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Food Storage Tips
Monday, October 02, 2006

By Misti Sandefur

A lot of us are guilty of improper food storage, and most of the time we don't even realize the way we store our food is wrong. As a teenager, I began working as a cook in restaurants, and I continued it through part of my adult years, while working in restaurants I learned a lot about food storage, and I discovered I was not always storing the food in my home the way it should have been stored. In addition, I also learned a few secrets to storing food, and today I will share some food storage tips with you. Keep in mind, it is a fact that if you don't store your food appropriately you could get sick from a food borne illness.

Yes, many of us our guilty of it... laying our frozen foods out on the counter to thaw, but the safe way to thaw frozen food is to place the food item in the refrigerator the night before, or use the "defrost" button on your microwave.

Have you ever kept fish you caught in the freezer for a year? Then you probably know when you go to cook the fish it doesn't taste right, because its freezer burnt. You can prevent this. The next time you store fish in your freezer, place about 1/2 cup water in the Ziploc bag and then seal it. Furthermore, when you go to thaw the fish out to fry, thaw it in cold milk instead of cold water.

If you plan to store large amounts of meat in your freezer, the new FoodSaver vacuum sealer system is the way to go. This seals your meat tightly to keep it from getting freezer burn. The rolls of bags you buy are costly, but well worth the investment, and they usually last a while.

When freezing meat or any other food, be sure to write the date you stored the food on the outside of the package with a black marker.

Never place foods still left in the cans in the refrigerator. Instead, remove the food from the can and place it in a storage container.

Store dry foods like cereal, crackers, flour, sugar and etc. in a clean, dry area, and make sure it is at least six inches off the floor.

Leftovers stored in the refrigerator should be thrown out after three days.

To retain their moisture and nutrients, keep vegetables in a plastic bag. Also, keep your vegetables stored in the crisper drawer in your refrigerator.

After opening cheese, store what's left in a ziplock bag and place it back into the refrigerator. Plus, if the cheese does happen to mold, it is still safe to eat if you tear off the moldy part and throw it away.

The recommended temperature for storing your canned goods is 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you're on a camping trip for a week, bring along enough coolers to keep your cold foods in. Before going, buy and put two bags of ice in each cooler, and during your stay continue to buy two bags of ice for each cooler every day. Change the water in the coolers and place the fresh ice. Most camping areas have a concession stand that sells ice, or if there's a town nearby you can go to get the ice there. One other thing, try to keep the coolers closed as much as possible, and put drinks in a cooler all by themselves (you tend to get drinks more than food).

Did you know you can brown your hamburger meat ahead of time, drain the grease off it, place it into a freezer bag and freeze it for use later? Well, now you know. This makes your prep time quicker and it is safe.

Put your bread into a sealed container and place it in the refrigerator. This will keep your bread fresh longer.

I've heard many professionals tell you not to put potatoes in the refrigerator, but this is one rule I break every week when I buy potatoes. I find my potatoes sometimes rot when I leave them set out at room temperature (especially in the summer), but when I store them in the crisper drawer in my refrigerator they don't rot. I've done this for many years, and my family has never gotten sick or anything, and my potatoes last a whole lot longer.

There you have, a few food storage tips. Eat healthy and store safe!

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