Layout:
Home > How to ... store grocery produce

How to ... store grocery produce

April 25th, 2007 at 04:12 am

As threatened...

Well, now that you bought good produce, you’ll probably want to keep it for at least a few days. I like to grocery shop, but I don’t buy every day, and I can’t eat 5 of anything in 2 days. Storage has to buy time.

If you bought items that were heavier than you expected and smelled good, you also bought a little bit more time. Again, remember that a piece of produce is a piece of plant, and that piece of plant behaves like a water pipe with one end open. The two things you must know to store produce properly are:

1.) Produce – if it’s not cooked – is metabolically active. It is a live plant, it respires (breathes oxygen), it photosynthesizes if it’s green, the enzymes in it are active, and it transpires (sucks up water and releases it).
2.) Plants are all plumbing. If water escapes (transpires) and plant wilts, it’s generally all over. Your job is to keep the water in the plant.

Know what should go in the refrigerator and what shouldn’t.

Whole fruit, whole tomatoes, potatoes, onions generally stay out of the refrigerator. All of these guys convert sugars to starch and tend to turn mealy if they’re in the reefer. I like the deep fruit bowl with a layer of cheesecloth on the top to repel fruit flies. Once the fruit is cut, it probably should go in the refrigerator with the knowledge that it better get eaten or tossed within a couple of days. Leaves like lettuce, stems like celery, crucifers (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc), roots (carrots) can go in the refrigerator. Corn and berries are problematic – if they go in the refeer, they get starchy, if they stay out they get moldy. I buy them fresh and don’t bother with long term storage.

Here's an easy rule of thumb if you are trying to figure out whether it goes in the refrigerator or not. How did you buy it? Did you buy it in a bin in the middle of the produce department at coolish room temperature (should probably stay out of the refeer), or did you pull it from the cooler (goes in the reefer)?

YMMV – I live in Seattle, where it doesn’t get that hot. I used to live in Arizona, which was a nightmare for storing produce. Unless you ate it within 12 hrs, it went in the reefer.

With bagged produce, get rid of as much air and keep as much water in as possible, seal or knot the bag tightly. Keep it dark.

Get rid of as much air from around the plant as you possibly can – when exposed to light, the plant photosynthesizes enough to make its own oxygen. To store produce you have to keep it from transpiring – what makes that fog inside the bag – and to do that you have to keep the produce cool (not frosty), dark, and contained. Sometimes adding a teaspoon of clean tepid water to the bag helps.

Refrigerated produce should be bagged. In addition, those little drawers on the bottom of your refrigerator – the vegetable crispers – are your best friend. Use ‘em. Honest. My DH loves the vegetable crispers enough to call them the beer drawers. Big Grin. The problem with putting produce in the crispers is that its out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Sterile technique begins at home

Cut your produce with a clean knife. Icky things that eat your produce – bacteria, mold, critters - have to work their way into a plant. Cutting with a dirty knife gives all of them a free pass and a free first lunch. If you buy bagged salad (hey, I do!), shake out the leaves from the bag, don’t put your hand in. Then remove as much air from the bag as convenient and seal.

Pace their ripening

Again with the gas. Ethylene gas, that is. If your fruit or produce is ripening too fast, spread out the fruit a bit, along with eating, cooking, or if necessary tossing the over-ripe offender. If a soft something like a peach is growing fuzz, admit defeat and toss. A hard something like a cabbage you can trim the outer leaves and rescue.

Exit strategies

Vegetable stew, sauces that you can hide chopped vegetables in, roasted vegetables with olive oil, tahini sauce or béchamel sauce, soup, fruit sauces, crumbles, clafoutis, and cobblers. All good exit strategies for slightly over the hill produce. And remember, sometimes you do have to toss. You want dishes, not compost in a pot.

Storage buys time, generally 4 days to several weeks. Happy storage!

10 Responses to “How to ... store grocery produce”

  1. contrary1 Says:
    1177471656

    All good points!

    Can't wait til I can "store" my produce in the garden until it's time for dinner!

  2. scfr Says:
    1177476956

    Thanks for more great tips.

    I love Ever-Fresh Green Bags for storing produce ... yes, they really work! http://www.reusablebags.com/store/shopping-bags-produce-bags-c-2_10.html?osCsid=35b08d85bf8112a562416b5e4bd12bb2

    The only problem is that they are expensive here in the USA. I think they're much cheaper in Japan ... Perhaps we could get Jeffrey to buy some over there and give them away in one of his contests? Smile

  3. Fern Says:
    1177509829

    Good info.

    An easy way to get rid of the excess air, without one of those expenspive air vacuum closure machines, is as follows:

    Use a zip lock back and close it all the way except at one end where you insert a straw. Now, suck all that air out, then quickly qip close the end. Voila. Works quite well.

  4. Fern Says:
    1177509851

    Good info.

    An easy way to get rid of the excess air, without one of those expensive air vacuum closure machines, is as follows:

    Use a zip lock bag and close it all the way except at one end where you insert a straw. Now, suck all that air out, then quickly qip close the end. Voila. Works quite well.

  5. homebody Says:
    1177635384

    Thanks Baselle. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

  6. jodi Says:
    1178071851

    Great article!

    Fern. I have used that straw tip too, but often I can't locate a straw in the house! Here's another method I use with ziplock baggies: fill a pot/sink with water, then lower the baggie in up to the zip part. The air will be forced out the top. Zip the baggie while it's still in the water. When you pull it out, you'll be surpised at how little air is left in there.

  7. Fern Says:
    1178113948

    I think my way is easier, plus you don't waste water. Smile

  8. homebody Says:
    1178117436

    Straws are a staple in my house since I work at home and drink water/crystal light all day. I get them at the Dollar Store.

  9. jodi Says:
    1178133550

    I think the straw way is easier too, but I do get better results (less air) when I use the water method. Maybe I just don't "suck" hard enough! Seems like I can never get it all out that way.
    Smile

  10. charlotte Says:
    1240357422

    i just came across this article. while i am totally fond of your information. your use of refer is obnoxious.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]