Spinach storage

Peen

Hey peoples, I'm trying to eat more veggies and leafy greens in particular. I really like baby spinach but I have trouble keeping it unspoiled in my fridge. It really seems like I open up a bag, whether from the fridge or farmer's market, and two days later half of it is slimy and inedible. I've tried moving it to a new bag, poking holes to let water out, keeping it fully sealed, nothing works. Is there a good way to store spinach, or am I just doomed to having to eat it all at once?

Chanus

If it's dry it will keep a little longer. You don't want to seal it completely, as fruits and vegetables release a gas as they decompose that actually makes them decompose more quickly (so it's good to vent that).

I just had a bag of baby spinach I kept in a vacuum-sealed jar for about a week and a half without any problems. You can find the vacuum sealer unit pretty cheap at most big grocery stores. The jars and bags aren't terribly expensive either, and I swear by them.

Edit: Don't ask me why the vacuum sealer works but a sealed bag does not... because I don't know... it just does.

Forbe!

Making sure it is bone dry helps. Send it through a salad spinner.

If you aren't going to eat it fresh, or if it looks like it is going to go bad soon, blanch it, squeeze the water out, and throw it in the freezer for a delicious additive to any pasta dish.

Richard M. Nixon

Forbe! wrote: »

Making sure it is bone dry helps. Send it through a salad spinner.

If you aren't going to eat it fresh, or if it looks like it is going to go bad soon, blanch it, squeeze the water out, and throw it in the freezer for a delicious additive to any pasta dish.

if you freeze it in an ice cube tray, you get handy little serving sizes.

RUNN1NGMAN

Get some Debbie Meyer's Green Bags at Target of Bed Bath and Beyond. I use them and they actually work really well. They at least double the life of the veggies I put in them.

Hypatia

Lay out some paper towels and spread the spinach onto it, then place another paper towel on top and roll it up. Shove that into a plastic zip-lock and squeeze the air out. The paper towels will keep them dry-ish and make it so they aren't slimy (make sure they're spread thin).

MichaelLC

Hypatia wrote: »

Lay out some paper towels and spread the spinach onto it, then place another paper towel on top and roll it up. Shove that into a plastic zip-lock and squeeze the air out. The paper towels will keep them dry-ish and make it so they aren't slimy (make sure they're spread thin).

This, plus use a straw to suck the air out. You'll be surprised how much more air gets pulled out.

vonPoonBurGer

There has to be a sufficient amount of moisture for greens to rot, but you have two options in terms of how to deal with it. You can either make sure the greens are Gobi-desert dry before putting them in the fridge, or ensure that there's lots of airflow around the greens so moisture doesn't collect. The plastic bags that prewashed greens come in and the thin plastic bags in most produce sections are the worst things for storage because they both trap moisture.

For spinach and other leafy greens, my girlfriend uses a plastic salad spinner to keep them from going bad. We wash the greens, spin 'em in the salad spinner, drain the water, and put the whole salad spinner in the fridge. The spinner we have suspends the greens in a plastic basket, so air can flow freely around the leaves. Lettuce generally lasts for a surprisingly long time when we do this, and we can quickly grab a handful of prewashed leafy greens from the spinner whenever we need.

Peen

That is actually an exceedingly excellent idea vonPoon. I mean everyone's answer was good but I've tried some of that before; the salad spinner idea had never occurred to me and I like it.

Hypatia

Note to self: when I get some money I need to buy a salad spinner, the paper towel thing works well but I feel like I've been killing a lot of trees.

JustinSane07

Store it in your musk-les.

I used to feed Spinach to my turtle but like you, it was going bad well before I finished it. I just gave up entirely.

Xenogears of Bore

...Sautee or soup it? Spinach turns to nothing when cooked.