Exact Answer: 2-4 days
Cauliflower is a popular vegetable mainly for its nutrition value and the ease in its preparation. Over the years, cauliflower has come to be substituted for potatoes, flour, and rice in the kitchen; this is because of its versatility working as an ingredient in various recipes.
As a fresh vegetable, it is essential to know how long it can last along with the proper storage to lengthen its shelf life. This article will explore the proper storage of cauliflower as well as how long it lasts and why.
How long does cauliflower last?
| Cauliflower State | Lifetime |
| Uncooked (Room Temperature) | 2-4 days |
| Uncooked (Refrigerator) | 7-21 days |
| Uncooked (Freezer) | 12-18 months |
| Cooked (Room Temperature) | 2 hours |
| Cooked (Refrigerator) | 7-10 days |
| Cooked (Freezer) | 10-12 months |
Like other vegetables and fruits, cauliflower does not have a sell-by date, and unless you have picked it from your garden, you cannot quickly tell how long the cauliflower has been in the store.
Your calculation for when the cauliflower will expire will thus be based on the day you purchased it from the store. Of course, the storage of the cauliflower after it is obtained will affect to a great extent the amount of time the cauliflower can remain fresh.
Vegetables and fruits continually lose their nutritive value over time, it is thus essential to understand whether the cauliflower is fresh and to try and lengthen its shelf life.
Proper storage is paramount. After you have bought the cauliflower from the grocery store, you should keep it refrigerated at all times. Put the head of the cauliflower in a plastic bag and seal it thoroughly before storing it in the fridge.
Bacteria multiply very first at temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit; any cooked cauliflower let out for more than two hours should be thrown away. For your cauliflower to remain fresh, you must keep it refrigerated.
Why does cauliflower last this long?
Food goes wrong or gets spoiled due to microorganisms such as mold and bacteria, low temperatures in the fridge inhibit the growth of these microorganisms and thus prolong the shelf life of the food stored in a refrigerator. Cauliflower is a vegetable like any other, and when stored in a refrigerator, it will last longer due to the cold temperatures in the fridge.
When storing your cauliflower, it mustn’t be stored with fruits; this is because both fruits and vegetables produce ethylene gas that causes them to ripen. However, fruits provide more of this ethylene gas than plants. If stored together, the plants are likely to spoil sooner due to too much ethylene gas.
When cauliflower is stored in the freezer, the temperatures are too low that the growth of microorganisms is not only slowed, they are stopped completely. Study shows that for high-quality cauliflower stored in the freezer at a constant temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit, the cauliflower can remain safe indefinitely.
Refrigerating your cauliflower will ensure that you get the most out of it; it will remain fresh, thus keep all its nutritive value intact.