It is important to store food properly in the home to avoid food wastage, food spoilage, and cross-contamination. There are times you might not be able to finish a delicious meal and you would like to eat it some other time, would you thrash a perfectly good meal?
No. That will cause food wastage. This is why you must know how to store food properly.Â
That is not all, if you are trying to avoid wasting your food but you don’t know how to store food properly, you might end up spoiling your meal instead of preserving it.
You should also understand that cross-contamination might occur if you store raw foods with cooked food. This can be detrimental to one’s health.
In this article, I will be sharing with you how to store food properly in the home.
To store food properly, here are the important questions I will be answering:
- How long should I store a certain food?
- Where should I store a certain food?
- Can I store all my food in the fridge and freezer? If not, what food should I store in the fridge or freezer?
- How can I store sealed or canned food after opening them?
Tips that will guide you to store food properly
Here are 10 tips that will guide you to store food properly
- Arrange open food packages that will soon expire in the front so you can consume them before they expire.
- Put the most used food ingredients or packages in front so you won’t have to scatter and rearrange every time you need something.
- Not all food items should be stored in the fridge or freezer, some should be stored in a cabinet or kitchen shelf.
Examples are those food packages whose labels come with inscriptions like “store in a cool dry place.”
Others are food items like;
- Bread
- Potato
- Yam
- Banana
- Plantain
- Onion
- Ginger
- Unopened sealed and canned food
- Tomatoes, etc.
Also read: How to Build a Cookware Collection
- To avoid food poisoning, after opening a canned food or sealed foods, consume immediately. Also, food like meat, milk, eggs, salad, seafood, cooked rice, cooked spaghetti, pizza, salads, and fruit salads are more prone to getting spoiled easily, ensure to store them properly in the freezer and consume them as soon as possible.
- Always ensure your fridge temperature is at or below 5 °C. Your freezer should be below  -15 °C. Get a thermometer to check your temperature to be sure your food is in safe condition.
- When storing meals, store them in food-grade, non-toxic airtight bowls. This is important to avoid contaminating your meals.
Some containers are not safe for food while some become dangerous for your food when used in extreme conditions like the oven or freezer.
Also, ensure they are airtight and not even a little air can slip into it. This is to ensure any food kept inside remains in good condition and does not suffer freezer burn.
Shop Airtight containers
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- While the freezer is the perfect place to keep meals for weeks and months, it is important to also know that when air gets into your frozen meal, it can suffer freezer burn. You will notice the change in color. However, it is still safe to eat. But if it tastes bad, you might have to throw it away. Invest in an airtight container.
- Food in the fridge should not stay more than 2 – 4 hours.
- Ensure your fridge is kept in neat conditions to prevent germs and bacteria from growing and contaminating your food.
- Separate cooked and raw foods from each other. This is why your fridge and freezer come with shelves and organizers.Â
Related post: 10 Tips for Maintaining Food Safety and Hygiene in the HomeÂ
Raw and cooked foods should be separated because germs and microbes grow on raw foods, these germs cannot be found in cooked foods because they were killed during the cooking process. Protect your meals from contamination by separating them.
If you follow these tips, you will preserve your health 10 times better than you used to. You can also help a friend or family by sharing this with them.
If you need a more fuller storage chart, check out this site. Do you own a hotel, restaurant, or food business? Then you should read How to store food properly in your hotel or restaurant.
What food storage tip did you hear for the first time in this article? Leave a comment and tell me. Also, if you are in need of any kitchen accessories for your home, check out the shop!
