Stocking the fridge and making fewer orders or trips to get groceries has become the new normal these days. It has almost become a strategic planning session when figuring out weeks in advance what you will need. When buying this much in advance, it is essential to make your food last longer, especially the fresh produce.
We have 10 tips for you to properly store your produce to help them stay fresh, longer.
- Plan your meals in order of freshness.
When it comes to fresh produce, it’s often an issue of not being confident about the lifespan of certain fruits and veggies, or best practices when it comes to storage. For example, did you know keeping onions and potatoes together is a big no-no? We have a handy cheat sheet on how long produce can last.
- Store your produce dry.
A little bit of humidity is good for your produce, but not wet. After you have washed your produce after you receive your delivery, make sure you lay it out, use a clean cotton kitchen towel, or a fresh sheet of paper towel to dry them. Like any rule, there are some exceptions. Scallions like to be stored upright with roots down in clean water at room temperature. They will also keep growing this way. Make sure to give it fresh water every few days. Carrots and celery both like to be submerged in water and treat your asparagus like fresh cut flowers, trim the ends and store in a glass of water.
- If in doubt bag it.
A plastic bag will prevent the natural moisture in your produce from evaporating (please reuse your bags). It works very well for lettuce, kale and other leafy green vegetables.
- Use your freezer.
Press pause on the ripening of your fruits and veg. Peel and cut into your desired pieces and store in the freezer. Some vegetables you will want to chop and blanch before storing as not everything freezes equally. Here are the basics to blanching vegetables.
- Treat your herbs with love.
Start by removing any twist ties, elastic bands or anything else that is holding your herbs together. Wash them and give them a spin in a salad spinner or pat dry with a clean, dry paper towel. Once the herbs are clean, store them wrapped in a dry paper towel in a plastic container. Or if you use fresh herbs often, trim the bottom, store in some water with a plastic bag over the top. Not going to use all your herbs right away? Try these 5 ways to use up your herbs!
- Store gassy foods separate.
Some fruits and vegetables produce more gas like apples, ripe bananas, pears and potatoes. These all produce a gas called ethylene that accelerates the ripening process of other fruits and veg. For this reason alone, it is important to store them as far away from other produce as possible.
- Transfer ripe fruit to the fridge.
Some fruit and veggies you want to keep at room temperature, like avocados, pineapple, and tomatoes. But once they are ripe, move it to the fridge and eat as soon as possible. Putting your ripe fruit into the fridge essentially presses pause on the ripening process, but you do not want to leave it in there too long.
- Keep citrus and ginger in the fridge.
Citrus and ginger are happy in the fridge and will last much longer. Leaving citrus and ginger on the counter can cause them to shrivel up and not be as juicy!
- Give everyone breathing room.
Store your potatoes separate from the onions, keep bananas away from other fruit are key, but also give your produce in the fridge space between each other. Letting the air circulate won’t cause excess moisture, and keep mould from showing up. Also, you will be able to see everything you have in your fridge!
- Wilted Veg?
Forgot about some produce in your fridge, have stale bread on the counter, overcooked your meat? Don’t worry, here are 5 ways to save your food to prevent food waste!
Have any tips on storing food that we missed? Let us know!
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