What am I doing wrong?!

[Magelet]

My lettuce keeps wilting insanely fast. We usually buy heads of red or green leaf lettuce, because its least expensive. We bought three nice fresh crisp heads two days ago, because they were on sale. They're already so wilted that I found them to be rather gross (though I'm picky. I'd say tomarrow night they'll be what most people call wilted, and another day completely inedible). We've been storing them on the bottom "shelf" of the fridge (right above the drawers. I don't think they're crisper drawers I think they're just drawers for storage, though I'm not sure. how do I identify a crisper drawer?). Spinach wilts too fast too. (like a day or two.). Other than cream going bad too fast (way before the date), we haven't had other spoilage problems.

Please help. I'd like to enjoy salads regularly, but shopping only once a week, I can't right now. I know lettuce doesn't last a full week, but it should be good for more than two days, right!?

Please help! TIA

[babygrant]

Originally Posted by Magelet

Please help. I'd like to enjoy salads regularly, but shopping only once a week, I can't right now. I know lettuce doesn't last a full week, but it should be good for more than two days, right!?

Please help! TIA

My lettuce used to go bad within a couple of days. My fridge died and I got a new one. I just made a salad yesterday with lettuce from 2 weeks ago. Still good.

[oceanbaby]

Well, it does sound like something is up with your fridge. However, I wash lettuce, spin it dry, then wrap it loosely in a towel and put in a plastic bag in the fridge. It lasts at least a week like this.

[BetsyS]

I have good luck wrapping it in a towel and storing it in a plastic bag as well.

[staceychev]

Maybe the lettuce was on sale because it was ready to go already.

Anyway, DH, who takes salad to work for lunch every day, picked up a useful but annoying habit. He washes the lettuce in the salad spinner, leaves a tiny bit of water in the bottom, lays a paper towel over the lettuce, puts the lid on and sticks in back in the fridge. It lasts a decent amount of time this way. (It's an annoying habit, by the way, because the salad spinner takes up a lot of room in the fridge!)

[zu'smum]

I don't wash first, but I also wrap in a towel and put it in a plastic bag in the crisper or bottom shelf. I find that the vegetables from the farmers market last much longer than the ones from the store

[Youngfrankenstein]

My crisper can freeze things so Ihave to be careful (brand new fridge) I bought a lettuce keeper, tupperware-type thing at Bed bath beyond. I think it's meant for a head of iceberg but I use it after I've washed and spun other kinds.

[laohaire]

I thought it was normal to wilt that fast if you don't put it in plastic. I think the plastic is a big deal for keeping lettuce crisp for a while.

Here's a trick that's well-known but I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and it worked great! When you are preparing the salad and if it's wilted, soak the leaves in a bowl of ice water for a few minutes. I forgot the science of it, but the ice water fills the lettuce and makes it really crisp again. If it's majorly wilted it will still firm it up some but obviously not as much.

[cristeen]

Sounds like problems with your fridge temperature control. You might want to get a thermometer and see what it's doing - then talk to your landlord.

Is this grocery store lettuce or farmer's market lettuce? Grocery store lettuce is often already on the way out by the time you buy it, so that may be part of the problem. But most farmer's market/CSA lettuce lasts me 2 weeks. There are a few breeds that aren't as hearty, but most of them do fine.

Did the lettuce turn kind of translucent in areas? Or is it going limp? Or is it going slimy? Each has a different cause. If it's going limp, which is most common, then it's just dehydrated. A bath in cold water, shake it off, then wrap in a towel to trap the little bit of water that's left and pop it in a container of some sort should revive it pretty quickly. If it's translucent, it's getting frozen and you either found a cold spot in your fridge or the fridge is having issues (or both) - my fridge used to freeze any vegetation on the bottom shelf. If it's going slimy, then it's either too warm, or too old (or both).

[Magelet]

It goes limp, and then slimy, usually. mostly, it stays limp. I'll try storing it in plastic, with a towel.

It's not just the sale lettuce, its all lettuce from monterey market (a grocery store thats gets some of their things from the same farms as the farmers market (not nessicarily as fresh though.) we can't really afford farmer's market produce.

thanks.

[dogmom327]

I have two refrigerators. One is really cold (stuff on the top shelf tends to freeze) and in that one greens goes bad quickly.