Tips for storing and keeping food fresher/longer

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chocolite
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:11 pm

Tips for storing and keeping food fresher/longer

Post by chocolite »

Don't you just HATE it when a food item goes bad in the fridge or pantry? Throwing food away is like throwing money right down the toilet. So I thought I'd ask all of you frugal black belts, what are your best tips for extending the life of your food items? I'll start us off with a couple, and a request as well.

When I buy celery, I take it out of the plastic bag and let it sit on the counter to evaporate the water droplets. Then, I roll the whole head (is it a "head" of celery? lol Sorry, brain lasp.......) ANYWAY, I roll the whole thing in aluminum foil and pop it in my produce drawer in the fridge. It keeps it crisp and fresh for a really long time...like 2 to 3 weeks. The secret is to completely seal it in the foil.

To keep my onions fresh, I put them into a brown paper bag, then into the produce drawer as well. If I leave them out in my pantry (especially in the summer), they get soft and start to rot too quick for me to use them. Inside the paper bag, they last a long time...up to a month, maybe.

My request is: potatoes! I have a two shelf bin in my pantry and put sweet potatoes in one and potatoes in the other. The sweet potatoes last pretty well, but the potatoes go soft. Usually, I can get a 5 pound bag of russet/white potatoes for a really good price and then I empty them into the bin...but they get mushy in no time. Any suggestions?
Patty
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Tips for storing and keeping food fresher/longer

Post by alliesmama4 »

chocolite wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:48 pm Don't you just HATE it when a food item goes bad in the fridge or pantry? Throwing food away is like throwing money right down the toilet. So I thought I'd ask all of you frugal black belts, what are your best tips for extending the life of your food items? I'll start us off with a couple, and a request as well.

When I buy celery, I take it out of the plastic bag and let it sit on the counter to evaporate the water droplets. Then, I roll the whole head (is it a "head" of celery? lol Sorry, brain lasp.......) ANYWAY, I roll the whole thing in aluminum foil and pop it in my produce drawer in the fridge. It keeps it crisp and fresh for a really long time...like 2 to 3 weeks. The secret is to completely seal it in the foil.

To keep my onions fresh, I put them into a brown paper bag, then into the produce drawer as well. If I leave them out in my pantry (especially in the summer), they get soft and start to rot too quick for me to use them. Inside the paper bag, they last a long time...up to a month, maybe.

My request is: potatoes! I have a two shelf bin in my pantry and put sweet potatoes in one and potatoes in the other. The sweet potatoes last pretty well, but the potatoes go soft. Usually, I can get a 5 pound bag of russet/white potatoes for a really good price and then I empty them into the bin...but they get mushy in no time. Any suggestions?
Not sure about potatoes since I rarely buy them in bulk. However my Mom use to put romaine lettuce in a plastic container and put a paper towel in with it. When the towel became damp she would put in a new paper towels. I wrap my cabbage, lettuce and celery in a kitchen towel and change them as they get damp. Things seem to last a lot longer if I use cloth compared to plastic wrap. One time I was cleaning strawberries and had sudden weak spell. I put the strawberries in a large ceramic bowl with a cloth napkin in the bottom and a cloth napkin on top and went to bed.. About a week later I looked to see if the strawberries were all moldy etc.. they were still looked fresh and tasted fresh. I do have dedicated towels and napkins for produce since sometimes things do stain them.

Just thought of this.. Do you have a basement that stays cold during the winter? I know Mom use to put her potatoes in a dark area of the basement for long term storage. Also I have seen them at health food markets where they have them in a basket with a loose covering over them to protect them for the store light.Light seems to make them turn green under the skin. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
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MackerelCat
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Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: Tips for storing and keeping food fresher/longer

Post by MackerelCat »

I refrigerate Irish potatoes. Yeah, conventional wisdom says not to because the starch starts to convert to sugar, but I have never noticed a taste difference and they don't go bad. Potatoes spoil very quickly in the pantry because our house is warm.

Also no longer buy a large bag because only DH and I eat baked potatoes regularly. When the price is good, I buy a few loose potatoes.
Mackie
chocolite
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Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:11 pm

Re: Tips for storing and keeping food fresher/longer

Post by chocolite »

alliesmama4 wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:29 pm Do you have a basement that stays cold during the winter? I know Mom use to put her potatoes in a dark area of the basement for long term storage. Also I have seen them at health food markets where they have them in a basket with a loose covering over them to protect them for the store light.Light seems to make them turn green under the skin. Janet Alliesmama
I wish we did, but no. And in the pantry, now that I think about it, they don't really get much air flow as they might need. But at least it's dark most of the time.
Patty
chocolite
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:11 pm

Re: Tips for storing and keeping food fresher/longer

Post by chocolite »

MackerelCat wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:34 pm I refrigerate Irish potatoes. Yeah, conventional wisdom says not to because the starch starts to convert to sugar, but I have never noticed a taste difference and they don't go bad. Potatoes spoil very quickly in the pantry because our house is warm.
Mackie, do you just put them in the produce drawer loose? I was wondering if they might do okay in a paper bag like the onions...and yes, I've never tried it b/c "they" say not to, lol. I am too compliant sometimes. :-)
Patty
ohjodi
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Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:57 pm

Re: Tips for storing and keeping food fresher/longer

Post by ohjodi »

Knowing WHEN food is still good to eat has gone a LONG way to helping me prevent wasting food and money. I worked in restaurants and grocery stores for most of my working life, where cooked food had to be thrown out by the third day, and we sold or served nothing past an expiration date.

I only recently realized that while expiration standards for restaurants/grocery are extremely strict, the reality of it for your household is much different.

I found a GREAT website that I refer to frequently to determine if my food is still safe to eat. I'm really amazed at how misguided I was. Eggs (in shell) I used to toss a few days past the date. Turns out, they're good for 3-4 WEEKS past the date! Hard boiled eggs in shell are good for 7 days after cooking. Out of the shell is 5 days. I was throwing them out if I hadn't used them within 3 days of cooking!

www.eatbydate.com It's really great because it tells you how long foods are good for if they haven't been opened, if they're opened, if cooked or not, etc.
ohjodi
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