I’m tired of vegetables (cucumbers are notorious, if innocent, offenders, and apples are a close second) being coated in enough wax that I could add a wick and call it a candle.
I vaguely recall seeing a produce wash years ago that claimed to remove the wax and whatever else. Can’t find it any more, so I’ve resorted to scrubbing with Dawn and the kitchen scrubby sponge.
Outside of trekking off to a farmers market (none are particularly convenient to home or office) or paying three times what a cucumber is worth for “organic” what’s a good way to un-wax things?
Hey Crafter, you forgot the smiley Mmmm, make cucumber salad that tastes like fingernail polish remover. . . .
The Dawn should do the trick with minimal fuss. With warm water you probably don’t even need the scrubby. I think food washes are pretty much a marketing gimmick.
I don’t understand. Why do you have wax on your vegetables in the first place? As a preservative of some sort? Is this an American, or a LA thing? I’m Australian, and I’ve never seen such a thing. Our vegetables are just fine with no wax whatsoever.
It’s an American thing. They spray a liquid wax on veggies at the grocery store to make them look all shiny and appealing, and supposedly to increase their shelf life.
As far as I can tell, a scrubbing with hot soap and water is enough to remove these mystery chemicals. Some stores don’t use the stuff. I prefer to shop at them, and avoid the goo entirely.
I would think a soft scrubbie and warm water would do it. But you can bet the wax is as harmless as it could possibly be. Food companies hate lawsuits.
A: my veggies have been handled by untold hands of untold levels of cleanliness - from the person who yanked it out of the ground, off the tree or off the vine, whoever put it in a box, and the untold shoppers that have been grubbing through the bin at the store.
B: Sometimes, that dang wax is so thick, I can scrape off blobs with my fingernails - not too appetizing.
Vegetable wax, aside from producing a shininess some find desirable, also prevents the vegetable or fruit from drying out. This may have been more necessary in the past, when transportation was not as swift. You are correct, it is largely unnecessary these days, nonetheless, the tradition continues in many places.
The wax, by the way, is non-toxic and harmles to eat. As others have said, warm water and a little rubbing is sufficient to remove it.
The only thing I’m aware of * being waxed in the UK is lemons (and possibly limes?). But then we don’t usually eat the peel, unless we’re using a zester, so I tend to leave it on. They keep for a couple of months in the fridge.
Mmmm, make cucumber salad that tastes like fingernail polish remover. . . .
