8 Smart and Best Ways to Store Food to Keep them Fresh For Longer

Store Food to Keep them Fresh

It’s no secret that we spend a significant amount of money on buying fresh food. And sometimes, they either go to waste or turn stale before you’ve got the chance to devour them.

This is exceptionally true for those who buy organic food regularly. If you’re looking for ways to keep your food fresh for longer periods of time, then you’ve come to the right place! Fortunately for you, we have put together a list that we’re sure will help reduce the waste.

Here are 8 smart and best ways to store food that will change the way you can preserve your food.

8 Smart and Best Ways to Store Food to Keep them Fresher For Longer

Gone are the days of feeling guilty for throwing out produce you were too late to use or cook with. Most of us have busy lives and have little time to spare when it comes to taking care of what we buy. We hope this list below will help ease that burden and let you have a guilt-free life:

1. A Smart Vacuum Seal Hack

A vacuum sealer machine is a handy gadget when it comes to preserving food, specifically meat. However, these brilliant machines can be expensive and that’s minus the sealer bags.

Having said that, there is a way to recreate the ways how a vacuum sealer works. All you need is a zip lock bag and you’re good to go. Just submerge the zip lock bag in a tub of cold water with your food inside.

Keep it submerged until all the air has left the bag. Once that’s done, you can just stick the bag inside your freezer and that’s it. For more food storing tips you can visit limitless cooking to learn more!

2. Cold Water is the Key

Green veggies such as spinach, romaine, bibb, red leaf, and other types of lettuce tend to stay fresh longer if you use cold water to rinse them. Pick out the discolored and wilted leaves and rinse.

Once that’s done, let them dry before you put them in the refrigerator. You can use a salad spinner or just simply shake the water off. Wrap them loosely using a paper towel and seal them in a plastic container or bag.

3. Let the Natural Wax Stay on

In warmer climates, most veggies and fruits like cucumbers, bell peppers, potatoes, apples, oranges, and lemons have a natural waxy layer on them.

This waxy layer not only helps to prevent shrinking but also prevents premature rotting and bruising as well. Sometimes the best way to store food like this is to let the wax stay on.

Keep in mind, that some get coated with artificial wax. Remember to wash it off before you eat them!

4. The Best Way to Store Berries

During the summer, strawberries can be among the sweetest berries we can enjoy. As juicy and healthy as they are, they can also be tender and cold-hardy.

Not only strawberries, but other berries like blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries are also the same. In fact, we’ve learned that these tasty fruits should be refrigerated below 40 F to help extend their shelf life.

Thankfully, the trick to preventing them from molding and turning mushy is super easy. First, you’ll need to mix apple cider vinegar and water. Then, you can just dip the batch of berries in it for a few seconds.

All that’s left to do next is to put them in your fridge and they’ll stay fresh for days enabling you to use the berries in tasty recipes to spice up your meals.

5. Good Air Circulation Keeps Decay Away

Refrain from wrapping your onions up with plastic. Instead, store them in a dark cupboard. This simple step can help make your onions last for months. If the onions you buy come in a mesh bag, you can just hang them on a hook.

If it doesn’t come in a mesh bag, then don’t fret! You can use that old pantyhose you’ve been meaning to throw away, just make sure they’re clean first though.

Drop and push an onion through one leg of the pantyhose all the way down to the toe. Once that’s done, tie a knot above it and drop another one. Repeat this until you’ve run out of onions (and legs).

This way the onions won’t touch each other and that leaves more air to flow around them. Also, Avoid storing your onions together with potatoes. They’ll just spoil faster if you do.

6. Did Somebody Say Cheese?

A common misconception we all have when it comes to storing cheese is that we should wrap it up well to keep it fresh longer. Although not completely wrong, what you use to wrap the cheese in is also important.

Instead of using plastic to wrap your cheese, use wax or parchment paper. The key is to let them breathe. You can also use a kitchen towel as well. But before you do, sprinkle some vinegar on it. That will help to kill any bacteria from forming on the surface of the cheese.

This is the best way to store food that you love and make delicious food, such as your favorite pasta.

7. Bananas – Keep Them Separate!

Dealing with bananas going brown is probably the most frustrating experience all of us have faced at least once in our lives. Bananas emit ethylene more than any other fruit, so the trick is to keep them separate from all the other fruits and veggies.

If you love bananas and want to store them better, you’ll need some cling film. Keep the bananas in a bunch and wrap the joint stalks using the film. Wrap them tight and re-wrap them each time you take one off from the bunch.

Doing this will prevent the ethylene from the stalk to reach the bananas and make them last for days.

8. Treat Your Herbs Right

If you use mint, parsley and cilantro regularly this nice hack is the best way to store them. Place your herbs in jars that are filled with water and place them in your fridge.

Other soft-stemmed herbs such as basil can be stored outside the fridge because it prefers warmer temperatures. Another neat trick you can use to store dry herbs is by using your own breath.

Yes, you read that right. Start by placing your fresh, dry herbs in a plastic bag and blowing air into it as you would when you blow balloons. The carbon dioxide from your breath is one sort of food preservative that can keep your herbs green and fresh.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, we hope these 8 smart and best ways to store food come in handy and prevent you from throwing out food you could have saved. We’re positive your grandmother and mother will beam with pride when they see how smart you’ve become by implementing these hacks.

Let us know in the comments if you have a hack of your own that you use to store your food and tell us how this has helped you change your ways.