How do you wash your fruits and vegetables?

[ChenDynasty]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum  As a recent college graduate and picking up cooking as a life skill, I feel like I'm entering a whole new fascinating world of creative art  But before all the cooking and the fun stuff, I'd like to ask everyone how do you generally wash your vegetables and fruits before cooking/preparation, especially if they are not organic? In more underdeveloped places of Asia where I have spent some time living, there are whole routines of soaking your vegetables in cooled boiled salt water overnight to remove pesticides, etc., peeling your apples before you eat them, etc. However, for my Western friends shopping in chain stores such as Kroger, Walmart, etc., how much do you pay attention to washing your vegetables/fruits? Do you have a special routine/technique in getting rid of potential pesticide residues on them? I have heard of the clean 12, dirty 12 vegetable/fruit list, but in concern of the dirty 12, what is the proper way to clean up and wash these produce to maximally get rid of potential harmful chemicals that may linger on them? 

 

Thank you for your input and time  Looking forward hearing from you guys!

[pastrygirl]

I just rinse under cool water to get any dirt off. I’m not particularly concerned about pesticides. 

[Anna N]

42 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

I just rinse under cool water to get any dirt off. I’m not particularly concerned about pesticides. 

Ditto

[IowaDee]

The only thing I take extra care with are leafy greens. After a good rinse, they get a ride on that

merry-go-round we call a salad spinner.  

[TicTac]

Anything with an edible skin, we buy organic from a local farmer who grows over 100 types of fruits and veg.  So a quick water wash is all that is necessary.

 

The rest, I will peel!

 

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

I just rinse under cool water to get any dirt off. I’m not particularly concerned about pesticides. 

 

Me too.

[suzilightning]

A friend of mine who had a double lung transplant has to wash all fruits and vegetables in acidulated water then rinse in distilled water.  For me - I rinse everything including melons ….. they are my big bug a boo!

[scubadoo97]

Wash most things with just water except melons.  Especially cantaloupes.   Since they sit on the ground and there have been too many cases of E. coli  associated with melons they get soap and water and a spritz of vinegar before I drive a knife through them.  It's just hard to do a great cleaning of lettuce due its fragile nature even though it's associated with many E. coli out breaks.   Water rinses and spin dry.  Sometimes a spritz of vinegar since its close proximity to dirt

[SLB]

I soak all the greens greens in saltwater.  This is not about pesticides -- this is about bugs with legs that you can see.  The only reason I do all of that is because it's how my mama did it!  

 

Then I spin dry in a salad spinner, something my mother never would've even considered spending money on.  

 

Everything else I rinse.  I should do better -- I admit, I'm not that concerned about pesticides, but I definitely do not want e.coli. 

 

I should.  But I don't.

[pastrygirl]

30 minutes ago, SLB said:

I should do better -- I admit, I'm not that concerned about pesticides, but I definitely do not want e.coli. 

 

 

e. coli in vegetables can't necessarily be washed off.  If it's in the water it gets into the plant cells.  As in the baby spinach-related outbreak 10 years ago, cooking thoroughly does kill e.coli but washing alone did not - all that baby spinach was supposedly triple-washed and ready to eat!

Edited July 31, 2018 by pastrygirl (log)

[heidih]

26 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

e. coli in vegetables can't necessarily be washed off.  If it's in the water it gets into the plant cells.  As in the baby spinach-related outbreak 10 years ago, cooking thoroughly does kill e.coli but washing alone did not - all that baby spinach was supposedly triple-washed and ready to eat!

 

 

I just rinse. My understanding with pesticides is that they operate similarly to the bacteria - they get absorbed. I coud be wrong of course, but don't think I'll be changing. As for bugs hitchhiking - most of the crawling protein doesn't bother me much (earwigs  and beetley types excepted but they usually run off)