Yup, that's where my lettuces lives.

Very nice pictures.

Wow, Cathy! Cool! Literally. Y'know, when they seal the triple washed lettuce, they vacuum it, then pump in nitrogen to fill the air space in the container for shipping and display purposes. You're essentially doing the same thing, but letting the glass protect the leaves rather than gas. Lettuce is so delicate! It's great that you've found a way to preserve your produce rather than having to give it away.

That's where mine live, too. Since becoming a household of one, I've had a time adjusting to how much of any one item (perishable) I can keep on hand. I love salads, but don't want the same greens every day for days on end. Using jars like this, I've found I can buy a variety to "mix & match", and keep them fresh and crisp until they are used up. No more waste! ! You can also make up ahead of time, a variety of chopped salads, using a variety of ingredients. They will last for days, too.

Rusty

Mine too we only go down the canyon every couple of weeks so
I’ve been using this method for the last couple of years. I wash and clean
everything and make 6 or so salads vacuum seal them and am good to go for about
a week and a half. I’ve found the dryer the lettuce the longer it stays good so
I use my salad spinner a couple of times for each jar.

Hmm? Seems plausible, but has anyone checked to see if it is the vacuum or just the heavy jar,or just that the lettuce doesn't appear to be packed tightly? I guess it is still a good approach except that it appears to take up a huge amount of space.

It’s definitely the vacuum seal and I pack mine tight. Another
of the good thing about this method is you can cut the lettuce instead of
tearing it and it still stays perfect. I make mine with chopped romaine and
green onions and like I said the dryer the lettuce the longer it stays fresh.

I don't have a food saver but I guess I don't understand how this works. What process occurs that the jar looks like it has been canned and it looks like it has been pressurized. Forgive me for seeming so dumb. I have trouble keeping lettuce fresh also. How does this occur? Thanks for explaining. Barb

Hi Barb. Re how this works: You probably knew that a food saver pulls a vacuum from the edge of a special plastic bag. Of course, while it is doing this, there is a vacuum inside the device. All newer (now quite old) Food Savers have an extra port that can attach a hose so that a vacuum could be pulled on something else. Food Saver makes a round rubberized cap that may be placed over a filled Mason Jar with lid (no ring). The vac hose is attached to this jar cap and one turns the FS on to pull a vacuum on the lidded jar. When the FS is turned off or disconnected, normal air pressure returns and slams the lid down on the still partially evacuated jar. The air pressure continues to press the lid to the jar even against the gentle force of removing the rubber cap and of course also while the jar sits around in storage.

This seal is similar to that effected during canning BUT there is no heat and therefore no killing of bacteria and it is NOT canning.

Yep, I love this forum: "pumping in nitrogen", fellow posters (aka savvy cooks) with lettuce "living" in jars, methods for new ways to store greens to preserve phytonutrients. I'm always learning! BTW, Rusty - transitioning to cooking for one would also present some challenges. Good for you. And yep, plllog, I did give a bunch of lettuce away. It was good growing weather for lettuce (not for tomatoes); I wish I could share our early summer almost daily rain with you. Really.

chas045 -- that first picture absolutely is packed (smaller) jars of lettuce (little clearance on top). It was feast or famine with lettuce from my garden. The last picture shows purchased lettuce remnants that just didn't completely fill the jar. It was good for a sandwich. Idk about whether it would work or not just putting it in a jar without the vacuum. Someone talked about long storage of strawberries in a lidded mason jar (no sealing). That didn't work for me. Huge amount of space? I used to store lettuce rolled in flour cloth towels in a plastic bag that took up as much room if not more than this method.

Barb, I think Grainlady gave you a great alternative to try if you don't want to purchase a foodsaver, and thanks to chas045 for explaining the sealing process well. I ended up buying the cheapest foodsaver model with kohl's coupons, kohl's cash, on sale (you know, kohl's telling you you're not really spending anything as you hand them your charge card) and I use it for a lot of other things. I may try the pinprick just to see.

For those of you that actually seal salads, were there any ingredients that you found hastened spoilage or what all have you used?

Thanks!

Cathy in SWPA

One more note of admiration (and you too partst going "down the canyon every couple of weeks") to my grandmother who never owned a car, took a number of buses to the grocery store with her trusty pull-cart and was one of the best cooks ever:)

Avoid vacuum-sealing strong smelling vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, and cauliflower. The owner's manual says these foods should NOT be vacuum packaged.

-Grainlady

If you are growing your own lettuce, you can pull it up with roots and store it in the kitchen with the roots in water. I often buy lettuce that has roots attached, and I store it with the roots watered. When I pick cilantro, I store it in water like a flower arrangement, and it keeps longer that way.

My female relatives in Texas used to store celery in jars, but they were unable to remove the air. I use up lettuce within a week, and so it does not have time to go bad. I wish I lived closer to a fruit/vegetable market. I used to live across the street from one in San Francisco, and in Culver City and Austin, I lived one or two blocks from one. The nearest grocery store to me now is a little over a mile away, and so it is not that convenient. I might try growing lettuce this winter - it does not grow well here in the summer and requires too much water.

Rats, Grainlady. I was thinking about kale.

Lars! I'm going to try the lettuce/roots attached method. I'm getting ready to sow for fall, and now you've got my wheels spinning. I briefly looked at hydroponics (and I mean briefly) and put it aside to explore more in-depth later. I'll be interested to hear about your winter lettuce -- that's when I'll be completely reliant on purchasing mine. BTW, living close to a fruit/vegetable market would be a dream!

Cathy in SWPA

Grainlady, could you explain, please? i've got some cabbage in a foodsaver bag! Should I throw it away?

Islay Corbel- I've had 4 FoodSavers since 1986 and each of the owner's manuals give this same information. Your owner's manual probably does too and you just didn't remember to avoid vacuum-sealing and storing cruciferous vegetables in the refrigerator. I found this on their web site:

"Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts give off gases when they are stored. This gas will cause the bag to expand, and the vegetables will go bad. The best way to store all vegetables is to blanch them first, then cool, dry, vacuum pack and freeze."

I don't know what to tell you about throwing the cabbage away because I've never vacuum-sealed it to know what happens. And what they mean by "go bad", I'm not sure. It probably degrades quickly due to the (sulfur?) gas, but not that it readily develops bacteria/toxin type of "go bad". If you have more questions on the subject, call the FoodSaver help-line. If you find out more information, please come back and share it.

A link for a list of cruciferous vegetables: http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/cruciferous-vegetables.htm

-Grainlady

Thank you for that. My cabbage is in the freezer - I didn't read your post properly!

I'm jealous you're able to grow lettuce this time of year. I have a food saver we got at an estate sale, but it doesn't have the attachment for sealing jars. I may have to find one, as I've seen several posts over the years on this forum about using that attachment. It seems like it's more useful than just the bag part. I go through lettuce and salad greens so fast, it's hard to imagine having to store them. I'll have to remember this thread, though, when next spring rolls around (spring usually lasts only a few days here - we go straight from winter into summer) and I'm harvesting the last of my greens. Maybe I'll be able to store them and use them a little bit into the summer.

C'mon now, Lars, as a former Texan, and a current Californian, it's hard to imagine you think a mile is not a convenient distance for a grocery store. (Tongue planted firmly in cheek.)

Sally

It's time to start our fall crop of lettuce and other greens, but I was also looking at what pods I wanted to order to grow in my AeroGarden (http://www.aerogarden.com/home-roll/?cid=ppc_m), as well as selections to grow in my Window Farm (http://www.windowfarms.com/) this fall/winter.

I have also been planting the root end of leaf and Romaine lettuce and will be using them in a few weeks after they re-grow. You can re-grow several things: root end of green onions, Romaine and leaf lettuce hearts, celery.... I've been cutting celery and celery leaves much of the summer from two I planted to re-grow last spring. They can even be put in a pot in a sunny south window to grow inside.

When you consider how so-called "fresh" vegetables in the store have already lost 80% of their beneficial nutrients (according to one source at hand, and a study they site) due to being shipped, warehoused, displayed in the store, and then eventually dying of loneliness at home in your refrigerator. If you cook them, there are very few nutrients remaining. It takes high-quality nutrients to feed us, not empty calories.

This is why we subsist on enzyme- and nutrient-rich sprouted seeds/grains/beans (your little garden-in-a-jar), wheatgrass I grow and juice, micro-greens, and pots of herbs in the winter, for living plants we eat fresh. There's nothing left in the way of nutrition in the produce at the store, so I grow as much indoors as I can once the garden is done outdoors. You actually get more nutrients from eating freeze-dried food than produce from the store in the winter.

-Grainlady

Sally, does your Food Saver have an accessory hose and the small oval thingy for sealing some types of FS containers? Jars can be sealed by putting a pin hole in the center of the lid, covering lightly with a small piece of electrical tape, and then vacuuming with the accessory hose. Works beautifully! Cheaper then buying the jar sealer attachment. The little oval thing comes with FS refrigerator containers, or can be ordered very reasonably from the FS site.

Grainlady, thank you for bringing up the topic of cruciferous vegetables. I hadn't noticed that warning (I'm not always real good about reading instructions as thoroughly as I should) and had thought about sealing some slaw type salads in jars. I just may have to try one, just to see what it does. :-)

Rusty

Grainlady, Thanks for the bag with pinprick method, I'm going to try it.

Sally, Does your unit have a hole in the top? BTW, I use a handheld saver for jars. Hand Held Jar Vacuum

A good book grainlady mentioned. It does change the way you look at food storage if you garden or frequent a farmers market. I wash and dry salad greens all summer....mostly cut-and-come-again....then pin prick the bag. I keep a small sewing needle in my 'everything' kitchen drawer stuck into a wine cork.

I do have a good fridge that helps keep veg and fruit fresh.

I would keep doing your method that works. But do the bag pin prick as well.

None of my planted cruciferous did well this past spring but i started a few cell trays to try a fall crop. Hit or miss in a complicated altitude mountain zone.

Funny/odd how information sticks in the brain. I always plan to consume certain veg right away and blanch, then freeze for winter months soups.

Our summer diet is so much raw. Probably 75% of veg and fruit. Why i don't follow much of the recommended methods to a 't'. The information hovers in the brain but we like variety. I like purple carrots raw just out of the soil. Don't care for them cooked but do add to many cooked soups and basic mirepoix.

I so recommend micro greens. so much flavor and easy to keep going all winter. I have great markets in NYC but nothing compares to fresh home grown. My deck kitchen pots are full of celery leaves, chives, green onions, cilantro, basil, rosemary for a dollar last Easter bunch that i stuck into the soil ...all water rooted and planted for free from planting root ends that in the past went into the compost.

I love this thread!!!!

Smiles,

Sooz

I'm trying the pinprick trick too -- And now I'm going to check my celery -- And, just as a trial, I'm going to try to grow some lettuce under fluorescent lights this winter. This is what happens:)

Cathy in SWPA

Since I am trying the canning after a long period of not doing so, it has become rather costly at this stage of the game--between the dehydrating and canning. Since we only have a Walmart here now, that is my only source for supplies. I saw one foodsaver that was a Zip-lock, I believe. It was around $50.00 which would fit my budget now. I have seen some others that are a great more expensive, and I know you get what you purchase, but sometimes we have to draw the line somewhere. Would I be throwing my money away to purchase this, considering you have to purchase all the other stuff, or should I just sit tight and do without? It is only me anymore. Thanks for any hints. Barb

Barb -- Even as an instructor, I've always found home canning to be an expensive method for food preservation if you have to purchase the food, and especially if you have to purchase canning equipment. In the home canning class I teach, we do cost analysis charts so people get a better idea of the true cost. Not to mention the hours of food preparation it takes from garden to the table. I used to break down the cost of utilities, but it changes periodically, and now there isn't just one cost, it varies throughout the day, so I don't bother with that anymore.

It's not worth my time and trouble to plant, care for, harvest, and process 8-10 pints of pickled beets (about the average we would use in a year) when I can purchase them for 67-cents per can. That's one of the few commercially canned foods I buy.

It's expensive for the cost of the utilities to process home canning, and for the extra energy to cool your home with an air conditioner while you process it. Do you have the kind of stove you can do home canning ON? Are your burners large enough (size and B.T.U. out-put) for the size of canner you are using? For a LOT of reasons, freezing or dehydration is a less-expensive choice for home food preservation.

I also believe unless you have access to fresh-picked produce in the amounts it takes to fill a canner, you are probably wasting your time AND money because it means your home canned food won't have much in the way of nutrients after the delay from picking until it's canned if you have to wait several days to get the large amounts you need. It definitely doesn't pay to only fill a canner with a few pints/quarts when it takes nearly the same amount of energy to process a canner that is full. I also think most home canned foods are inferior when it comes to nutrition due to the lag time from harvest to processing, as well as from the heat processing, and how long and under what conditions they are stored in. And not everyone likes to eat home canned food.... Most of my friends and most of my students now can a favorite family recipe or two and jam/jelly/apple butter for gift-giving.

Dehydrating takes very little energy, other than what it takes for blanching (but not everything requires blanching). I place my dehydrator in the basement where the heat it produces dissipates quickly. The exception is onions, which I do in the garage because of the smell. Kale can get a bit smelly, too. Dehydrated foods takes up less space than canning. It's amazing how many dried apple slices or dried tomato slices you can stuff into a canning jar!!!

The FoodSaver product you are considering is fine for what it's designed for, but I think you would be happier with one of the full-size units which are more expensive. I have one of those small units and rarely use it (purchased it at Tuesday Morning for $19 several years ago), while I use the regular one many times each day (and have been using them since 1986).

I'm into home food storage and have a whole room in the basement filled with vacuum-sealed dry goods. The FoodSaver is the center of my long-term storage, so it's a must-have for me. I have a new one, still in the box, I purchased on sale, ready to go if the current one quits.

My entire freezer is organized with vacuum-sealed items, because they last longer in the freezer. No more freezer-burned food! I can pull out a plastic storage basket and flip through it for vacuum-sealed fruits or vegetables, all in a single layer in the bags. Cut the bag open, remove the amount needed, and reseal the bag and put it back in the basket in the freezer. I freeze soup/stew/chili in serving sizes. Pop it out of the freezer container, stack the "cubes" and vacuum-seal them a FoodSaver bag. Take out what I need and reseal the bag. I have all our breakfast meat in serving amounts and vacuum-sealed. I divide bulk amounts of chicken, and other meat products, into several bags and vacuum-seal it - both raw and pre-cooked.

My pantry shelf is lined with foods in canning jars of various sizes. Instead of standing them up-right on the shelves two and three deep, and having to move them to see what's in the back, I lay the jars down on their side with the lid to the front. I have my shelves adjusted so they are the distance apart of one 1/2-gallon jar space (which is the largest jar I use). I spray painted the lids with chalk board paint, and I use a chalk board pencil or liquid chalk board markers (in fun electric colors) to mark the chalkboard lids. Some jars are covered with plastic Ball jar lids and you can write on them with liquid chalk markers. Not all of these are vacuum-sealed, but many are (especially those that contain freeze-dried foods). So my pantry is lined with canning jars filled with dry gluten-free pasta, dried and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, baking aids like cacao nibs, chocolate chips (several kinds and sizes), chia seeds, palm sugar, arrowroot, whole grains and homemade cereal products, crispy nuts (soaked and dehydrated), pinto bean flakes, dried parsley..... And even more in the food storage room.

You will have to determine whether a FoodSaver will meet your food storage needs and goals.

-Grainlady

Grainlady, you are so well organized that you put me to shame,but times have changed for me. I used to have my basement so that I could do all of my canning down there. I had a stove, sink, all of my canning supplies. My kids don't want me going up and down stairs since I am now living all alone. They are afraid I will fall. I don't even know for sure what is still down there because I don't try the stairs unless someone is here. My granddaughter just graduated from college and is job hunting, so she is trying to help me get started with the dehydrating, etc. My issue is that so much of the canned and also frozen stuff has so much sodium in it. That is why I am trying to handle the stuff myself. If you ask someone at the restaurant how much sodium that things have in them, they look at you like you are not in your right mind. I have to go about all of this slowly but surely. I really appreciate your advice. Thank you. Barb

Barb, do you have any of the small batch canning books? I just dabble in canning, there are a few things worth doing. I freeze a lot of stuff too. I do it for the same reason as you--home canned is just higher quality and healthier. I don't know about nutrients, not much of an issue with me, since I don't eat pickles and the like for the nutrients. I buy the most nutrient-dense stuff for my basic foods to save money and then can the fru fru stuff to doll it up. I don't do simple things that I can get easily though. I mostly due jams and sauces and tomato products. I freeze a lot of soups and beans. I can applesauce because I can do it up in half pint jars, which is just right for single me and my single dad. I keep him supplied with applesauce and now I have him spoiled and he doesn't like store-bought. I only mostly get salad stuff in the summer when I can get farm fresh. Off season I rely on cabbage and kale and frozen spinach for my greens.

I'm another foodsaver fan. I only have small freezer and it saves so much space and I love being able to re-seal packages. I have found bags from Amazon that are much cheaper so I don't have to worry about the bags so much. I think it's a really worthwhile investment.

I always learn so much from you Grainlady. Thanks!