Wrap cheeses in parchment if you don't want them to go mouldy, cover live shellfish in a damp kitchen roll before putting them in the fridge, and always store asparagus standing upright with the bottoms in water. Storing your foods properly will help cut down wastage and also help you save the pennies. But it’s not just about keeping food for longer; storing perishables properly ensures you don’t get sick.
Fruits can be stored on counter tops but it is best to keep them in the fridge if you want them to last longer.
Apples can be kept unwrapped in the fridge drawer for three weeks
citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and limes are best stored unwrapped on the fridge shelf where they will keep for two weeks. Halved citrus fruits will have to be wrapped in cling film to make them last for up to five days.
Avocado: Take your avocado out of its packaging and leave it on the counter top to ripen. Once it is ripe, it can go into the fridge shelf where it will keep for four days. However, if your avocado is halved, you need to wrap it in clingfilm and store it on the fridge self. Squeezing some lemon juice on it will stop the fruit from going brown.
Bananas: You should use your own discretion when it comes to how long you should keep your bananas as the blacker the banana, the better it is for you. Just make sure that it’s not mouldy and you should be fine. They are also best stored on countertops when they are uncut but if you have half a banana going that you don’t want to waste, wrap it in tin foil and put it on the fridge shelf where it will keep for up to two days.
Berries: Decant your berries so they are uncovered or put them in a vented container and place them inside the fridge drawer where they will keep for three to five days.
Grapes: Enjoy grapes for up to two weeks from purchase by keeping them in the fridge, in a perforated plastic bag.
Melons: A full unripe melon should be left to ripen on the kitchen countertop and can keep in that state for up to five days. Halved melons on the other hand should never be left outside. Wrap clingfilm around it and pop it on the fridge shelf where it will keep from seven to ten days.
Soft stone fruits such as peaches and plums: can stay on the countertop to ripen but should be transferred to the fridge once ripe. Unwrapped, these fruits can keep for up to five days.
Pears: Pears are best kept on your countertop, unwrapped and will be good to eat for four days, after which they can become too mushy.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes don’t have to be stored in the fridge. It will be quite alright to leave them on the kitchen counter but just remember to take off all the packaging. You can also put them in a vented container where they will keep for five days.
Asparagus: When it comes to vegetables asparagus should have their stems placed in water with their tops lightly covered in plastic (a Ziploc back rather than clingfilm) and stood upright on the fridge shelf where they can keep for four days.
Beets and bell peppers and cabbage: (capsicum) can both be stored in plastic bags on the fridge shelf. The former will stay fresh for two weeks whilst the latter will last for seven days. Wrap in clingfilm and keep it in the fridge drawer to make it last for five days. Do the same with cabbage and you’ll be able to stretch a head for two weeks.
Carrots: Carrots can be stored in a plastic bag where they will keep for three weeks in the fridge drawer. Do the same with cauliflower to make it last five days.
Celery: Celery on the other hand should never be stored in plastic. Instead wrap it in foil and pop it in the drawer rather than the shelf where it will keep for two weeks. Keep the clingfilm on your cucumbers and pop them in the drawer for one week’s worth of eating.
Dark, leafy greens: can be stored in a plastic bag but remember to pop in a dry sheet of kitchen roll to absorb all the moisture and they will stay fresh for a week.
Garlic, Onions, Potatoes, Marrows and Squash: A dark larder is the best place to store your garlic, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes and winter vegetables such as marrows and squash. In the dark cool environment, unwrapped heads of garlic and onions will keep for up to two months as will potatoes.
Sweet potatoes: Sweet potatoes however will only last for two weeks in the same environment while the squashes and marrows will last a bit longer at a month. A halved marrow or squash however should be wrapped in foil and stored in the fridge drawer where it will keep for two to three weeks.
Meat, poultry, fish and eggs: When it comes to meat, poultry, fish and eggs, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Bacon: Unopened packs of bacon should be sealed in a bag with no air and stores in your fridge’s meat drawer and it will keep for two weeks. Open packs can be stored in the same way for one week. But if you want your bacon to last for more than two weeks then you can always freeze it, for up to a month.
Opened cold cuts: Opened cold cuts from the deli will keep for one week if you store it in a sealed bag and on the fridge shelf and will stay fresh for two weeks if its unopened.
Pre-packaged cuts: Pre-packaged cuts should be left in their packaging and kept on the shelf where they will stay fresh for two weeks if unopened or five days if opened.
Shellfish: Live shellfish should be kept in a shallow tray in a single layer on the fridge shelf and covered with a damp sheets of kitchen roll – but do not store them like this for any longer than a day.
Raw fish, raw meat and raw poultry: The same goes for raw fish and shellfish such as scallops and shrimp. Keep them in their packaging, and store them in the meat drawer but covering them in kitchen roll is not required. To store them in the freezer, remove all packaging and place in a Ziploc bag where they will stay for three to six months. The same goes for raw meat and raw poultry.
Eggs: Eggs can be kept on the fridge shelf for up to two weeks or until the expiration date but don’t take them out of the carton.
Smoked fish: Smoked fish such as salmon can stay on the fridge shelf for two weeks if unopened or five days opened. In a freezer it will keep for six months but remember, for both instances, to place the fish in a sealed bag with no air.
Original article from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-3060400/How-store-food-properly-doesn-t-off.html
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