Article
Top Tricks to Keep Your Food
Fresh and Tasty for Days
Grocery shopping and cooking from scratch are nearly impossible for most people. If you have a busy schedule, work with a tight budget, have to take care of a growing family, or simply don’t like to cook every day, knowing how to preserve your food effectively is the most economical way to ensure you eat healthy, nutritious meals regularly without having to cook round the clock.
Unfortunately, if you do not know how to preserve food properly, you will have bland-tasting meals at best or, worse still, spoiled groceries and leftovers.
How can you save time and energy by preserving food so that it stays savoury and fresh days after you’ve made it?
Top tricks to keep your food fresh and tasty for days
- Store your food at the right temperature.
Your fridge and freezer are vital for preserving food, but they must be set at the right temperature to work effectively. The correct temperature settings help stall bacteria’s growth rate and retain texture and flavour. Ensure your fridge is set at a minimum of 4°C (40°F) and your freezer at -18°C (0°F).
To maintain temperature levels, let hot food cool to room temperature before refrigerating or freezing. Also, keep your fridge and freezer clutter-free because overcrowding affects air circulation, which hinders effective cooling. - Master the art of refrigerating.
Not all sections of your fridge are equal- some sections are incredibly faster than others. Depending on the model of your fridge, the bottom shelves are the coldest part, perfect for raw meat, dairy, and seafood. The middle shelves have a stable temperature for keeping cooked meals, leftovers, and snacks cool, while the topmost shelves are the warmest, ideal for instant, ready-to-eat food like fruits, drinks, spices, etc. However, if your fridge has a freezer compartment, the topmost shelf will be the coldest. - Freeze hard, but freeze smart, too.
Food loses its freshness when it is repeatedly defrosted. To avoid this, freeze in smaller portions to thaw what you need. A top tip is to store foods like soups and sauces in flat freezer bags, which speeds up thawing.
Also, if you have experienced food clumping that makes it challenging to retrieve small portions after freezing, try flash-freezing individually on a tray before storing in a container. Raw cookie dough pieces that are flash-frozen separately will stay separate after freezing in a jar, allowing you to take a few pieces simultaneously without defrosting the entire jar. In addition, labelling and rotating food items in your freezer will help you stay organised, ensure food is consumed fresh, and minimize wastage. - Use quality storage products.
The proper containers can differentiate between a delicious ‘yum’ and a total ‘bleh.’ You’ve got to choose wisely. Regarding storage containers, glass is superior to plastic for refrigeration, as it keeps air out and locks flavours in. They don’t absorb odours and stains like plastic and can go directly from the fridge to the microwave or oven. Storing your jollof rice in a glass container in the refrigerator will keep it savoury for days, better than freezing or storing in plastic.
In addition, silicone lids and reusable silicone bags do an excellent job of locking oxygen and moisture out of your food, helping you retain its original taste.
Vacuum-sealed packaging is the best option for frozen food for those who can afford the extra investment. It prevents freezer burn and extends the life of the food, preserving the taste and nutritional value.
Explore Pinnick solutions
With the right storage tips, you won’t have to cook every day or watch your leftovers go bland or stale. Whether you’re batch-cooking for the week or just trying to preserve yesterday’s lunch, these tricks will keep your food fresh and tasty when needed. For easy-to-cook, rich, flavourful meals you can keep for later, explore Pinnick’s one-mix blends and enjoy effortless cooking.
As simple as ABC
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