The Super Simple Hack To Bring Limp Celery Back To Life

While it's possible to eat too many vegetables, many Americans often forget about those raw carrots or bunches of celery wasting away in the back of their refrigerators. Most of us have good intentions when we buy a bunch of fresh produce, but oftentimes, we fail to use these perishables until they're on the verge of being added to our compost bins or wastebaskets. Whether you planned to use that old bunch of celery for last week's daily salads, ants on a log, or even a last-minute soup, if you waited too long to use this precious produce, you may now be faced with a sad, lifeless bunch of celery. Luckily, if you find yourself with a heap of limp celery, there's an easy way to bring the crunchy produce back to life. All you need to do is take the celery bunch and cut off the bottom layer. 

Next, fill a large glass with cold water and submerge the stalks directly into the water with the leaves hanging out of the glass at the top. Now all you have to do is store the glass of celery in your refrigerator for a few hours or overnight and watch those stalks crisp up beautifully. 

Now that you know how to bring celery back to life, let's uncover the science behind why a simple glass of water is all you need to breathe renewed life back into this nutritious vegetable. A glass of cold water is all you need to bring those wilted stalks back to life, but how does water serve as celery's magic life elixir?

Celery is made up of 95% water. So inevitably, this crunchy, hydrating veggie will begin to lose some of its internal moisture once it's purchased and tucked away in your refrigerator's crisper drawer. If you've found that an intact bunch of celery has lost its crunch, cutting off the base of the bunch and placing celery stalks in water allows them to soak up some of the necessary moisture lost in the storage process. Just place the freshly cut stalks in water for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator, and you should already be able to see a noticeable difference in the celery's overall structure and bite. 

While water is certainly useful when you want to save any potential limp stalks, keeping celery stored properly from the point of purchase means you won't have to make any eventual last-ditch attempts at reviving this hydrating vegetable.

To store celery properly, your main goal is to maintain this veggie's high moisture level. Most of us are guilty of buying celery and leaving uncut bunches wrapped in those flimsy grocery store plastic bags. However, plastic may be contributing to the loss of structure in your precious stalks. The ethylene gas released from this hydrating veggie has no escape route in a plastic bag, which may end up affecting the celery's health and longevity.

Fortunately, with a simple sheet of aluminum foil, you're only one step away from exploring all of the new ways to use celery, as you'll no longer have to worry about potential spoilage. For maximum freshness, store celery by wrapping the bunch firmly in aluminum foil. You may want to also avoid cutting celery until you're ready to consume it; intact bunches are better at preserving moisture than cut stalks. if you enjoy having precut celery on hand, the stalks are best stored in a cold water bath in an airtight container in your refrigerator. However, if you're faced with a bunch that needs a bit of renewed crunch, slice off the base and submerge those stalks in a trusty glass of cold water. 

Even though this method is great for reviving limp celery, don't use the water glass method as a permanent storage method. Ideally, you'll want to store celery intact, in foil, for as long as possible to prevent moisture loss.