How do you clean your produce?

[blairhoney]

Conventional or organic. Especially curious about conventional since I've just moved to a neighborhood where there's little organic produce.

I'm especially curious about things like leafy greens - lettuces and herbs - where you'd want to use them dry, and which are hard to get in every crevice.

I've just been rinsing in cold water, but I don't think I'm really getting much off that way.

[Drummer's Wife]

I just rinse with water, too. For herbs, I pat dry with a paper towel or let them sit out a bit if need be (but usually they are going into something wet, so it's not a big deal, yk?).

Curious to see how others wash/scrub produce, though.

[Alyantavid]

I just wash with water. If it's something like lettuce, I'll let it sit out and air dry.

[mamadelbosque]

wash with cold water. We have a salad spinner to get most of the water off lettuce/greens for salads which is super nice!!

[katelove]

I just wash mine under the tap too. We used to have a salad spinner but the bowl broke. Now I give leaves a good toss in the collander and leave them to sit. If I want them really dry I wrap them loosely in a tea towel and give them a shake.

[mambera]

I wash by submerging and swishing in several changes of water. I spin-dry salad greens/herbs - love my Oxo salad spinner, it's the best one I've had - and colander-drain berries.

[jkn]

I hate washing greens without my salad spinner, makes it way easier. I do it religiously now too - I used to be stupidly lazy about washing veggies, then I read some pretty scary stuff. I'm talking mainly about conventional here, but now I basically at least rinse everything, even organic produce.

[serenbat]

depends on what you mean by "greens"-

spinach is one that should be soaked, fill the sink add the spinach and let the water do the work, the ground falls to the bottom, rinse again, and dry depending on what you are using it for-some I do not dry

[ollyoxenfree]

I'm a little OCD about washing veggies, because I don't like chewing on sand or dirt.

I find rinsing under a running tap doesn't work well, especially on leafy greens, unless you run the water for a long time.

I fill a large bowl with cold, fresh water and cover the veggies and swish them around a little. If necessary, I'll remove them, dump out the water and the dirt, rinse the bowl and repeat. I often finish with a quick rinse under running water.

This method still uses a lot of water, but I think it's less than rinsing under a tap for several minutes.

Leafy greens and fresh herbs get dried in the salad spinner. If I need them very dry, after spinning I'll often lay them out in a single layer, as flat as possible and then roll them up in a towel. If the veggies are being steamed or added to soup, pasta, risotto etc., then I just shake off most of the water, but I won't bother drying.

[sunnysandiegan]

Depends on the veggies/fruits.

Hard-skinned ones (carrots, potatoes, beets, apples, etc), I use a veggie brush and scrub under running water. Set aside to air-dry, if I want them dry (rare).

Soft-skinned ones (tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, etc), I use my hand and rub lightly under running water. Set aside to air-dry, if I want them dry.

Berries and grapes and tiny tomatoes go into a small colander and I run water over while swishing the contents around. Set aside to air-dry and fluff every so often.

Leafy greens are plunged into the dishwashing pan filled with clean, cool water and left for a few minutes. Swish and lift in the same direction as rain would flow off the leaves. The dirt and such settles at the bottom. Once is usually enough for store-bought produce, but we get most of our produce from our CSA or backyard and those require at least twice. I use the "dirty" water in the backyard. I lay out the leaves single layer on a clean towel/rag, then lay another clean towel/rag on top and pat dry. (Technically, I ask my 9 YO to do this. ) This is for salads where we want them as dry as possible and we are fixing dinner right then. If we're cooking the greens, then we don't bother laying them out. The moisture helps them cook nicely. If we're fixing the salad greens ahead of time, just laying them out single layer on a clean towel/rag and air-drying works fine.

[blairhoney]

Thanks for all the replies! So, does running under cold water remove pesticides? And, no one uses a veggie wash?

[serenbat]

So, does running under cold water remove pesticides? And, no one uses a veggie wash?

I don't think so but there is no way I am putting more on with veggie wash!!

we try and buy as much unsprayed as we can and will not eat thin leafy sprayed items

[sunnysandiegan]

Between the water and the friction (brush, hand, swishing), I'm okay with the cleaning level of our produce. We mostly eat organic produce, though, from our backyard and CSA.

Bananas have high amounts of pesticides and they are fumigated in trucks. There is no way to "remove" that. I think pesticides in the soil also become part of the plant and there is no way to wash it off. Sprayed pesticides end up in the soil long-term. Washing isn't the key. (IMO)

Veggie wash is a gimmick, IMO, promoted by the same folks who make the chemicals used on our produce in the first place.

[Sol_y_Paz]

vinegar and cold water.