Cooking: Everet-Fresh Bags
By Michael Mcrae

A pint of raspberries or a bunch of spinach--even if sealed in a plastic bag, chilled in a cooler, and shielded from physical abuse--will look pretty wan (or worse) ten days into a raft trip. Fruits and vegetables spoil when trapped in the ethylene gas that they emit during the normal ripening process. Thus, common sense would dictate, get rid of the gas and you'll slow their demise.

That's the premise of Evert-Fresh Bags. These translucent green bags are impregnated with a mineral called oya, which absorbs ethylene, and an antifogging agent that minimizes moisture buildup and thus prevents mold. The bags, which come ten to a package in small (half-gallon; $2.69), medium (one gallon; $3.69), and large (1.5 gallons; $5.99) sizes, really do work.

After eight days, ripe strawberries that I stored in them tasted as sweet as when they went in. A bagged banana was still firm, while an unbagged one from the same bunch had become mushy. The toughest test: a halved ripe avocado. After six days, its cut surface had turned brown, but the meat beneath was still firm and yellow. Shaved atop a delicious black-bean burrito, it was a rare backcountry treat.

From Evert-Fresh Corporation, Box 540974, Houston, TX 77254; 800-822-8141.