also be stored using this method. Pop the lid on, and place it in your fridge. Then chop or tear the lettuce leaves up into whatever size you prefer. Next, wash the remaining lettuce, and dry it using a salad spinner or tea towel to remove as much water as possible. Take a large clean and dry lidded jar, and again, pick out and compost any slimy leaves from your lettuce. The Jar MethodĪnother great way that I’ve found to store lettuce is to store in a jar in your fridge. You can also store bagged salad using this method. I find lettuce stores for around a week using this method. This method works because the towel absorbs any excess moisture, keeping the lettuce fresher for longer. Then gently roll up the towel, like you would roll a Swiss Roll, and store the lettuce (towel and all) in the bottom drawer of your fridge. Now, get another clean dry tea towel and spread your lettuce greens out on it. I know some people use kitchen roll for this purpose, but a clean tea towel works really well. Next, dry the leaves off as best as you can, either with a salad spinner or a tea towel. You don’t have to wash the leaves, but I find it a hundred times more convenient knowing that the lettuce leaves are ready to be used straight away. Then give the remaining leaves a good wash. One of the first ways to make your lettuce last longer is what I refer to as the tea towel method.įirst, pick out any slimy leaves and compost these. For extra eco brownie points, all of these methods are plastic-free.
Let’s chat through the three main ways to store lettuce, to keep it fresher for longer.
#Storing romaine hearts how to#
Lettuce take a look! How To Store Lettuce To Keep It Fresher for Longer Luckily, there are lots of tips and techniques on proper food storage that can prolong the life of our food. Reducing our food waste also saves money too, so it’s very much a win win. However, that’s not to say that we as individuals shouldn’t take responsibility for our own food waste. I think that Government and supermarkets have the biggest responsibility when it comes to tackling food waste. Here it produces methane – a greenhouse gas with 21 times more warming potential than carbon dioxide. When food is wasted, the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package that food is wasted too. And if food isn’t composted, it goes to landfill.
I’ve been blogging for years now about food waste. This then, in many cases, leads to these bags of lettuce being forgotten about and then binned. According to research, this waste stems from the fact that shoppers do not always buy bagged salads with a specific meal in mind. Yes, this article contains lettuce puns of a similar calibre – you have been warned!ĭid you know that here in the UK we throw away 40% of the bagged salad we buy every year? This works out at around 37,000 tonnes – the equivalent of 178 million bags – of lettuce being discarded year on year. Are you looking to cut your food waste? Here are my top tried and tested plastic-free tips on how to store lettuce so that it romaines fresher for longer.
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