That sounds a little crazy to me... it probably works... but, I would be too suspicious of dryer fluff ending up in my food.

I've been doing this for years, but using paper towels and ziploc bags. Prepped this way they will easily last 2 weeks.

Basically, the materials absorbs moisture, so the greens don't rot. The damp towel retains cold very well, keeping the greens crisp and happy, and storing in plastic maintains humidity do they don't wilt.

I wouldn't dare use towels though. My greens would be covered in cat hair!

We have cats, and we use towels!

usually, we use hand towel sized kitchen towels instead of bath towels, but same idea. Works like a dream, no waste.

I also have been doing this for years using "ilovebutter"s method. The greens easily last a week+ and is a good method for herbs provided I replace the paper towels every few days. Works like a charm.

This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Kramer decides to live in his shower and asks Puddy to install a garbage disposal in his tub. At this point, though, I'll try anything.

My mom did this all the time when I was growing up - she used all cotton tea towels (that didn't shed lint) and it seemed to do the trick.

I also do the same thing with big bunches of greens using paper towels. It's one giant roll.

@portlandy - it reminds me of the same thing!

I supposed if you used a towel, it would have to be a well-worn one so there weren't lint deposits on the greens.

Would this work with say... sheets or old t-shirts as well? I'm debating on whether or not to start growing my own greens in my backyard but needed a method of storage.

Adam
lickmyspoon.com

I do this with linen towels to avoid lint.

I just started doing this a few weeks ago, and it works great! And less wasteful than paper towels.

As others said, this works great and has been done for as long as I can remember. This is how we prepped salad when I worked in kitchens. Washed it in ice water, drained it and loaded it into tablecloths. Tied up and stored in the fridge, they lasted so long.

I'm thinking my flour sack tea towels would be ideal for this. Brilliant idea! Thank you.

We grow our own salads and this is the best way to do it. We use old cotton sheets or smooth kitchen towels (not terry). You could probably use a t-shirt. Paper towel just seems wasteful to me, and when I've used it in the past it got yucky.

sorry, but this is so funny to me! It makes perfect sense though, and I might just try it. although, I don't know if my counter is even big enough. Maybe I'll go with tea towels.

I was pretty happy with the salad spinner and patting dry with paper towels method (though it felt very wasteful). I keep my cleaned greens in a giant metal bowl and it stays good for a pretty long time (at least a week). I suppose if I could get another week out of it, that would be good!

I've also done the paper towel & ziplock method... @Adam C... good idea with the old t-shirts! We have cut so many old ones into rags, but I don't know what to do with them. Maybe this would work...

This method does work well, the only thing I would do differently is wash, THEN cut (or preferably not cut at all until ready to use). I'm not a germaphobe by any means, but the knife slicing through delicate greens can carry microbes from the less permeable outer parts into the membranes.

I do this in the professional kitchen I cook in. Except I use linen or jersey. You change the towel if it gets visibly wet. Also works for keeping herbs and scallions.

Heehee, Adam C. One of the key benefits of growing your own greens is that you don't NEED to store them - you just pick them whenever you need them.

My mom taught me this - we use non-linty tea towels though. Works like a charm! This reminds me I have to go out and sow some lettuce and radishes this afternoon. :-)

This is a pretty common technique!

The lint-phobic comments are too funny! You guys are joking, right...?

I hope the towel they're using is exclusively for their greens and washed separately from their laundry. Otherwise I can't even begin to imagine them eating dead skin & bits of hair embedded in the towel. Nasty.

i made produce bags (similar to a pillow case) with draw strings from left over muslin. i can buy full head lettuce (green & red) and it never goes bad! the muslin is light enough that it doesn't impact the scale at the grocery store and the muslin is breathable enough that the lettuce stays fresh for 2+ weeks. i've never had it go bad since using them. and now i don't have the annoying plastic bags from the grocery store. i have all sizes now for apples, mushroom, tomatoes. better than the mesh produce bags too!

This is great information! My fridge is always overflowing with improperly packed vegetables, so I love learning new ways to store things. Any other tips?

Becca

Best to leave the lettuce on the head, then remove, wash, and cut leaves as needed. If there's soil on head, all the better for keeping it fresh and tasty.

I've found that moisture control is what it's all about. When I buy one of the big plastic tubs of greens, I wipe away all of the moisture on the underside of the lid. Then I fold a paper towel in half and place it on top of the greens. This same paper towel is used until all of the greens have been used. As I use the greens and more space is available in the container, I mix it up so that the leaves aren't so compacted. I also, at this point, remove whatever water has condensed on the underside of the container lid. I've been able to keep my greens for more than a week using this method. It definitely curtails the greens' tendancy toward rotting! And I'm able to use up the greens before any of it goes bad.

I dry them as whole leaves on flour towels and then put them in ziplock lined with paper towels. Last three weeks fresh. I will try rolling them up and see.

if only i had enough room for a bath towel in my fridge, on top of all my other food.

and, i'm not entirely sure i would want my salad tasting like a dryer sheet.

Interesting.
I use newspaper to contain fresh herbs - doesn't necessarily keep them damp, but it keeps them fresh and gradually dries them out rather than containing them and welcoming the rot.

SCALLIONS too, brilliant!! I buy scallions or other weak herbs like cilantro and they wither or get slimy before I can work my way through them all. Thanks for the tip, it's good way to the entire bang for your buck!

For all of you who are single or parents, it's so comforting to know how much you love your greens! Rock on!

Yes, the moist tea towel works like a charm - something passed down from my mother. I also learned that putting a moist paper towel over a huge salad bar hours before a dinner party keeps the greens prepped, moist and crispy -- ready to serve.

this is just brilliant! i had a several heads of lettuce go to waste lately and i was wondering how i could handle my "salad problem" better. i guess this is exactly what i will try.

We prep our greens, cut them, and then place them in a ziplock bag with a double sheet of paper towel inside. The towel helps keep the moisture from building up, and every day, we open the bag to let the leaves "breathe". They stay fresh like this for almost a week. We also use this technique for fresh herbs harvested from the garden.

k2yhe, like Adam C, you grow your own greens/herbs, but for some reason harvest more than you need for one meal, and then store them in the fridge? Um, what?

I thought I was a genius when I came up with my method: I spin my lettuce in a lettuce spinner (an expensive one with a flat lid), pour the water out, then put the whole spinner with the lettuce in it back into the fridge. Works brilliantly. The basket in the spinner keeps the lettuce away from any moisture that's sunk to the bottom - no need for towels. It takes up a lot of room in my fridge, but I eat salad everyday so it's worth it. I also keep herbs in there and any cut up but unfinished vegetables too.

This all sounds creepy to me. And isn't it enormously time consuming? It sure sounds like folks have a lot of time on their hands that I just don't.

@kushkush - i just tried that method for the first time. it took me 10 minutes to prepare the towel with the lettuce in the first place and it takes me seconds now to make a nice and healthy salad for my meals.

totally worth it, very effective!

i also believe i save money that way because i don't have to throw out half eaten heads of lettuce every week ...

I have a terry cloth bag that has a drawstring for closing. I rinse my lettuce, spinach or whatever greens I need to keep fresh and into the bag it goes (still damp). Stays fresh for about two weeks. No more rotten greens.

My mother in law bought me this bag. Love it.

This is great extension idea to me wrapping my lettuce in paper towels. I would also have to be cautious using towels due to my kitties:-)

i must be doing it wrong, because i wash, spin, and either store in a (raised bottom) container w/paper towels or wrap it in a towel & stick it in the fridge--my lettuce still turns : ( so ... i just found a vacuum sealer on craigslist & i'm going to try the salad in a jar method later this week. sigh.

QUESTION: hasn't anyone used the "green bags"? Or have I missed something about them being dangerous or something? I've been using them for 3 years now. As an older single woman, a vegetarian, and "physically challenged", I find washing & drying my fruits & veggies, then putting them in the green bags, suck all the air out; I've had lettuce keep over 3 weeks, still fresh & crisp!! I especially LOVE them for tomatoes, I've actually had tomatoes last 5-6 weeks-as long as the bag is clean, dry, and kept air tight.
PLEASE tell me if I've missed something about these miracle bags!!

Like people mentioned above, I do this with paper towels in a ziploc bag. Maybe I'll try it with one of those cheap dish towels from Ikea instead next time to save on waste.

My mother does this- not with towels, but with kitchen towels. It works amazingly. She keeps vegetables thus wrapped out in the open even during the hot summers in India- and they stay fresh and do not go bad.

We did this in professional kitchens I worked in- washed and prepped lettuce, tossed it in a big clean bed sheet then in a big plastic bag, tossed it in the ice maker off to a side. It was never around long enough to wilt, but it stayed super fresh.

@ solopocono:

I had exactly the same question! I'm a HUGE fan of the green bags. We're big salad eaters and have loose leaf lettuces either from the garden (it's ALMOST cool enough to plant again here!) or from the store in big containers. I pop those tender leaves in those green bags and they'll stay fresh for what seems like forever. I used to do the paper towel thing, but the green bags take up less room in the fridge and keep tender greens fresh longer.

If you haven't tried these you really should. (Some of that crap you see on TV at 3:00 AM actually works! Well, this is the first that I've found, so maybe 1%...!)

http://www.amazon.com/Debbie-Meyer-Green-Bags-Pack/dp/B0011TMP3Y

Once I found a bigger box of them at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but that size box seems to have disappeared. [sniff]

I do a combination of this and the green bags. Clean and wash the greens or vegetables, wrap in tea towels and let dry on the counter, then I transfer to green bags. I place a paper bag in the green bags to wick away moisture. The green bags recommend storing the veggies unwashed, but the more steps I can get done on the weekend, the more likely I am to eat vegetables throughout the work week. I have small undercounter refrigerators and the other advantage of the green bags is they take up less space in the fridge, although this would be true for zip locks.

I meant I place a paper towel in the bag.

This idea you present to the all the young culinary cooks is one my Mom did years ago(I am in my 60's). She used tea towels...so I use the same.

Also, I don't have a dish drain...I have put aside several thick towels to lay the dishes on. Never have liked a dish rack..just seem to be an unnecessary item,cost wise,storage,and cleaning it left behind.

Audience.....acquire new towels,etc. for kitchen use only. Buy according to your activity then set aside to wash them together,separate from the regular wash.
The various blogs are helpful for us to learn new ways to cook healthy,presentation of food ,and being resourceful. Food is the catalysts for strong minds and body.

I have used the green bags too,but after a while I felt they had lost their purpose.bags are more cumbersome for me to put in and retrieve things. I know you could share more ideas since you are " physically challanged " Do you use the nonskid shelf liner to help anchor bowels? I just use a wet dish cloth. Also, I use waxpaper for prepping foods, putting measured ingredients out on it. Less dishes to wash. Just lay a big piece out on the counter for general purpose..really helps for less clean up. Thank you for any comments. RAA

Please tell me ..do you have a rotation system so the same bag is not used...doesn't the product in the " green bag" disinpate after so many uses.
Also, have you found a site that the large bags may be bought?

I thought you were supposed to tear, not cut, lettuce.
Otherwise, I'd give this a shot with hand towels.

@Rae)ycle:

Sorry I'm late in replying. The green bags say they're good for about 10 uses, and you can rinse them out. What I do is use a non-erasable marker to put either the dates that I've used them, or just a little hash mark on the top of the bag to keep track of them.

The boxes of Green Bags come with 2 sizes in them, and I've gotten my last ones from Amazon. (It's amazing the number of things I now buy from what used to be just a bookstore! Pretty soon I'm sure I'll be able to have a new car delivered from them...)