How do you keep your lettuce fresh?

[RobotDeathSquad]

You guys hooked me up with the best way to keep ginger fresh (in the freezer), what about lettuce? I can't ever eat a whole head before it goes bad. Any tips?

[arifa]

i always have LOTS of lettuce in the house for my two pet bunnies. i buy a mix of red leaf and green leaf lettuce, wash it, spin it in the salad spinner, and then store it in a pillor case in the crisper drawer. i go through the drawerfull in about six days, so i'm not sure how much longer than that it would keep.

sometimes, the lettuce does wilt a little if i dry the lettuce TOO well, but then i just sprinkle some water on the pillowcase and it's fine.

[Sethboy]

Everyone neglects to mention a key factor in keeping produce fresh:

BUY FRESH LETTUCE FROM YOUR LOCAL FARMER / FARM MARKET

I bought two huge heads of fresh lettuce last Saturday at the Greenmarket. I know for a fact, that these lettuces were still growing in the field on Friday and had just been picked, possibly just hours before I bought them.

IF YOU START WITH A GOOD PRODUCT, you are that much better off.

Buying some commercial / supermarket lettuces, you have to factor in that by the time you buy that plastic bag of greens, which may have been shipped from South America, handled by several people (no, despite rumor, lettuce does NOT grow already washed and stored neatly in bags) and has possibly been sitting in cold storage / shipping for a few days.
So the lettuce you may be buying may actually already BE a few days or more old!!

(Yes, I did store my lettuce in paper towels in a plastic bag in the bottom drawer of the fridge) and they kept very well - I just used the last of them today.

[PicklingJessica]

Salad that has gone limp go in iced water for an hour or so. I try to buy just enough so that it won't spoil as someone suggested.

[dfrostnh]

Romaine lettuce seems to keep the longest without doing anything to it. I buy the plastic bag of 3 heads. For other lettuces I do the roll in paper towel then put in a plastic bag trick.

[personalcheffie]

I store mine in my Oxo Salad Spinner with the second flat solid lid for storage. I don't buy iceberg, but red leaf will stay for almost two weeks in that thing.

[mabziegurl]

i wash them, dry, then wrap them in paper towels and roll them loosely, put in a plastic bag.

i read it in the field guide to produce book and my lettuce lasts a week or more... =)

[rebs]

i wash and spin them in the salad spinner, then pour out the excess water.i put the lid of the spinner back on and stick the whole thing in the fridge. keeps for about a week (but lettuce never goes uneaten for that long over here).

[KayMae]

I wash the leaves, spin them in a salad spinner, dry
them a little more with paper towel, then I line a
pyrex (glass) bowl with dry paper towel, put the lettuce
in there, cover with paper towel and the glass lid of
the bowl. I store it anywhere in the frig.

[beetlebug]

For heads of lettuces, i wrap the head in a paper towel and put it in a plastic bag. The lettuce is completely wrapped. Everytime I have salad, I change out the paper towel. I store the plastic bag into the crisper drawer. I also use this method to store other green leafy vegetables as well as broccoli, carrots, radishes, etc.

If the lettuce comes in a bag or box, I try and wrap the leaves into a paper towel and change it out everytime I make a salad.

I find that I can have fresh lettuce for well over a week, almost two weeks.

[Candy]

If you are asking about plain old iceberg lettuce. I remove the core nad any loose limp outer leaves. Rinse in cold water and leave to drain in a colander about an hour. Then I wrap it loosely in dry paper towels and in an unsealed plastic bag and refrigerate in the crisper drawer. It keeps well for over a week.

[TexasToast]

I very rarely eat iceberg lettuce as it just tastes like water. My advice would be to buy only as much as you need for a few days and use it or lose it.

TT