How can I keep shredded lettuce fresh for longer than a week?
 

Hey there,
I have a food processor that I bought on Black Friday and my lettuce won't stay fresh for longer than a few days. It's already starting to go brown and I shredded it 2 days after Black Friday. It usually stays fresh for a much longer time. Anyone know of a way to keep shredded lettuce fresh?

- Undercover_Man

Metal to lettuce causes a chemical reaction making it brown faster. This is why you often hear tear lettuce and dont cut it. What are you storing it in. If its a large amount of lettuce try storing it in a plastic bowl, lined with paper towels and then a moist one on top. Also keep it in the CRISPER and keep it COLD. When condensation forms because the temp changes too frequently the water drips back into the lettuce causing it to brown, get soggy and go bad.

Ok. We took a regular head of lettuce and washed it. Then cut it up in big chunks to be shredded. After it was shredded we put it in a large plastic bag with 2 paper towels. It was fine last nite. But now it's starting to get brown. It's also still very moist. Prolly TOO moist. It's gone thru 6 paper towels and it's still moist. What's a crisper?

Now we used to have this thing several years ago. It was a white bucket with a lid ad a red churn thing on top and a clear plastic thing that turns when you put it in the bucket. My mom said it was used to clean the lettuce. and You turn the thing on top to spin the plastic thing inside the bucket and it'd wash off the water. But that was for whole unshredded lettuce. Could we modify that or do something so we could use that? Would it have any use in solving our browning lettuce probs? Lettuce costs a lot.

its called a salad spinner, and yes if you can buy one(theyre super cheap) use it, it will help to rid the lettuce of the moisture, and its for salad so you can use shredded lettuce in it.

If it is still moist it is too moist. imho I wouldnt use the food processor anymore since its the metal to lettuce and soaking wetness causing it to brown.

The crisper is the drawers at the bottom of your fridge that say crisper, or vegetable storage or something to that effect. On newer refridgerators they are better at keeping the temperature more stable since each time you open the door you make the fridge warm. Thats why certain things like milk and leftovers shouldnt be stored in the door, it is usually 3 or more degrees warmer than the rest of the fridge causing condensation, rapid bacterial growth and what not. The Crisper allows for a more stable environment since the drawers arent opened all the time and theyre at the bottom of the fridge. This will cut out condensation

Keep it in water in the fridge.

pinkie knows what she's talking about. Store your salad in coldwater and dry it (spin or shake) before you want to use it. That's what we did when I worked in a restaurant ...many years ago.

So I get a bowl and put water in it and porur the lettuce in it? But the shredded lettuce would just float wouldn't it? And another thing, the salad spinner has holes on all on the side and I would think that the shredded lettuce would go right thru those holes wouldn't it?

I had always thought you had to keep the lettuce as dry as possible. great tip.

if you buy a new one they should have small enough holes that the lettuce wont go through but the water will..

you could try keeping it in water, and yes it will float but the problem comes when you want to eat it ... its covered in water and a pain to dry.

only shred the amount you wish to use.
shredded lettuce does not stay crispy for more than a few days.
i'm a chef and usually i'll just shred the amount i'll use for that day.
if its kept too long, the lettuce looses its crispiness. keeping it in a fridge with lots of paper napkins helps alot. sometimes before i use it, i'll soak it in ice cold water to make it crispier.

some chefs soak the lettuce in ice cold water for about 20 minutes after cutting to keep it crispier also.

^^^
What if I just froze the wet shredded lettuce? How do you think that would turn out?

If you freeze it, you will end up with some really, really inedible crap. The cells in the lettuce will break apart and the lettuce will lose all crispness. Don't do it.

DONT freeze it... have you ever seen Mother with Albert Brooks and that Golden Girls lady(the dumb one, I cant think of her name.)..dont you end up with much because all the cells like braisler said break apart and its just one soggy mess.

Hmmm...does it smell bad? Frozen, soggy, smelly mush sounds like it'd make a good April Fools joke somehow.

It doesnt smell bad but its soggy, mushy, cold and slimy.

WORD. :thumbsup:

No, do not do this.

I think lemon juice might keep it brown a little longer, but it is best not to shred more than you can use at one time. Don't ever freeze it unless you like slime.

Ditto confirmation. Lettuce in cool water and don't let it freeze. The best salad spinner to own is the Oxo brand. You need to maintain the internal cellular structure of the lettuce so immersion in water is the way to go.