How to Store Lettuce? Several ways
Lettuce comes in many variations such as head lettuce, iceberg lettuce, arugula, oak leaf lettuce, and lamb’s lettuce. In this blog, we will discuss how to store lettuce for a long time. Lettuce is available in the supermarket as a fresh product or cut and prepackaged. How do you keep the lettuce fresh and nice and crunchy? You can read that below.
How to store lettuce?
This can be done in the following ways:
- You can keep fresh lettuce in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- You can store wrapped iceberg lettuce in the refrigerator and it will keep for 1 week.
- Lettuce in the refrigerator should always have ventilation.
- For packaged lettuce, you can read the best before date on the packaging.
However, there are many more ways to keep your lettuce fresh for longer. This also depends on the type of lettuce. Most of them are described below. First, an important tip about cutting lettuce to keep it good for longer.
Lettuce Cutting
When you are going to process the lettuce you have to do the following. Take the lettuce and, as it were, peel off the outer leaves of the head. Keep doing this until you have enough lettuce for your dish.
This way you don’t mutilate the lettuce. When you cut the lettuce into pieces with a knife, this has consequences for the shelf life of the lettuce. The advice is to peel instead of cut.
Keep out of the refrigerator
Lettuce is a plant and plants need water. Lettuce consists of 90% water. If you keep the lettuce out of the fridge, the water will evaporate quickly and the leaves will become limp.
If you want to keep the lettuce outside the fridge, do the following. Cutaway the brown underside of the trunk. Make a cross in the trunk. Grab a bowl and fill it partially with water. And place the lettuce in this. This way the (plant) lettuce has enough water. Do check every day whether the lettuce still has enough water. There are examples where the lettuce remained good for at least a month.
Never store prepackaged lettuce outside of the refrigerator. The moisture in the bag will cause it to scald, causing the lettuce to rot quickly.
Store lettuce or iceberg lettuce in the refrigerator
The refrigerator is the perfect place to store lettuce and iceberg lettuce. Lettuce contains a lot of moisture which evaporates quickly if it is not stored in a cool place. The vegetable drawer is the best place. Remove the lettuce and iceberg lettuce from any plastic packaging, because lettuce must have ventilation in the refrigerator. It remains good for 5 –7 days.
To extend the shelf life, you can do the following. Cutaway the discolored part of the trunk at the bottom of the lettuce. Make a cross in the trunk and place the lettuce in a bowl of water. Place the dish on the glass plate of the vegetable drawer. The lettuce now has moisture so it stays fresh longer. It can remain good for up to 4 weeks. Always check whether the lettuce still has water.
Store sliced lettuce or iceberg lettuce
If you have already cut and washed the leaves of fresh lettuce or iceberg lettuce, you can also store them in the refrigerator. Wash the lettuce under the tap and pat the lettuce dry. Now wrap the lettuce in kitchen paper and put it in the fridge. A tea towel also works fine. You can keep the lettuce for another 5 days.
Keep prepackaged lamb’s lettuce, arugula, oak leaf lettuce and young leaf lettuce in the refrigerator
You can store prepackaged lamb’s lettuce, arugula, oak leaf lettuce and young leaf lettuce in the refrigerator. Keep the lettuce in the original packaging, because the lettuce is packed under a protective atmosphere. Protective circumstances are nothing scary. It is air only in a different proportion, which keeps the lettuce fresh for longer. Keep the expiry date of the packaging as storage advice.
Once opened, it is better to put the lettuce in a well-sealable container or bag. Keep the lettuce in the vegetable drawer. Look, smell and taste if the lettuce is still good when you want to use the rest of the lettuce.
Keep lettuce in the freezer
Lettuce and the freezer aren’t good friends. You cannot freeze lettuce. Just don’t. On the internet, you can read that you can make salad soup with it and you can freeze it. Well, everyone tastes.
Never Save Lettuce Beside …
You should never keep lettuce next to or with fruit. When the fruit ripens, the gas ethylene is released. This gas causes discoloration of the leaves and veins. The lettuce spoils very quickly.
Can You Store Prepared Lettuce?
A green salad is tasty and contains many vitamins. The different types of lettuce provide a delicious taste and variety.
You can finish the salad with, for example, tomato, carrot, onion, and bell pepper. Always wash this vegetable under the tap before you start processing it. Not the onion of course!
First, place the heavier vegetables in the salad bowl and place the salad leaves on top. And this is it. Do not add dressing as dressing will make the leaves go limp. The best you can do is prepare the dressing separately and serve it separately. This way everyone can create their own lettuce.
It also has another advantage. If any salad is left, discard it once it has been mixed with dressing. You cannot keep this. The salad that has not been prepared with dressing can be kept very well in the refrigerator.
Leave the salad in the salad bowl and place several sheets of kitchen paper on it. Seal the salad bowl with cling film. Now place the bowl in the refrigerator. The moisture soaks into the kitchen paper. You can keep the salad for at least another 5 days. If you want to eat these again, the advice remains: just look, smell and taste. You never know!
Do you know!
You should always wash lettuce before using it. It is also better to wash packaged lettuce before use. Fill a clean sink with cold water and sprinkle some salt into the water. This salt ensures that any pests die.
Tip!
You cannot flavor lettuce that is still wet, so dry the lettuce well. The best method is to use a salad dryer. This removes most of the water and does not damage the lettuce. Very nice for the dressing that you will add later.
