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Apart from water, food is the most essential of human needs. Being so important for humanity, it’s never really a good thing to waste food products. However, statistics do portray a grim picture, with millions of tons of food waste being generated each year all over the world. We see different cuisines in different parts of the world, but the ingredients are mostly similar to each other, and to prepare delicacies like those we need fresh food or food stored in the proper way so as to keep its freshness intact for a long time, thereby also reducing food waste. Here are some simple tips which you can use to keep your food items fresh for a longer period of time. Storing fruits and vegetables Fruits and vegetables are definitely the most common food items that are stored in refrigerators or on countertops. While the best type of kitchen food storage depends on the type of product you’re intending to stay fresh for a long time, for products such as crisp apples, which are usually stored in glass bowls placed on countertops, it is always considered best if apples are kept out of direct sunlight in an uncovered bowl or inside perforated plastic bags, to keep their moisture intact. On the other hand, the best way to keep vegetables fresh in refrigerators is by keeping them in perforated plastic bags and then storing them in the produce drawer at the bottom of the refrigerator. While storing fruits and vegetables together, always make sure that they are kept in different drawers, as keeping them together will cause ethylene to build up in the fridge, which can cause spoilage. The simplest and pretty much the best way to keep herbs fresh for longer is by first cutting down their ends and storing them upright in a glass of water, which is then covered with a plastic bag. Storing Milk While buying milk the first thing to check is the expiration date mentioned on the milk carton. Moreover, it is always a good practice to buy milk at the end of your grocery shopping spree, so that it doesn’t heat up while you shop for other food items. On arriving back home, the first thing to do is to keep the milk cartons in the refrigerator away from other raw food products that have strong odors. Placing milk next to such food items might change its flavor and the texture. Moreover, always open the milk container when you’re ready to pour it, and close it and put it back in the refrigerator soon afterwards. Storing Bread While you might be inclined to store bread in the refrigerator to keep it fresh for a longer time, this is definitely the wrong move. Doing so, draws out the moisture from the bread, this not only makes it crusty, but also causes it to go stale. The best way to keep bread fresh for longer is by placing it in a tightly closed bread box and then storing it at room temperature. Storing eggs and meat While according to folklore the best place to store eggs is with the hen, there is definitely a way to keep eggs fresh for longer without turning your home into a chicken coop. After you’ve checked the expiration date of eggs on the egg carton, make sure you keep eggs in the same carton in the refrigerator and not in the refrigerator shelf. To check if eggs are fine when you’re planning to eat them, just put the eggs in a glass full of water, if they sink they are good to eat and if they float, they should be thrown. For meat if you are planning to eat it on the day you purchased it, it’s always good to keep it in the same plastic package in which it arrived. However, if you are planning to keep meat fresh for a longer period of time, remove the plastic package and keep meat in a non-plastic dish and cover it with aluminum foil or loose plastic to allow airflow. Also make sure that raw and cooked meat is never stored together in the same container.
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Kitchen, Food, Storage,
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