Once the sugar loaf lettuce has been harvested, it must also be prepared. With the right storage, however, it will also keep fresh for some time.
When we talk about Sugar Loaf, we are not talking about Rio de Janeiro's landmark or the sweet sugar cone, but about a type of lettuce. The sugar loaf lettuce is certainly not as well known in domestic gardens and also not as widespread as many other types of lettuce, but you should still have heard of this type of lettuce.
The lettuce, also known as chicory salad or meat slaw, is closely related to endive and comes from radicchio and chicory. The leaves can be eaten raw in a salad, for example, or steamed. But there is one more thing you should know before you turn up your nose at the taste: just like the endive, the sugar loaf salad also contains a lot of bitter substances. However, as the heads of lettuce grow larger, the bitter taste dwindles somewhat. Reading tip: Debitter sugar loaf salad - With these 4 tips it works!
How to store sugar loaf lettuce
If you grow sugar loaf lettuce in the garden, you will surely ask yourself how you can store the sugar loaf properly and thus keep it fresh for as long as possible. This works best if you stick to the following points.
❖ Harvest time:
The lettuce tolerates a light frost quite well, which is why you can leave it in the bed in winter. You should only harvest it if there is a threat of longer periods of frost.
❖ Storage location:
Store the whole heads in a nice, dark and cool place, so they can be kept for several weeks. The basement would be the ideal storage place as long as it is dry and airy.
If you don't have a basement, you can also remove the roots and outer leaves, wrap the lettuce in a plastic bag, and then store it in the freezer.
❖ Storage variants:
It is best to hang the sugar loaf lettuce upside down by the stalk on a line. Alternatively, leave the roots attached to the heads of lettuce, then wrap them in newspaper and store them upright in boxes next to each other.
Important:
Store multiple heads side-by-sidethey must not touch each other, otherwise pressure points would quickly develop and rot as a result. On the other hand, if the outer leaves dry out, that's actually useful, because that's a natural protective layer for the rest of the lettuce.