You may think you don't need to be told how to wash lettuce, and you may be right. But we've heard more than one chef recommend this way—with a big bowl and some hand towels—and we've got our own at-home method...
Simple Tip: How to Wash Lettuce
This works for any kind of green, although it's really helpful with tiny leaves (like microgreens) that tend to scatter and get lost in the drain and spinach, which needs a very thorough cleaning.
Fill a large mixing bowl with cold water, dump in the lettuce (chop big pieces like romaine beforehand), and then swish and submerge the lettuce until it's clean. Small pieces of dirt and grit fall to the bottom of the bowl. And a bonus is that you likely use less water than you would leaving the faucet running over a head of lettuce as you tried to flip through the leaves. If you've got a large load of lettuce, plug the drain in your sink and use it instead of a bowl.
The photo above is from Saveur, which is illustrating a tip from David Tanis, author of A Platter of Figs. Tanis scoops up his clean lettuce and wraps it in kitchen towels, then stores it just like that in the fridge.
One modification we've made is to use the bowl of our salad spinner as our washing bowl. Instead of using a separate mixing bowl, we fill up the outer container of the salad spinner, submerge our lettuce, then scoop it up and put it in the colander/spinner. Remember: Don't pour the lettuce into the colander; you'll just be washing the dirty water back over it.
• Read the full tip: 3 Chef Techniques, from Saveur
Related: Hot or Not: The Salad Sac
(Image: Andre Baranowski for Saveur)
Comments (8)
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One more helpful hint while washing greens.. I pour in at least a cup of vinegar to kill of any bacteria to the water and leave the lettuce,spinach, rockets etc. there for at least 20 mins. Makes them squeeky clean:)
view aysegul's profile
Why do you put it in your spinner bowl, soak it and then manually put it into the spinner colander?
I just put it in the spinner bowl (colander intact) and fill up the bowl, washing it just as you instruct. Then I lift the colander out of the bowl, pour out the dirty lettuce water, give the colander a good shake over the sink, and spin away. No transference of greens required.
view diertac's profile
I do it the way diertac suggests too. Once spun dry, I lay out paper towels, put them greens on and roll them up. I store the rolled greens in a ziplock bag in the fridge. The paper towels wick away the moisture so the leaves don't rot, plus the damp towels stay colder than plain air, and the ziplock bag provides a humid environment. Prepared this way, greens will easily store for 2 weeks without getting brown and disgusting.
view ilovebutter's profile
aysegul: I'm really intrigued by the vinegar idea. When I was pregnant in Europe some time ago, the doctor told me to avoid all uncooked/unpeeled fruits and vegetables unless I treated them with vinegar. I wasn't really sure what he meant, but now it all makes more sense.
I think I'm going to make this a part of my routine now.
view moema's profile
here's my tried and true way of washing farm-fresh veggies--very similar to yours....but soaking in water ain't just to keep off the grit. all the bugs left on your organic greens should come floating to the top, "gasping for air" as my mother so gently puts it.
http://sustainablediet.blogspot.com/2009/04/triple-washed-ready-to-eat.html
view amber77's profile
Giving lettuce a cold, cold wash, helps it stay crispier. Soaking it in cold water is still the best. I put my washed lettuce in a grocery plastic bag, with a piece of paper towel and tie the top loosely. It really keeps the freshness and it doesn't "compress" the lettuce like a ziploc.
view Cab's profile
Every Sunday after I come home from the farmer's market I wash my greens and herbs in this manner, however I use my kitchen sink filling and refilling the basin until no trace of grit, sand or dirt remain. After they air dry for a few hours on the counter in various sized colanders, I spin them dry, wrap them in paper towels and place them in my Tupperware fridge smart containers. They are known to last a week or more this way (even basil!).
view rosebud's profile
I do what diertac does. Easier.
Save the water for your garden or potted plants.
view Charlotte's profile