This simple Tip Will Extend the Shelf Life Of Your Vegetables.

The Problem:

We’ve all experienced the frustration associated with vegetables that have gone bad in our refrigerators. You reach into the fridge and grab the bag of tomatoes you placed there four days ago only to find they’ve already started to spoil. So much for the BLT you wanted to make for lunch.

The food industry has managed to extend the shelf-life of our vegetables to the point where they last a few weeks instead of a few days from when they were picked. This helps the grocery distributors reduce waste from in-store spoilage while increasing their profit and efficiency. Unfortunately, we all know what that did to the flavor; but that’s another story.

For some reason, that shelf-life ‘extension’ thingy seems to end the minute I put the vegetables into my refrigerator. Once I’ve put away my veggies they seem to spoil in less than a week. Tomatoes show spots of mold within a few days, the leaves of lettuce turn brown quickly, and onions feel slimy and turn brown long before I can consume the whole bag.

Some food ‘experts’ suggest you remove veggies from the perforated bag you brought them home in and allow the veggies to breathe. Moisture causes most veggies to lose their crispness and start to soften and spoil, that’s why some people suggest “allowing your veggies to breathe”, thinking it cuts down on the moisture content once removed from the bag.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t solve the problem of moisture. It may reduce the amount of ‘sweating’ by your veggies, but does not eliminate it completely. In addition, your refrigerator naturally has humidity due to condensation produced during the cooling process, an ‘exposed’ vegetable is still subject to moisture by the refrigerated air.

Putting veggies in the crisper-drawer helps, but there’s a better way to protect your veggies from the moisture in your fridge. My experience has shown refrigerated produce seems to stay fresh longer when sealed, whether in zip-lock plastic bags, Tupperware type containers with tight-fitting lids, or my favorite, pint-size wide-mouth mason jars.

The problem with storing veggies in a sealed container is that it can still have a ‘moisture’ issue because of the air inside the container and from the vegetables themselves. Evacuating the air from a zip-lock bag helps, but it’s not an end-all solution. However, I’ve found a surefire way to reduce the effects of moisture and extend the shelf-life of your refrigerated veggies.

The Solution

I’ve discovered an easy fix, a way to extend the freshness of the vegetables stored inside your refrigerator. This solution will extend your veggie shelf-live by two, maybe three times your current average. Follow the simple steps below and you‘ll cut back on waste and increase veggie longevity; you might even save a little money in the long run.

Follow These Simple Steps:

• Find a resealable container like a zip lock bag, a bag with a tie, any style Tupperware container, or a wide-mouth mason jar.
• Tear off a small piece of paper towel, three or four inches square works best.
• Place the flat or folded paper towel inside the container with your veggies.
• Seal the container and place it in your refrigerator.

I prefer to chop my veggies in advance, making preparation on the day I intend to cook easier. For example, when I make tacos, most ingredients are already diced, all I have to do is cook the hamburger and assemble the tacos, saving a considerable amount of time during preparation. You can still store your veggies whole, you’ll just need to use bags or larger bowls.

You can fold the paper towel or ball it up if necessary, otherwise just lay it flat on top the veggies. Placing the towel on top of the veggies makes it easier to remove later. I’ve even placed a flat piece of PT directly on the exposed end of a sliced tomato, it peels off easily and helps keep moisture inside the tomato. I’ve never had a piece of moist PT crumble or flake off.

A week or so later, after opening and closing the jar a few times, you may find that the paper towel feels a little moist after absorbing moisture from the inside of the container . If needed, just toss out the old paper towel and replace it with a fresh piece.

I usually use Brawny ‘tear-a-square’, they are perforated every four inches. But it’s just as easy to tear off the corner of any style sheet. I assume this tip works with other paper towels, I’ve just never tried it with one of the cheaper brands. Obviously you don’t want to use tissues or toilet paper… it’s sad that I feel it necessary to point that out, it’s a sign of the times. Ha-Ha!

I believe you can use this tactic with just about any vegetable, and probably with most fruits too, if you refrigerate your fruit. To date, I have only used this method of storage with Tomatoes, Onions, Lettuce, Jalapeno, Serrano, Green Peppers, and one fruit, grapes. I haven’t tried Strawberries yet, but I have high hopes.

I’ve had chopped lettuce last well over two weeks in this bowl. If I don’t chop the lettuce I just use a zip-lock bag; large sized lettuce may need to be chopped in half. In the past I would have been lucky if a head of lettuce would last five days without showing some spoilage.

Whatever way you choose to do it, just remember to pat the veggies dry first, then seal them inside the container with the piece of paper towel. The towel will absorb the moisture in the container, keeping your vegetables fresh and dry for weeks inside your refrigerator.

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Bonus Tip:

Bananas have the shortest life-span of any type of produce I know. Anything you can do to extend a bananas shelf-life is worth doing.

Sealing-off the stem is the best way to extend the shelf-life of a ‘Hand of Bananas’; yes, that is what you call a small group of attached Bananas.

Watch the short video below to see how it’s done.

Rather than using a piece of tape to secure the wrap, as suggested in the movie, I thread the plastic between the bananas and tie it off on top.

How It Works

Bananas release a gas through the stem area that naturally helps to ripen the fruit. When you wrap plastic around the stem, blocking, or slowing the release of that gas, bananas ripen slower, increasing the shelf-life of your fruit. Hanging the bananas from a hook also slows the release of the gas, in addition to limiting the bruising caused from lying bananas on their side.

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On Reflection

Not much more I can say about this post, it speaks for itself. I hope you benefit from these tips, I know I did.

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Thanks for reading my article.

Info Sources: In addition to my personal experiences, the Banana Video was supplied by YouTube