I want my meals easy but

September June

Wed, Jul 31 2013, 5:54 pm

Red Sea, I was told that if I wanted to use fresh broccoli, I should stick to the stems as the florets are full of bugs are almost impossible to clean.

MaBelleVie

Wed, Jul 31 2013, 6:24 pm

I would be very concerned if you're checking commonly infested foods and rarely or never finding infestation. Perhaps you need to review what you should be looking for. I've definitely had infested produce that I've had to toss, and it happens on a fairly regular basis.

imasinger

Wed, Jul 31 2013, 8:43 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

This seems to depend partly on where you live, and where the produce you buy is grown. My DD grew up seeing almost everything be bug free where we are, then moved to Lakewood, and saw lots of infested produce. She checks carefully when visiting us and at home, and says there is a huge difference.

saw50st8

Wed, Jul 31 2013, 9:02 pm

imasinger wrote:

MaBelleVie wrote:

I also find that when I buy produce at the cheap market, its way more likely to be infested.

MaBelleVie

Wed, Jul 31 2013, 10:19 pm

saw50st8 wrote:

imasinger wrote:

MaBelleVie wrote:

I also find that when I buy produce at the cheap market, its way more likely to be infested.

Yup, agree with both of you.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 4:00 am

I will be more than happy to take all your broccoli and asparagus tops for you. Please PM me for address. Tongue Out

I check the heck out of everything, but it has been extremely rare that I've ever had to throw anything out. I refuse to pay $9.99 for a bag of bodek broccoli!

The only time I ever found a bug in lettuce, it was in a back of "pre checked, triple wash" with a heksher. shock

From then on, I said "forget it" and I buy regular lettuce and check it myself. I see so many people just take the bagged lettuce, dump it in a salad bowl, and never even give it a glance. Confused

red sea

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 7:24 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I will be more than happy to take all your broccoli and asparagus tops for you. Please PM me for address. Tongue Out

From then on, I said "forget it" and I buy regular lettuce and check it myself. I see so many people just take the bagged lettuce, dump it in a salad bowl, and never even give it a glance. Confused

I was only talking about fresh broccoli. Fresh everything for that matter.

saw50st8

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 8:40 am

Frantic, were they Dole? Many have hechsherim and some people hold that plain iceberg triple washed and guaranteed bug free doesn't need to be checked.

tzfatisha

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 9:22 am

if you grow your own and only pick what you need for that meal... you will be surprised at the difference of infestation from day to day.
I just put veggies in salted water.. I see the bugs float to the top... I do this a couple of times depending on how many bugs there are (sometimes hardly any at all) and then I rinse them and give them a visual check. then I use them
I certainly don't break my head over it.
my rav says - use the naked eye, not a microscope, magnifying glass or a light box - that's all just chumra. -fine if that's what you want, but it's not necessary.
and by growing my own I know that the bug level changes according to the day, the weather and even the time of day I pick things.

princessleah

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 10:04 am

It seems to me like this guide is for restaurants and food service places. In one of the paragraphs, it says 'check with the owner.'
So perhaps these are the rules you must follow if you want your restaurant to receive their certification from OK. I Don't think it's meant for the individual consumer.

vintagebknyc

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 10:25 am

MaBelleVie wrote:

saw50st8 wrote:

imasinger wrote:

MaBelleVie wrote:

I also find that when I buy produce at the cheap market, its way more likely to be infested.

Yup, agree with both of you.

I buy much of my produce at rossman's--you know that place on 3rd/26th in bk? frum owners? wholesale produce? and lots of yummy israeli stuff. (like pearl cous cous!)

Miri1

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 1:30 pm

I think that the light box is a recommendation for convenience.

I remember the days before bodek and light boxes, checking lettuce at the kitchen window, with cold water trickling down my arms.

I don't own a light box, but I can imagine it is a lot more comfortable than holding the leaves up to the light. Especially if your a mashgiach.

September June

Thu, Aug 01 2013, 1:33 pm

Miri1 wrote:

Yup, I bought a light to help me check because I was tired of getting soaked every time I checked lettuce. It's so much easier now!