How many of these food preservation tips are you using?
With these tough times showing no signs of getting better anytime soon, we are all looking at ways to reduce food waste and stretch our food budgets as far as possible. The folks over at Moneyboat.co.uk have compiled a list of their favourite food preservation tips, which we've added to, which will hopefully help you to make use of every bit of food you have and save on wasted food, and of course your hard earned money!
Add salt to your milk once opened
Depending on the type of milk you use, once opened, it can last anywhere from four to ten days if kept in the fridge.
However, you can stretch that timeframe a bit further by adding a pinch of salt to the carton immediately after opening; this is because salt is a preservative and so deters bacteria from growing. But do make sure to give the carton a good shake and place it into the fridge as soon as possible.
Many supermarkets have now removed the use by dates from milk products, instead suggesting customers use the sniff test to check if the milk is still ok to use. This is expected to save hundreds of thousands of milk from being thrown away unnecessarily, which is a benefit to avoiding food waste and helps your wallet, especially now that milk has gone up in price due to the rise in the cost of living.
Store your milk in the coolest part of the fridge
It is also best to avoid storing your milk in the fridge door. The door is, in fact, the warmest part of the fridge as it is furthest away from the cooling system. So instead, keep your milk at the back of the middle or higher shelves for maximum cool to lengthen the shelf life.
Wrap hard cheese in parchment paper
Ditch the plastic packaging and wrap hard cheese in parchment paper, as this allows the cheese to breathe and reduces any extra moisture, and helps stop mould from growing. Hard cheese can usually last up to four weeks when stored correctly in the fridge. If your cheese is getting close to its use-by date, you can freeze it, either whole or, as I do, grated, and with grated cheese, you can use this in cooking without the need to defrost it first, which will save you money and mean you don't waste any of that yummy cheese!
Vinegar bath your veggies
A great way to disinfect your fruits and veggies is to give them a vinegar bath. The vinegar solution should have a 1:3 ratio with water in a bowl or your clean sink. Empty your produce into the solution and let sit for 15 minutes. Once done, you can rinse and thoroughly dry your produce before moving them into their respective storage containers.
The vinegar solution disinfects, cleans and removes any bacteria from the produce that might break down the food quicker. The solution should not be strong enough to taste it on the produce afterwards and enables your veggies to last up to two weeks.
Once dry, you can place any washed berries into a sealed jar with a paper towel and put it in the fridge, and this will extend the shelf life considerably, but make sure they are dry first; otherwise, they may go mouldy. Change the paper towel if it looks like it's getting too wet. Berries stored this way might last up to 3 weeks; although not in my house, they are usually gone in a few days!
Any fruit, especially berries, can be frozen. The easiest way is to lay the fruit (or veggies) out on a baking tray and put them in the freezer. Once they have frozen, you can put them into bags and enjoy them later. Perhaps add them to smoothies or for smaller fruit such as raspberries and blueberries; they can eaten straight from the freezer as a yummy treat!
Keep your bananas separate from other fruits
All fruits produce a certain level of a gas known as ‘ethylene’, fruits such as bananas produce a higher concentration when they are ready to ripen as it speeds up the ripening process. Other fruits that fall into the high ethylene-producing category are - apples, peaches, pears, melons and avocados, to name a few.
Keeping the ethylene-producing fruits, specifically bananas, away from your ethylene-sensitive fruits will prevent excessive exposure to the gas, allowing the fruit to ripen naturally and last longer. Depending on the fruit, they can last from three to five days to a few weeks at room temperature.
To slow the ripening process for bananas, you can wrap the stem in cling film or the slightly more eco-friendly aluminium foil. Wrapping as a bunch or individually will add a day or two to the ripening process, usually lasting between three to five days (at room temperature).
Treat your fresh herbs like flowers
For those who prefer fresh herbs over dried, a top tip is to treat them like flowers. Add water to a jar and place the herbs inside with a plastic bag over the top. The water helps keep the herbs fresh.
If your fridge doesn’t accommodate upright jars, you can also store your fresh herbs in an airtight glass container (or plastic bag if you prefer) with a damp paper towel; this again helps the herbs to retain their moisture, so they don’t dry out too quickly and wilt.
Both of these methods can aid your fresh herbs lasting up to three weeks.
Freeze your fresh herbs
If you prefer fresh herbs but don’t use them quickly enough, you can freeze them.
You can store fresh-cut herbs in olive oil in ice cube trays and freeze them for perfect portions. Alternatively, water can also be used in place of oil.
This method can also be used for garlic and ginger.
Ice your bread
If you find that your bread has become stale, grab an ice cube and run it over the loaf before popping it into the oven for 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can also douse the loaf in water. This adds moisture back into the bread and allows it to become edible once more. The bread should then be used within the day.
A freshly made loaf of bread can last up to four days, whereas a store-bought loaf will last up to one week.
If you are mainly using your bread for toast, store the bread in the freezer and take out what you need as you need it. It takes just a few extra seconds to defrost, which means that nothing gets wasted, as the bread won't go dry or mouldy in the freezer.
Freeze your nuts
Most nuts and seeds have a shelf life of three to six months. To extend their lifespan, they are best stored in cool, dark spaces; although the back of the cupboard is suitable, storing them in the fridge can help them stay fresher. If you find that six months is not enough time to nibble your way through your nuts, then you’ll be pleased to hear that they can be frozen – which extends their shelf life to one year.
If you have some spare nuts, why not whizz them up with some basil, garlic, olive oil (you can use any sort of oil), and some parmesan if you have it, with a pinch of salt and pepper, and you have homemade pesto!
Many people think you can only use pine nuts for pesto, but I can assure you that any nuts can be used, even a mix of nuts, and it's delicious! If using already salted nuts, don't add any extra salt until it's made, as it may make the pesto too salty. Then pop it into the fridge in a jar and use it within seven days. Alternatively, pop the pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze, then you can pull out some pesto cubes, as and when you want them, and this can just be added to a pan to heat through and tossed with the pasta, so its an ultimate quick meal and it can be ready in minutes. (you can also freeze cooked pasta, which reheats in just a couple of minutes in boiling water, so you can be in the door and eating in less than 10 minutes, and no waste! Bon Appetit!