Wash Your Greens
Leafy inexperienced greens resembling spinach and bibb, romaine, crimson leaf, and different kinds of lettuce will keep brisker longer in the event you rinse them in cool water earlier than refrigerating. Toss out any wilted or discolored leaves. Dry the greens in a salad spinner or shake off the water and wrap them loosely in paper towels. Seal them in a plastic bag or container.
Depart the Wax On
Many fruit and veggies, particularly these grown in heat climates, have a pure waxy outer layer to stop shrinking. Some crops get a coating of synthetic wax. Wash it off solely simply earlier than you are able to eat. That helps stop bruising and untimely rotting. Coated produce consists of apples, lemons, nectarines, oranges, cucumbers, bell peppers, potatoes, and eggplants.
Trim Carrots
These inexperienced tops could also be fairly. However they wick vitamins and freshness from the remainder of the carrot. Slice off the inexperienced tops earlier than storing. Refrigerate trimmed carrots loosely in a plastic bag within the crisper drawer. They need to hold for a number of weeks. Professional tip: Save the greens to make pesto, chimichurri, or salad topping.
Hold Bananas Cool
Your sunny kitchen could also be one of many worst locations to maintain these tropical fruits. Humid, heat air will pace up the browning. Hold them away from different produce. As soon as they’ve ripened to your liking, refrigerate bananas to increase their shelf life by a few days. The pores and skin could flip mottled, however the inside ought to keep tasty.
Freeze Ginger
Love the pungent taste of recent ginger however by no means use it shortly sufficient earlier than it turns gnarly or moldy? Ginger, additionally referred to as ginger root, can final in your fridge for a couple of weeks. To maintain it longer, toss it in your freezer. Chop, grate, or slice the ginger (no must peel it). Wrap tightly with foil or a freezer bag to maintain out air. It’s going to hold recent for at the least 3 months.
Let Onions Breathe
Good air circulation is essential to retaining decay at bay. Retailer onions with out plastic wrap in a cool, dry spot. In the event that they’re bought in a mesh bag, you’ll be able to cling in on a hook in your pantry. Or make your personal ventilated storage with an outdated, clear pair of pantyhose. Drop an onion in a single leg and push it all the way down to the toe. Then tie a knot above it, and drop one other onion. Reduce onions will hold for a number of days within the fridge.
Chill Berries
Strawberries are among the many sweetest harvests of summer time. However these tender fruits truly are chilly hardy. In actual fact, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries must be refrigerated under 40 F, and even as chilly as 32 F. That lengthens their shelf life. Moisture will flip them mushy or moldy faster, so wash berries solely on the final minute.
Wrap Celery in Foil
Like most greens, celery is sort of all water. It is also delicate to ethylene, the ripening gasoline. Assist hold your celery from going limp by tightly overlaying it in foil and storing it within the crisper drawer. Or you’ll be able to wrap it in a dry paper towel and put it right into a plastic sleeve. The celery ought to final a number of weeks.
Bag Your Lemons
A vivid yellow pile of citrus can brighten up any kitchen counter. That is additionally an excellent place to dry out your lemons and limes into laborious orbs. However you’ll be able to hold them juicy for as much as a month. Seal the lemons tightly in a plastic storage bag with all of the air out and put them within the fridge.
Hold Your Herbs Vertical
Deal with cilantro, parsley, and mint like reduce flowers. Place them in jars with water after which refrigerate. Bouquets of different soft-stemmed herbs like basil could desire the hotter temperature in your counter. Or do this: Place recent dry herbs in a plastic produce bag and blow into it like a balloon. The carbon monoxide out of your breath is a identified meals preservative and may help hold the greens perky.
Vent Your Mushrooms
They are not a fruit or vegetable, however fungi. Mushrooms wish to be saved cool and well-ventilated. A porous paper bag is an effective selection. Free the mushrooms from their plastic-wrapped grocery container, which might lure moisture. They might hold within the fridge for as much as per week. Run them beneath cool water simply earlier than you prepare dinner with them.
Deep-Clear Your Fridge
A number of issues have an effect on how shortly your meals spoils. They embrace mild, air, temperature, and time. One you’ll be able to management is microorganisms like micro organism, mould, and yeast. So wipe down the insides of your fridge repeatedly. White vinegar or soapy water work. Keep away from packing an excessive amount of meals on the cabinets and drawers in order that air can flow into.
