Refresh Veggies is a pot that says it can infuse wilted vegetables with water, bringing them back to their original crisp and fresh state. But can this really revive your veggies, and does this Lazarus effect actual work in the world of vegetables?
Overview
Fresh produce can be expensive, and it can be a real bummer to watch it go back in your refrigerator if you don’t eat it fast enough. And this can often be the case if you have good intentions in the store, buy a lot of fresh veggies, and then find that you either can’t eat them all fast enough, or you opt for other choices instead of actually eating the vegetables.
The Claim
The makers of Refresh Veggies say that their cannister works by using pressure to infuse water back into wilted lettuce or other limp vegetables that have lose their water content, like celery. They also say you can use it to soften up pasta without having to cook it. That way you can use it in pasta salads and other dishes where you don’t need hot pasta. They say the unit is made out of stainless steel on the outer part of it, which only leads one to wonder what it is made of on the inside, the part that the vegetables may be touching.
The Hype
The hype here comes from the concept of reviving vegetables, and whether this is the best use of your time, or whether you’d be better off just tossing them out and buying fresh vegetables. When vegetables start to go bad it’s more than just because they’ve lost water. The vegetables are dying, and their nutrient content is depleted. Wilted lettuce may just be a case of lost water, and reintroducing water into its cells will perk it up, but you should always wonder if you’re doing right by your body by eating vegetables that are past their prime.
The Cost
Refresh Veggies sells for $31 and you end up getting two units at that price, which includes delivery. You may be asking yourself why you’d want two of them, and the answer is probably that you don’t. But this is a classic method used by manufacturers to boost the final total of your order. It also means that if you end up returning these cannisters according to their 30 day money back guarantee you’d only be getting $15 back, as $16 gets lose in shipping charges, plus you’d be responsible for paying the return shipping.
The Commitment
All that this entails is putting in vegetables that are a little past their prime into it and letting it do its job for one or two hours. They say that the glass lid is easy to use, and all you have to do is press the pressure button anywhere from three to five times.
Evaluation
If you thought it was a good idea to use a product like Refresh Veggies, it will likely work to your satisfaction, but the better option would be to simply eat your vegetables before they start to go bad. This can be tricky if you’re a weekly shopper, and it might entail upping your outings to twice a week, but it will be worth it to eat fresh produce, rather than worrying how to bring it back to life with a product like this one.
In order for this to get a better rating from us they would have to explain more about how the process works, and not just show time lapse video that could easily have been doctored by replacing wilted vegetables with fresh ones during camera cuts.
Final Refresh Veggies Review
Refresh Veggies is getting our Risky Try rating, as there isn’t a sufficient enough explanation provided that backs up the claim that pressure can force water back into the vegetables. And since the manufacturer may be making a profit even if you send back your order, it’s just too risky of a purchase from a consumer standpoint. If they ever offer this in stores it might be worth trying, but at the current offer we’d say take a pass on it and adjust your shopping habits so that you don’t end up leaving your vegetables uneaten for too long.
Our Recommendation
The reason this product might be successful is that we all have the experience of throwing away vegetables that aren’t quite crisp and fresh anymore, and feeling that disappointment and frustration of having spent good money on it only to throw it away. But in the end there’s just no good way to reverse the aging process and turn back the clock on vegetables. You’re eating them because of the vitamins and minerals they provide, not because of their water content. These vitamins and minerals fade away over time, and this product makes no claim of improving the nutrition content of vegetables.
