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I feel like I'm revealing some deep, dark secret, but here goes: I microwave my salads.
Now, this isn't because I like my lettuce and carrots and salad dressing really hot, it's because of bacteria. I started doing this a couple of years ago, when we had all those recalls and scares involving pre-made bagged salads and spinach. I make my salad on a plate then zap it for about 20 seconds. Just enough to kill something but not make the salad get hot and shrivel.
Now, I have to stress that I have no idea if 20 seconds in the microwave will even do anything to destroy bacteria, but it makes me feel good anyway.
I now return you to your normal Slashfood posts.
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5-14-2008 @9:54AM Alex said... Microwaves kill bacteria with heat, not with magical microwave powers. If your food isn't hot, you haven't killed anything. Try washing your produce.
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5-14-2008 @9:57AM R. P. McMurphy said... Here is some advice.
NEVER EAT AT A RESTAURANT.
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5-14-2008 @10:49AM Michael said... Dear Bob,
Stop worrying and enjoy a nice fresh healthy salad. I mean it ;-) If you're really worried wash or soak your lettuce thoroughly and don't use premade dressing.
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5-14-2008 @11:16AM Patrick R said... Where's a "dumbfounded" emoticon when you need it. Oh, here it is... :-0
Maybe this is obvious, but if you're scared of bacteria in "pre-made bagged salads," you have two options... You can properly wash the lettuce, which is probably more useful than microwaving it, but also defeats the purpose of buying a bagged salad in the first place... Or, you can simply NOT buy bagged salads and avoid the problem in the first place.
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5-15-2008 @7:17AM Adriane said... *Slaps forehead* And you blog about food becaaaause, uhm- you like food? Well, it clearly isn't because you have knowledge about food or even want to LEARN.
If you're worried about it enough to stick it in a microwave (which will do nothing w/o heat, I might add) why not support local farmers, who usually use less pesticides and never go through a factory? The difference in price is pretty small, if any, and the risk for bacteria from contamination is reduced.
Shoulda kept that little bit to yourself, Bob.
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5-14-2008 @1:08PM Mathi said... If nuking your salad gives you peace of mind, then by all means, enjoy.
When I saw this topic I thought it was about salads with hot ingredients (I have been enjoying that lately since that episode of Top Chef). I did one cold salad with some steamed asparagus and chicken (leftovers) that I reheated and mixed in. It was great.
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5-14-2008 @3:38PM cydeweyz said... Next time, use PostSecret
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5-14-2008 @5:54PM Michael Schmitt said... You know how the government tells us to heat our meat to 160 degrees F to kill the E. coli or any other bad bacteria on/in the meat?
You'll have to do the same to make your salad "safe".
With that fact in your mind, if you FEEL safer, then go ahead and nuke away for 20 seconds...
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5-20-2008 @8:17AM Adam Fields said... All you're doing is wasting power.
They sell microwave bags for sterilizing baby bottles. It takes 3-5 minutes inside a mostly sealed container that lets the steam build up. I suggest you do that to a salad once, and then eat it, as penance for this misguided paranoia.
Also, if you're worried about contamination, washing won't help either. At least the spinach contamination was from the soil, which gets into the interior of the plant.
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6-15-2008 @4:53AM Michelle Moffett said... It won't do any good for 20 seconds I'm sure. What I would do is buy organic lettuce, it's much safer and healthier without all the pesticides and possibility of E-coli contamination.
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