Washing vital prep for fruit, veggies
I get it. Time is tight and people are hungry. But if you are tempted to skip washing your produce or give it only a cursory splash, don’t give in.
Food-borne illness is often thought of as a scourge of meat and seafood, but if you look at some of the most recent outbreaks, many of them have been tied to produce.
It’s best to wash produce right before you use it because storing produce while damp encourages bacteria growth and therefore spoilage, food research scientist Amanda Deering of Purdue University said.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends washing produce under cold running water — wash your hands before and after you do the food, too. (If your bag of salad or other greens says it is prewashed, no further work is needed.)
Scrub with a brush and gently rub the produce with your hands. Water is sufficient, so don’t use soap, bleach or even commercially made produce washes. In fact, the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine tested three commercial wash treatments and found that distilled water was just as effective — or more effective — at removing
microbes and pesticides. (You can use cold tap water instead of distilled.)
And, yes, even if you don't plan to eat the exterior of the fruit or vegetable, you should still clean the outside to avoid transferring contaminants from the surface to the inside.
Here are some more tips for washing specific types of produce:
• Mushrooms: The conventional wisdom is that simply wiping mushrooms clean with a damp cloth or paper towel, or even a pastry brush, is preferable to rinsing them in water. That is never a bad move, but know that you can safely rinse or dunk at least some varieties.
White mushrooms are your safest bet. Staff members at Cook's Illustrated found that a pound of white mushrooms absorbed only 1 tablespoon of water after being submerged in water for 1 minute. Oyster mushrooms, on the other hand, absorbed ¼ cup. The reason? Oysters, as well as varieties such as portobello and shiitake, have lots of gills that can trap water. If you plan to roast gill-heavy mushrooms, stick with wiping them clean.
• Berries: To preserve their texture and flavor, berries are best washed right before you eat them. Sturdier strawberries can stand up to being rinsed in a colander under running water, but Better Homes & Gardens suggests that more delicate berries (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) be set in a colander and then dipped in a bowl of water.
After you have washed and drained your berries, you can dry them on a papertowel lined baking sheet or in a paper-towel lined salad spinner. You will find some advocates for washing berries in advance in a vinegar/ water solution to extend their shelf life and keep away mold often found when popping open a container.
• Root vegetables and others close to the dirt: Give root vegetables and tubers a good rinse and scrub with a stiff brush. (You don't necessarily have to peel them.) Included in this category: potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, melons and radishes.
• Certain types of produce grow in layers that trap grit. Leeks are a primary offender. Consider trimming the top and bottom of leeks then cutting them vertically in half. Stand them up in a container of ice water and soak for 15 minutes. The grit should drop to the bottom.
• A water bath does wonders here, too. For salad greens (discard the outer leaves of lettuce or cabbage), cookbook author Deborah Madison recommends swishing them in a large basin of cold water with an additional fiveminute soak if they are especially dirty.
Then, just lift the greens out and let the debris stay at the bottom. Dry the greens well in a salad spinner or with towels. This method works well for herbs, too.
Because greens (such as chard, bok choy, spinach, collards and kale) tend to grow in sandy soil, Madison says you should take care to get all the gritty deposit off them. Her process: Trim, rinse under tap water and then do the same swishand-soak as above, repeating the soak as necessary.