Spoiled Food in the Trash? What a Waste!

To continue this week's food preservation theme, here are 10 more awesome tips (well 9, if you don't count the banana tip, which we already mentioned in a previous post :) ).  Found on www.lifehacker.com, written by Thorin Klosowski. "Nobody likes to waste food. Thankfully, you can make your food last longer just by storing properly. Here are 10 tips, in 60-second video form, keep your food fresh. Keep bananas fresh longer by wrapping the stems in plastic wrap: The reason is pretty straightforward: bananas release ethylene gas, which controls enzymatic browning and ripening on itself, and any fruits nearby. Much of that gas comes off the stem of the banana. When you wrap it, you slow down the ripening process for a bit. Freeze herbs in oil to preserve them: Freezing is always a great way to preserve food, but we rarely think about doing it with herbs. If you freeze herbs in oil you get a little oil to cook with and the herbs for spicing up a meal. Trim ice cream tubs as you eat to prevent freezer burn: Freezer burn exists because the air in a container provides a place for that ice to latch onto. Get rid of that space by cutting away the container and suddenly you don't have freezer burn anymore. Store potatoes with an apple to keep it from sprouting: Just like bananas, apples release ethylene gas. That causes some fruits to ripen quicker, but it also means that potatoes won't sprout as quickly. Store tomatoes stem down: When you store a tomato with the stem down (at room temperature), it prevents too much air and moisture from entering its scar. This prolongs its shelf life a bit. Store lemons in the fridge to keep them juicy: You have all kinds of ways to store lemons, but after testing a bunch of ways, America's Test Kitchen settled on storing lemons in your refrigerator if you want to keep it juicy. You can even add a little more longevity by storing it in a plastic bag. Store bread at room temperature: It seems like everyone has a thought on whether bread should or shouldn't be refrigerated, but science suggests that the best way to store bread is at room temperature. The reason is that cooler temperature of a refrigerator makes the dehydration process happen more quickly. Keep berries fresh by storing them in a single layer to keep them fresh: It seems like berries always go bad pretty quickly, but one way to keep them alive longer is to store them in a single layer. This prevents the juices from leaking out of the berries and onto others below. Store dairy in the top shelf: This one's pretty straight-forward: in most fridges, the top shelf is the most constant temperature because that's where the thermometer is. So, you want to store your dairy there because it's the most likely to spoil if it's not kept at the right temperature. Keep guacamole from browning with a bit of water: If you leave guacamole in the fridge overnight it tends to brown over on the top. So, to keep that from happening, drip a thin layer of water over it. The water is a barrier against oxygen and keeps it from turning a gross browning color."   [caption id="attachment_1008" align="alignnone" width="300"] Image taken from www.abcnews.com[/caption]  
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