— Sue Michaels

You know, this is, um, a, a problem not only for home cooks, but um, for, uh, commercial kitchens. I know professional kitchens, um, you know, this bumps up into, uh, the idea of food waste. Uh, you know, one's budget, um, you know, one's, uh, food philosophy, uh, and probably other, uh, you know, intersections as well. But, uh, so first of all, um, it's important to, to purchase a quantity that is best for your usage rate. Okay? Usage rate is gonna be based upon, of course, the number of people that you're, you're, uh, feeding each day. And, um, You know, just how much of that product you're gonna use in each of the, um, preparations that you might make each day. Um, so, you know, one of the biggest issues that I see just across the board, whether it's a professional kitchen or, you know, at at home for each of us, is that, uh, we buy too much food. And, uh, you know, I, I find myself going down this path sometimes, uh, when I'm drawn to a place like Costco, uh, that have these gargantuan packages of things. Um, some things have a long shelf life, so maybe it's not a problem, except when I find myself eating more of it than usual because there's so much sitting around. Uh, but in the case of perishable goods, those things will end up in the garbage can, um, or hopefully the compost pile to give it, uh, some sort of life, uh, you know, in, in its next cycle. So, purchasing, uh, is gonna be number one. Uh, number two is gonna be, uh, the temperature, uh, you know, of, of your, um, refrigerator and, uh, just, uh, you know, kind of keep an eye on things to see that it's not, uh, too warm or too cold. Uh, you know, usually temperatures in the upper thirties, uh, uh, lower forties Fahrenheit, uh, for produce items is, is gonna be good. Um, but some produce items, um, you know, call for an even warmer temperature than that. Some items are pretty delicate. Um, now keep in mind that some of these, um, salad greens in terms of temperature don't necessarily perfectly align with the, the perfect temperature for, um, you know, soy milk or dairy milk or, or something else, um, which would, uh, uh, call for a even lower temperature. So, um, you know, sometimes you're, it's difficult. Okay? I'll say that. Um, now, the other thing is, uh, when you, if, if you're buying prepackaged these mixes like a meslin mix from the store, keep in mind that each of these, uh, lettuce types, uh, has its own shelf life. And in each of these blends, um, uh, you know, especially these, uh, red leaf lettuce, uh, varieties I've noted, they have a very short shelf life. And, um, so it's important to try to, to, to find the freshest quality product, of course. But I also understand that that's easier said than done, okay? Because you just don't always know how long it's been, uh, in transit to the store, or how long it's been on the store shelf itself. Um, so we gotta use the product as quickly as we can. That's just, you know, do what we can that's in our, in our realm of control. Um, but understand that each of these items in a, in a mix or a blend, we'll have its own shelf life again, with these, uh, these red pigmented items for some reason, uh, having a pretty short shelf life in, uh, uh, in, in my experience. Now, one thing that will, that will help all this is, um, however you store the product, whether it's in a plastic bag or a a glass container, and either one can be fine, uh, is to add a towel. The towel could be a paper towel. It, it could be, um, a cloth towel. But, um, if you can slide, let's say a paper towel into the plastic bag, and it might be one on top and one on bottom with all the lettuce product in the, in the middle, those towels will absorb excess moisture, and that will, uh, you know, cut down on, um, the rot that, uh, could set in and thereby extend the shelf life of the product. Okay? Um, I find if I put it into a, these lettuce items into a hard container, um, if I lay a, a cloth over the top, again, it could be a, a, a cloth towel, uh, or it could be a paper towel. Uh, either one can work fine, but it'll absorb some of the excess moisture. Um, you wanna rotate this stuff so it, it can breathe within the container, um, you know, each day, let's say. But don't, you know, make sure your hands are clean so we're not introducing excess bacteria, um, you know, which can hasten the, the spoil spoilage process. Okay? Uh, and then, uh, you know, whether to, to, to cut, um, with a stainless steel or plastic knife. You know, I, I've never used a plastic knife for this sort of thing. I've always used, uh, you know, a, a typical stainless steel chef's knife for, um, setting up a salad prep for the next couple of days. Um, what I've noticed is that, um, uh, things will oxidize given enough time, and you can, you know, use the, the towel technique and kind of, you know, optimize temperature. Um, and, and you can start to ex, uh, extend shelf life, but give enough time, uh, you know, these lettuce items are going to, to get, uh, kind of a rusty, you know, brown colored, that's the oxidation that's setting in, um, with its, you know, the cut or even torn edges exposed to the oxygen in the air, uh, or other components might start to break down because they're so fragile, okay? So, you know, in there is gonna be a balance, um, that can work, um, for your situation, and it's gonna take a little bit of experimentation, okay? Uh, looking at these, these few factors that I just mentioned, uh, to see what combination is gonna work best for you. Okay? Um, but, but I am a big fan. I'll say again, of the, uh, the towel, again, whether it's paper or, or a cloth towel, uh, just to absorb some of that excess moisture, um, you know, glass with a, the tight lid. Um, you know, generally speaking, uh, you know, these, uh, these food items, they're, you know, they, they, they're alive, right? So they benefit some, uh, from some breathing. Um, you know, I prefer, uh, some sort of a loose, looser fitting, uh, uh, a lid. Um, but, uh, again, if you're consuming the product quickly enough, then that, uh, problem goes away. Okay? So, again, there are a number of variables here, and I want you to take notes, uh, and to pay attention to what you are doing and what's going on in your refrigerator, uh, and then start to find that balance that works best for you.