How do you keep pre packed salad as fresh as possible?

Question

I usually buy my salad in bags and then once opened keep it in the fridge but it seems to wilt after about a day.

Answer 1

take it out of the bag.
place in a glass bowl, cover with cling-film & place on the highest shelf in the fridge.
it should last a few more days.
throw it away after day 5, it won't keep 4ever.

Answer 2

When you buy your salad in a bag you will find its like a pillow, all puffed up with air. This is due to the Modified Atmosphere Packaging process that is used to pack the salad, so the air in the bag has reduced oxygen, which means the salad is slower to turn brown, or oxidise. Also the packaging is special and helps the air inside the MAP remain low in oxygen.

Once you open the bag it doesn't work as well, but it does help to seal it back up in the original bag as the bag is doing some of the work. You let out all the MAP special air when you open it up and let in lots of oxygen. Moving the salad to a bowl does help stop it getting crushed, but takes away the special bag.

You can refresh the lettuce just before you use it by putting it in a bowl of iced water, which will perk it up, but will not undo the oxidisation,

Really there is not much you can do, it will start to oxidise straight away, and also as you can crush the bag up smaller now the pillow is popped the salad gets broken and this gives more areas to oxidise.

I would advice against buying these bags unless you are going to use the bag up within a couple of days of opening. The only lettuce that stays fresh for a few days is a whole one, where you can work your way into the middle of the lettuce bit by bit, with it remaining fresh and protected by the remaining out leaves. Also, when buying a whole lettuce, pull leaves off one by one rather than cutting the lettuce as this will help it keep fresher for longer.

In the UK one family in five throws away an unopened bag of packet salad a week. It's a very wasteful and un-ecological product.

Answer 3

After opening the pre-packaged salad mix, I always transfer the leftovers to a gallon-sized ziploc bag. I push out all the air before zipping the bag and this usually helps the salad mix last at least 3 days before wilting. Also, I've heard that wrapping it in a damp paper towel before putting it in the ziploc bag helps, too.

Answer 4

Well if your a big salad eater shell out the money for the fancy super fresh keeper tupper ware deals that keep salad and other things like that fresh for like three weeks longer than ordinary tupper ware. Or you could just grow a vegitable garden and you would have the freshest salad on the block and all your salad eating friends would be so jealous they would turn greener than your lettuce with envy.

Answer 5

If you have one of those expensive fridges you can put it in the crisper section which will keep it nice and fresh. On a serious note just keep the pack well sealed and keep it in the coolest part of the fridge.

Answer 6

You can remove the salad from its original bag and reseal it in another one, along with a dampened paper towel, or sprinkle it with water and put it in a salad spinner and leave in the fridge.

Answer 7

I don't know that there is any way to preserve them. I usually just buy them as I need them. It means more trips to the grocery store for me, but it's the only thing I could figure out.

Answer 8

yes it looks so nice in it´s pkt, it´s when the air gets to it & also as it´s still wet thats what makes it go brown , the best way to keep any salad is to wrap it up in news paper and keep it in the bottom drawer, so it stays nice and dry

Answer 9

freeze it for the first couple hours of bringing it home then stick in back in the fridge! it works

Answer 10

Keep in an airtight container.