Storing Cilantro

[PhoenixFeather]

We still have only the one pig (we are looking for a friend, but are having trouble find a male anywhere within 1.5 hours drive from here it is almost enough to make us consider buying from a pet store instead of letting him continue to be lonely, but that would be another thread....)

Anyhow, my question is about storing cilantro. Just keeping it in a bunch in a produce bag in the veggie crisper does not seem to be working out. It comes in such huge bunches that it could feed him for a long time if it didn't go bad so quickly. Any suggestions?

[Ragous]

If you can find one...they sell stanless steel asperagus keepers at Walmart, they basically hold the plant in an up-right manor and allow for water underneath. This is what I use, I first wash the Cilantro and give the stem a little trim. Then I stick them in the holding dish with fresh water and store in the frige. Everytime I bring it out for feeding I will rinse everything one more time and change out the water. When the stems begin to look yucky I do another trim on them, I find this to work the best for storing Cilantro....if you can not find the holder I would say to use a med. sized cup and fill it only with an inch of water at the bottom.

[babybunny]

I switched to storing them wrapped in a moist paper towel after being trimmed and rinsed. Seems to work well.

[JarBax]

I tried keeping it in a jar of water on the windowsill, with only a little success.

[Percy's Mom]

I usually store mine the same way babybunny does. When you bring the cilantro (or any fresh herb) home, trim the dead end off, rinse the bunch, and wrap the whole thing in a barely damp paper towel. Put the wrapped bunch in a plastic zipper bag. I've had cilantro last up to 2 weeks that way when I bought a ton on sale. I usually change the paper towel every couple of days.

[thalestral]

We had some success keeping a plant alive in a wee pot, so that might be worth a try? I'll need to try it again, so far the only things we have that really thrive are the basil plants... I think they are un-killable.

[webjetter]

I haven't tried this method with cilantro, but it works with parsley so I'm going to try it with cilantro too:

Store it as you would a bouquet of flowers -- stems down in a wide glass of water. Put the glass in a plastic bag (I use the clear, thin bags offered in the produce department of my grocery store) and twistie tie the top of the bag. Only the stems are in the water ... don't let the leaves soak because they'll get gross very soon. I've been able to keep parsley for a couple of weeks this way. A few springs/stems get yucky over time, but overall it keeps the bunch fresh longer. It should work with cilantro.

[ctinaw]

I buy the big bunches that come in an overwrap bag - not sure how to describe it. They come wrapped up like flowers would from the florist. Now, I've found that if I tear that plastic wrapping off - the parsley/cilantro will wilt within a day. But if I leave it on and leave it all wrapped in the grocery produce bag it will stay nice for over a week. Interesting eh? Also, I make sure to store it in the crisper and not the open part of the fridge.