If you are concerned that your greens are too dirty to store in your refrigerator, know that they will be stored in an air-tight bag. Any dirt and grit will not get onto the surfaces in your fridge.
Collard greens that are not put into a plastic bag, but are put into the refrigerator, will become wilted very quickly. Like other vegetables, uncovered collard greens get dehydrated. This causes them to go limp. If you don’t have a plastic bag that seals closed, wrap the greens in a damp paper towel. Then place the greens in an unsealed plastic bag. This should keep the greens crisp for several days. [2] X Research source
The amount of time your collard greens stay fresh will vary. It depends on the freshness of the collard greens to begin with and the quality of your refrigerator’s chilling. Check on the collard greens daily to make sure that they are still suitable for eating. Spoiled collard greens will get soft, wilt, become slimy, or get discolored. They may also start to smell bad.
If you don’t have a bowl or kitchen sink that can be used for cleaning the greens, wash each leaf under running water.
Collard greens that are stored in the freezer are cooked slightly and will have a softer consistency when defrosted. This would make washing once defrosted impossible.
You could keep the collard green leaves whole but that would make them hard to handle when blanching and packaging them for the freezer.
You could keep the collard green leaves whole but that would make them hard to handle when blanching and packaging them for the freezer.
After the two minutes of cooking, put the greens straight into an ice water bath for a minute or two. This will stop the cooking immediately. Blanching the vegetables will stop enzyme action that can cause decay. This causes loss of color and flavor. [9] X Trustworthy Source National Center for Home Food Preservation Publicly-funded center dedicated to educating consumers about research-backed safety practices for preserving food Go to source Blanching also cleans the surface of the greens really well, assuring that all dirt and organisms are removed.
The more air you can get out of the packaging, the better.
Collard greens that have been defrosted and then refrozen several times will stay fresh for less time. This usually happens due to a faulty freezer. One sign that your collard greens may have undergone this freezing and defrosting is excessive freezer burn. However, all foods that are frozen for long enough will develop freezer burn eventually. [11] X Research source
