Salad Spinners

[richalisoviejo]

Maggie gave me some good tips on how to keep my torts greens fresh and last longer. Today I soaked the greens for 30 minutes, patted them dry and put them in a zip lock bag.

I also bought a salad spinner to get most of the water off before I wrapped them in the paper towels put them in a zip lock bag and also bought this little device that sucks the air out of the bag. Now my torts have plenty of fresh greens for the week when I’m out of town. :shy:

 

[tortoisenerd]

Awesome! I've been wanting one of these. Most of the time I do get the bagged pre-washed stuff though.

 

[BigBiscuit]

When I saw the title of the post, I was thinking you were posting a story of someone who fell on a salad spinner, and is suing the manufacturer for mental distress.

 

[richalisoviejo]

When I saw the title of the post, I was thinking you were posting a story of someone who fell on a salad spinner, and is suing the manufacturer for mental distress.

Hey that could happen

And if it doesn’t work I just might do that.:shy:

 

[Isa]

Thanks Rich & Maggie,
SALAD SPINNER What a great idea . I always use a lot of scottowel to dry the greens.
When you do all that, how long the greens stay fresh in the fridge?

 

[Clementine_3]

I love my salad spinner!!
I put a paper towel on the bottom of a gallon zip lock bag (the sliding lock kind) then start adding the 'spun' greens, another paper towel in the middle-ish, more greens and top it with another paper towel. Then I just squeeze the air out and zip it up, I've been able to keep things fresh for about 10 days this way. Usually it gets eaten first but it really does last for a while. Sometimes I will replace the paper towels if they seem to be getting too wet, it doesn't happen often but for whatever reason moisture will build up every now and again. A new towel fixes that though!

 

[richalisoviejo]

Thanks Rich & Maggie,
SALAD SPINNER What a great idea . I always use a lot of scottowel to dry the greens.
When you do all that, how long the greens stay fresh in the fridge?

They should last up to a month. Before I was throwing away all the greens every week.

 

[Isa]

Thanks Rich & Maggie,
SALAD SPINNER What a great idea . I always use a lot of scottowel to dry the greens.
When you do all that, how long the greens stay fresh in the fridge?

They should last up to a month. Before I was throwing away all the greens every week.

A month WOW! Thanks again for the idea.

 

[Weloveourtortoise]

I love my salad spinner and we also got the "green bags" advertised on TV-- they do work well.

 

[Laura]

EAT THEM!!!!!

 

[tortoisenerd]

I'll eat most of it, but mustard greens are gross...

 

[Madkins007]

What I have tried so far...

1. Rip out inedible parts (thick ribs, bad leaves, etc.) Cold water soak (in deep water so dirt can fall free) with a dash of vinegar to freshen the greens. Drain, spin, lay on 2-layer towels, roll up and store in a zip-lock bag. Lasts about 2 weeks.

2. Cold soak..., store in a plastic shoebox with lots of holes all over it, the greens sitting on a chunk of that small square grid stuff (used for light fixtures) to hold it off the bottom so it drains well. (This is a variation of storing it in a colander in a bowl, like the strainer in the spinner- but the shoebox takes up less room in the fridge.)

3. Cold soak..., toss wet but slightly drained greens in a clean, dry bag made of kitchen towels. The bag should be very moist when full, but not dripping. Rewet if it dries out. (This is a home-made version of various veggie bags). To me, this is THE most convenient method- lots less work, reuseable storage bags, etc. Just make at least 2 bags- one in use, one getting washed and dried.

All of these techniques gain me about 2 weeks. The trick is to get the leaves wet inside, dry on the outside, and store in a cool, humid setting. As my herd gets older, however, I am going through greens fast enough I rarely have to worry about it anymore.

One hint I read about recently I may try is to soak greens OVERNIGHT in the fridge for even more longevity. I am wondering if adding calcium to the water would help? Would it enter the cells, or just stay on the outside? I would think that with a LONG soak, it would enter the cells some.

 

[Meg90]

When I buy romaine, or collard greens or anything like that, I chop the ends off and soak overnight (in the fridge), or for 1 or 2 days. It really helps with shelf life. I always use cool water, but not super cold.

 

[sendie]

You guys must buy huge amounts! I always run out before a week is up and have to get more, but then I've always been a big salad eater myself and eat at least one bowl of salad every day.

 

[Isa]

Hmm really interesting. I did not know soaking the greens helped them stay fresh. I usually rinse the greens, but from now on, I will soak them

 

[tortoisenerd]

I don't buy huge amounts, but I have only one hatchling who if I only fed spring mix for example, would take over 3 weeks to go through a bag! I buy spring mix and at least 1-2 other items each week. We can only eat so many salads, and a lot of the stuff for him we don't like/eat. I'm hoping to eventually grow enough so that I just buy spring mix and have enough to supplement it.

Last week I bought a bag of sprig mix and it went bad before I opened it 3 days later! So horrible.

 

[richalisoviejo]

I bought a bunch of more greens today just to try out that salad spinner again, now I have so much I may need another tortoise to help eat all the food. I could get one more the same size as Harry. Hmmm.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I had an idea while back to find a few others with torts in the area, and pool together to buy greens to get a variety. I just end up feeding the same thing until it spoils, then I buy something else (except the spring mix we have all the time).