Debbie Meyer Green Bags
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Debbie Meyer Green Bags
Customer Review: Pleasantly surprised- works well
Summary: 4 Stars
As a single person who is trying to eat healthier, I find that when I buy vegetables, I often can't eat all of the vegetables before they spoil. So, I bought the green bags in hopes that they would help me extend the time that I had to eat them.
Overall, the bags work well. Some tips:
* Don't put wet veggies in the bag. These help with the gases that the veggies produce, but if you put wet items in the bag, you are only encouraging spoilage and not doing yourself any favors
* Pay attention to the quality of the food that you place in the bags-- if you live in an area that has a difficult time getting fresh veggies/produce, you may be putting in product that has already been on a plane, a boat, a train and a semi for a while. I have found that the fresher the food, the longer they keep.
One other thing to keep in mind is that we are so accustomed to food that can stay on the shelf forever that we often forget that fresh food spoils because it lacks all the chemicals and high-tech packaging that keeps packaged foods "shelf-stable." I have seen several negative reviews that are knocking the bags because they only extended the life of the food 3-5 days. In reality, 3-5 days is a great extension. That is probably more of a comment on a family's eating habits rather than the bag's effectiveness.
I recommend the bags and will continue to buy them.
Customer Review: I figured out how to reuse them
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been pleased with how these bags extend the life of my produce two or three times their normal survival time, which is a great help for us, and makes produce more affordable when I don't have to throw out a bunch after a week of not being up to making a salad. And I like the regular bags much better than the zip lock ones as you can fit produce in them much easier.
I'm starting to take them to the grocery store and putting the produce in them directly, so I don't have to waste store plastic bags and I don't have to repackage when I get home.
What bothered me for a while was reusing them when they had produce slime in them. So, now at the sink I put in a little dish washing liquid and a cup or so of water, grasp the top closed, hold the bottom and shake, and dump and add water again do 2-4 times until rinse water comes out clean. Sometimes I need to use the dish washing or produce brush inside to loosen left over bits clinging to bag inside, and occasionally have to turn the bag inside out to finish cleaning it. Finally I put a loosely wadded paper towel deep inside and then turn the bag over a tall bottle I keep in my scrub drawer to hold up the bag's sides so it drains easily and fast onto a dishtowel on the counter.
When the bag is dry, I fold it and put it in the drawer with the other bags. I reuse until the green color gets too pale.
Customer Review: Debbie Meyer is getting the green!
Summary: 1 Stars
I was skeptical about these bags but a consumer guide reported that they did a far job on bananas. I figured that stretching the length of my banana was worth the cost... of the bags. I tried them and was not impressed my fruit seemed to sweat in the bags with moisture building up and rotting faster than when left out on the table top, or in the vegetable/fruit drawer in the fridge. I tried them again this time with a paper towel on the bottom same problem, but a little better. It seemed all the produce I tried I got the same results. High moisture foods like celery and lettuce seems to do best, but the bottom seemed a little on the gooey side. I like to use up my fruit and vegetables within three/four days of purchase, but I figured these bags might make it easier to stretch out shopping trips. Yet with all the produce I got similar results of excessive moisture buildup. I liked the idea of keep your produce fresher longer, but seeing all that water buildup in the bag makes me wonder about the bacteria buildup and how fresh can that be. I much rather purchase smaller amounts of produce, use it in a short time period and save my green bag money to buy an addition smaller batches of fruit and vegetables. And as far a my banana it seems to last longer with a bag wrapped around it, but only slightly. As far as I am concerned its not worth the cost.Customer Review: I LOVE LOVE LOVE these bags!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had lettuce - Romaine, Baby Lettuces, Spring Mixes, whatever - last a month with these bags! You DO have to make sure that when you put produce in there that it is totally dry. Any moisture will affect how the bags work and grocery stores are notorious for spraying down the veggies with water mists all day so there's often water in the folds of lettuce. Be sure to pull the roots off and check for water. Once stored, if there is any condensation on the inside of your bag, you need to change the bag out. It means that the vegetable is putting out moisture. Just change bags and wash out the other bag to use later. Some veggies you should trim down also. Celery keeps very fresh for a very long time if you cut off the root. Romaine same thing. Green onion lasts for much much longer than in regular zipper bags, just make sure it's dry when it goes in. Carrots stay fresh. So do onions. Even cucumbers last MUCH longer. I LOVE these bags!! And I use them for everything EXCEPT I don't use them for much fruit at all - tomatoes or bananas or other "watery" fruit because of the moisture content in those. Bananas also give off a lot of gases too it seems which makes them ripen quick. Tomatoes are high in water and sugar. The bags work fantastic on most other "drier" types of produce though - I will never be without them!!Customer Review: I was skeptical, but they actually work, SORT OF
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased these bags the same day I bought some bananas, a "bunch" of 3, 9 days ago. Normally after a few days the uneaten bananas get thrown away, even though I only normally purchase a bunch of about 4 or 5. We just don't eat them fast enough. On a whim, I purchased a box, only because of my walking 7yo infomercial. Today she ate the 3rd banana, 9 days later. Granted, it was a bit softer than usual, but not a brown on it.
I had also put a red & a green bell pepper in another bag, which has been on my countertop for about 6 days. Not a wrinkle on them. We'll be cutting them up tonight, so if I have a negative comment to post, I'll be back.
Next I'm going to try strawberries, something else that normally rots away in my fridge.
So far, I don't regret my purchase and am glad that I didn't go with my thoughts of "no way, can't work".
EDIT 05/30/08: Strawberries: rotted/molded within a few days. Peppers: did prevent wrinklage, used peppers 6 days later, peppers in great shape. Tomatoes: same as peppers. Bananas: definitely prevented the browning by more than a week, but the banana was alot softer than I would expect.
If I could change my original 4 star rating, I'd bump it down to a 2.5.
To me, it's worth it just to extend the life of my bunches of bananas.