If you’re fed up of throwing away brown and mushy lettuce, then you need to try this sustainability expert’s three methods for keeping this vegetable fresh for up to three weeks
The cost of fresh produce can add up when you’re constantly binning rotten lettuce that’s been forgotten in the back of your fridge. You might buy heads of lettuce with every intention of using some daily, but as the week progresses, you simply keep pushing that lettuce deeper into your fridge until it becomes brown and soggy.
If you never manage to finish an entire head of lettuce before it spoils, sustainability expert Wendy Graham shared on her Blog Moral Fibres her “tried and tested” plastic-free methods for storing lettuce so it “stays fresh for longer for as much as up to three weeks”.
She highlighted that there are “three main ways” to store lettuce, keeping it fresher for extended periods. That said, only one of these techniques will maintain this vegetable’s crispness for three weeks. It comes after UK households were issued a warning about Nescafé coffee.
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1 Tea towel method
For the first approach, begin by removing any slimy leaves before giving the remaining leaves a thorough rinse. You don’t need to wash the leaves, but doing so will prove more convenient, reports the Express. Then, dry the leaves as thoroughly as possible, using either a salad spinner or a tea towel.
Take another clean, dry tea towel and lay your lettuce greens across it. Afterwards, gently roll up the towel, “like you would roll a Swiss roll”, and place the lettuce (towel included) in the bottom drawer of your fridge.
Wendy explained: “The tea towel method works because the towel absorbs any excess moisture, keeping the lettuce fresher for longer.” She discovered that the lettuce “stays fresh for around a week” using this particular method.
2 Jar method
For the second technique, get a large, clean and dry lidded jar, or a glass food storage container. Remove any damaged leaves from your lettuce.
Then, rinse the remaining lettuce and dry it using a salad spinner or tea towel to eliminate as much water as possible. Slice or rip the lettuce leaves into whatever size you prefer. Finally, place the dried leaves in the jar, secure the lid, and store it in your fridge.
Rinsing eliminates any bacteria and spoilage triggers, while drying prevents soggy leaves. Kept in a sealed glass jar, the leaves remain crisp due to stable humidity and protection from bruising. Wendy claimed: “Your lettuce should stay fresh for about a week in the jar.”
3 Cup of water method
For this technique you keep a whole head of lettuce in a cup or bowl of water to maintain your lettuce’s freshness for longer.
Simply trim a small amount off the end of the lettuce, and then place the lettuce into a cup of water (base side down) until you are ready to use the lettuce. Wendy said: “Not only will your lettuce stay fresh, but it may also continue to grow.”
Keep it in the fridge or on your kitchen counter – wherever you have the most room. Don’t forget to replace the water when it becomes cloudy, or refill the water when required.
The science explained
Keeping a lettuce head in water maintains its hydration as the lettuce absorbs moisture through the stem. This means “leaves stay crisp and fresh, and help to prevent wilting and browning”.
Wendy explained: “A lettuce head can last about one to three weeks stored in this way, depending on the variety and how fresh it was to begin with.
“I’ve found that romaine lettuce tends to do particularly well this way, staying crisp for the longest. Softer lettuces, like butterhead, tend to have a slightly shorter run.”