How do you keep celery from prematurely wilting?

12 years ago

I'll eat some stalks for, say, 3 days and then in another day or two they seem to get wimpy.

I've occasionally purchased the pre-cut pieces in the refrigerated produce case, but I don't think the quality is as good, and it's not as fresh-tasting.

How do you keep your celery staying crisp and fresh for more than 3 days?

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Comments (9)

Dash2
12 years ago
First, get it out of that plastic bag. Then, get a length of aluminum foil that will cover the celery from top to bottom and side to side.

Lay the celery on the foil and start rolling and pressing the foil to fit. When it's all covered, side to side, squeeze the ends closed on top and bottom.

It'll keep this way for weeks. If you open the foil carefully, you can remove what you need. Then wrap it back up and you're good to go.
justlinda
12 years ago
Trim off the ends and stand the stocks in ice water in the fridge. Keeps quite nicely.
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It seems like there are two ways of keeping celery fresh. Celery gets limp or wilty from desiccation -- loss of moisture. As suggested above, one way is to store it in a tightly sealed foil wrap or other air tight container. This prevents or slows evaporation of water. Actually, it would be more accurate to say it prevents or slows transpiration, which is escape water from the stomata (leaf pores) of a plant. The other way is to keep the celery moist by spraying it with water and keeping it in a plastic bag or by storing it in a vase of water like a bouquet of flowers. This prevents drying by supplying water. Celery seems to have the ability to absorb water not just through the roots but also through other parts of the plant because celery which has started to wilt can be restored to crispness by this method. Stores used to have sprayers above the produce which turned on periodically. I don't think I have seen this lately. Have you? Jim
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Sorry if this posts twice. DD turned the computer off while I was typing. I just watched the video. So your stems are green and not woody like in the video? That's okay. The Nikkos that I cut Thursday are the same way. They had thinner green stems - I didn't cut any woody ones. I soaked the heads Thursday and have done so each morning trimming a bit off the stem ends before putting them back in fresh water. I just watched the video (those heads are HUGE!) and saw that one of the schools of thought wassmashing woody stems. Since that worked for me in the past I will continue to do so on any woody stemmed plant (I thought maybe I was doing something wrong!).
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iowagirl2006
12 years ago
I always wash and cut it up right after I get home from the store. I put it in a tall pitcher of water. The water keeps it crisp. It is ready to snack on!~
lydia1959
12 years ago
I do what Yarnlover does. Works great!
FlamingO in AR
12 years ago
Yep, I use the foil, too. Then I don't have to worry about anyone knocking over the glass with the water in it. :) And it works so well, it's amazing. I wrap cut onions in foil, too and cheese- they all keep so much better!
ladonna
12 years ago
I do the same as Yarnlover and Lydia do.
tami_ohio
12 years ago
I'm another one who wraps it in foil when I remember. It works great!
lazypup
12 years ago
When storing produce of any sort the first thing is get it out of that plastic bag, and contrary to opinion, do not wrap it in foil.......

The moment produce is cut it begins a decaying process, and one of the key elements of that process is the natural production of nitrous-oxide gas (commonly called laughing gas). The gas expidites the decomposition process and if you keep the produce in a bag or in foil it traps that gas in, thus expiditing the decomposition.

Taking this to the next step, I used to drive an 18wheeler hauling produce from Calif to Boston. All produce shipping containers are waxed cardboard boxes with air holes in them for ventilation. The boxes are loaded in the truck and they then blow in a layer of chipped ice on top and we set the refer unit at 34-36degF. The ice would slowly melt and keep a trickle of water going down through the load.

Notice in the grocery stores most of the produce is in loose in coolers that have water jets to occassionaly mist the product, then the customers come by and make their selections, which they place in a bag.

Tomatoes are the worst. If you grow your own you know that you can bring a vine ripened tomatoe in the house and keep it on a counter or window sill for 5 to 8 days, but if you bring them home from the grocery store they are still half green and hard as a rock, but still only last 3 or 4 days in the fridge. That is because when they pick tomatoes commercially they pick them green as grass, and after they are loaded in the truck they set a tank of nitrous-oxide gas in the truck and open the valve just before closing the doors. Three days later when we arrived at the wholesale produce market in Boston we used to laugh our butts off watching the guys unload the trailers. The trailers still had the nitrous-oxide gas (laughing gas) inside and no matter how tired or sore those handlers got, they could not help but laugh themselves silly. I even saw a guy drop a carton on his foot and broke a bone, yet he was laughing his fool head off and couldn't stop....LOL.

We could make the trip from Calfornia to Boston in 3.5days and when we arrived the tomatoes were still green, but just starting to show a little yellow color. From the wholesale market they go out to the grocery stores the next day and by the time they reach the store shelves they are just showing a nice pale pink to red color. Take them home and leave them in a plastic bag and they will be mush in 4 days.

The best way to keep celery is cut the bottom of the stalks and stand them in water. As the exposed portions start drying out they will absorb more water into the stalk keeping a nice firm texture.

It is important that you cut a bit off the bottom before placing it in the water because when it is cut the end of the stalk will dry and form a skin, but cutting that back a bit exposes the stalk to absorb water.
vannie
12 years ago
Heck!! I think I'll make my own laughing gas. I love that stuff at the dentist!! Yippee!!! You've created a new junkie. LOL

How do you keep celery from prematurely wilting?

Comments (9)

Dash2

justlinda

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