In this article you will find help with tips for food storage, what to refrigerate, what to freeze and how. During this difficult time and limited food supply, after buying everything available on the shelf we need to ensure we can use the food for as long as we can. Online food service is so behind and sometimes you are a just queuing for hours to get to on the website.
We have gathered some essential tricks and tips to ensure the food is feeding your family instead of a rubbish bin.
How to keep food last for longer in the fridge or freezer?
Space in the fridge and freezer is precious now, so this is our tips to make the most of it. You can also use plastic containers to decant the food bought from the supermarket, eliminate unnecessary packaging and portion the food.
What food should not go in the fridge?
If the external temperature is still cool, you can store most root and tougher vegetables in a closed container on a balcony or garden.
Imagine having carrots, parsnips, brassel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, potatoes and so on out of your fridge. Those vegetables are not in the fridge in the supermarket anyway, they should not be in your fridge either. All they need are dry cool conditions to make them last naturally.
Buy long shelf live milk, so it can live outside of your fridge and do the same with juices.
Tips for food storage in the Freezers
The day before your shopping, take the time to clean and defrost your freezer. This will probably create more space if you got a big blog of ice and improve its performance.
- Try to buy frozen fish, as it will be individually frozen, therefore you will be able to defrost the exact amount needed. If it’s not available, wrap the individual fillets in cling film and freeze flat before storing in bags.
- The same apply for meats, open the packaging and freeze individual portions when possible.
- Some fruits and vegetables are better bought frozen then frozen at home. For instance, peas and corn, summer berries are just an example.
- Make sure to remove all external packaging that otherwise would waste space, for instance remove the pizzas from the cardboard box before storing.
- Use the correct size containers in your freezer, half empty or oversized container will take space away from you.
Sometimes is better to cook in batch and freeze in portions. Let me give you an example: think about Bolognese sauce and lasagne. I prefer to buy the ingredients to cook a big batch of Bolognese, then prepare a big tray of lasagne. Once cooked and cooled, portion the lasagne and freeze in zip bags , then freeze in flattened bag the leftovers Bolognese.
Why do I need to label my food?
Always label the food you are freezing, stating the food item and freezing date. This will help you recognise food and keep track of how long has been in your freezer. The general recommendations are not to keep food in a home freezer for longer then 3 to 6 months depending on the food item and freezer performance.
Please use a waterproof pen or a sharpie to write the labels to retain the information on the label. During extreme temperature and humidity normal markers tent to fade.
One thing that I found quite useful, is to have a best before and food log. You can use it to track if any foods are close to go out of date in the fridge and to know what’s left in the freezer.
How to avoid Food Wastage
You can extend some fruits freshness by storing it outside, same as the vegetables. This will apply to citrus like lemons, oranges and mandarins, as well as kiwi, apples and pears.
If after all, some fruit or vegetables are starting to look a bit tired, don’t bin it!
Chop the fruit, then freeze it! It can be used as a fruit compote dessert or as a breakfast smoothie. Your vegetables can be made in to soups and again frozen in flattened bags portion sizes.
We hope you found tips for food storage useful, share it with your friends and loved one to help them in this difficult situation. It would be such a shame to put the food in the bin after numerous supermarket journeys.
Check out our article – the best emergency food guide to ensure you are buying the right food during the crisis. Enough to ensure your family is well nourished and fed during the lock-down.
You should now have all the food and you should know where to keep it. All is left is to start cooking! We a have a selection of easy to prepare recipes like mushroom risotto and spaghetti alla crudiola, also polenta biscuits which are super easy to make with your children!
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Stay Safe and Eat Well!
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