How to store lettuce

I have thrown away how many tons of lettuce over the years. A year or so ago I adopted a new way (to me), which has been remarkable in its ability to keep lettuce fresh. I’m probably the last person to discover this method, so you all can laugh at me, just passing on my experience.

Whatever you’ve got (I’ve used this on green/red leaf, romaine, little gems, even frisee), cut away the root end, wash the separated leaves (for frisee, I leave the root intact, and cut it lengthwise in quarters to make it more manageable), spin or dry however you like. In an airtight container, like tupperware, or glad storage, etc., lay a paper towel at the bottom. Then lay out a single layer of leaves, they can overlap a bit, put down another paper towel, layer in more lettuce leaves, and so on, until you’ve filled the container. Press down to compress a bit, and squeeze in all the lettuce. Seal container, and store in the fridge.

My lettuce stays nearly perfect for a week or more. I’ve had good, fresh lettuce to start that went as long as three weeks and was still serviceable, maybe some brown spots here or there to discard.

Toss unwashed, into a paper bag. The porous paper prevents moisture build-up which causes wilting and rot.
We waste NO food.

Cut celery at its base, and store standing up in an inch of water. Tent the container.

First part is the same. I roll it in a long length of paper towels before putting it in a clean bag… For some reason, I like unrolling my salads.

Paper towel is key for many vegs, eg green beans. I think kitchen aid also makes some kind of dehydrating agent you can put in the veg bin of the fridge. I used to use it but don’t currently, our Samsung seems to do a fair job supplemented by the paper towel route for some things. Paper bag is interesting approach - I currently only use that for mushrooms.

Subject for a new poll for pollsters here - do you keep tomatoes in the fridge?

Nope.

Yep. In the summer I have a lot of homegrown lettuce so separate leaves, wash, spin, layout on paper towels, roll, and stuff in ziplock bags. I actually reuse the paper towels for other purposes after using the lettuce. During the winter, I buy lettuce as needed so not as big an issue of having it go bad.

My lettuce lasts 2-3 weeks as purchased in my crisper drawer.
Now my friend’s doesn’t, and she could try this, but it is a lot of work so not sure.

Never. An abomination

I don’t even bother with ziploc, I just reuse plastic bags from the grocery store - I hate when I have to use them, so like being able to do something other than toss.

I also reuse the paper towels like you do, Paul. They are always the perfect level of slightly damp for wiping off the stove or cutting board.

Once they are ripe to the point I like, absolutely they go into the fridge. Otherwise they will continue to over-ripen. Old wives tale that fridge damages tomatoes, all it can do is slow down the chemistry that would continue at room temp.

I was in the grocery biz for 29 years. Never saw a wholesaler or grower recommend refrigerating tomatoes. When they are really, really ripe, almost over-ripe, as Alan points out you can refrigerate them. And even then there is debate but we do on occasion. Good tomatoes don’t last long in our house anyway.

Plastic bags are great for this. I definitely use when I have them.

I absolutely love tomatoes, but I can’t eat them fast enough to handle all that come off a couple of plants during peak season. I’ll leave them on the counter as long as possible, which is surprisingly long, but then they go in the fridge, where they can stay for another week or so, typically.

When tomatoes, avocados, bananas, pears, peaches, etc. are on the verge of getting over-ripe, I put them in the refrigerator. That holds them nearly steady for a couple of days.

The first part of your post is spot on, Victor, but you just couldn’t leave it at that, could you? Had to stick in your little Virtue Signal, didn’t you?

Then, otherwise, what is even the point of the OP?

Yes to all of these. Avocados in particular. Once they are just moderately ready, maybe a day or so before I would eat them, they go in the fridge, where they will ripen just a bit more, slowly. I routinely have good success holding them this way for as long as 2 weeks or even more.

And why is it tomatoes, bit not avocadoes?

Refrigerated tomatoes tend to lose flavor.

While I do like options to extend the life of produce, the cost of the paper towels seems very near the cost of new lettuce. Either way you’re creating waste (old lettuce or paper towels), though admittedly this equation probably only works if you have a ready supply of inexpensive produce.

Flour-sack cloth dish towels, which can be washed and re-used. Or paper bags.