Groceries take a large part of our monthly budget. This is why, considering the amounts of money we spend on fresh foods, it’s natural for us to want these products to last for as long as possible. Unfortunately, fresh produce tends to go bad really quickly, especially if you don’t know these helpful tips for storing groceries. Check out our guide and never deal with spoiled products again!
1. Keep your bananas together
Bananas are such a nutritional and versatile product that it can be found in most of the world’s kitchens. You probably know that bananas go brown in a few days, and while they still can be eaten, they may taste strange. Solve this problem by simply not separating the bananas after the purchase and keep them together in their original bunch. Also it’s best to not put bananas together with other fruits – they will influence each other in a way that will make them go bad quicker.
2. Separate your apples
Like bananas, apples make other fruits go ripe quicker, so if you have a fruit bowl in your kitchen with various fruits and berries, keep apples away from that bowl. Apples produce ethylene, a gas that affects virtually any product that comes near apples. So, if you don’t want your bananas, mangoes, and other delicious fruits to go bad, keep apples in a separate plastic bag and in the fridge.
3. Put an apple with your potatoes
The only product that can and should be stored together with apples is potatoes. You probably know that potatoes sometimes sprout when they are stored at home for a few weeks, and not only do sprouted potatoes taste differently, but they also look unappetizing. Thanks to the ethylene gas apples prevent potatoes from sprouting, keeping them fresh and firm for as long as it takes for you to put them to use.
4. Tomatoes don’t go into the fridge
While most vegetables and fruits benefit from being stored in a fridge, tomatoes are the one product that should be away from cold. The only way to get the most flavour and the best texture from your tomatoes is to store them on a counter, where the sun can easily reach them. Other vegetables that should not be refrigerated are potatoes and onions, but they should be kept away from the sun.
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5. Store fresh herbs in the water
Fresh herbs are a great addition to virtually any meal, from salads to soups, and they taste much better than dried ones. However, fresh herbs put into a plastic bag tend to go mushy pretty quickly. What you should do is store your herbs like tiny bouquets: put them into a small glass of water and put it on the table so that everyone could garnish their plates themselves.
6. The right way to ripen avocados
Wanting to eat an avocado and realizing it’s completely rock-hard and unripe is a very disappointing moment. When you buy unripe avocados, the best way to make them edible is keeping them at room temperature, but away from direct sun. As soon as your avocado softens, put it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it. If you’ve cut your avocado, but only need one half of it at the moment, keep the stone in the other half and squeeze some lemon juice on the remaining half to keep it fresh.
7. Put your onions in tights
This tip may be surprising, but if you buy onions in large quantities and want to keep them fresh, get an old but clean pair of tights, put onions into them, tie knots between each onion, and hang the tights in a dark, dry and cool place. This way your onions will stay fresh for months, so you can buy them in bulk just twice or three times a year.
8. Rinse berries
Berries are usually the food that goes moldy or wilted in the shortest time, but there is one way to make your berries last. When you buy berries and wash them for the first time, rinse them in a bit of vinegar before putting them in the fridge. This trick will help you store berries in the fridge successfully for a week or even more.
