HOW TO PRESERVE AND STORE FOOD
The persistent rise in the prices of food items is something everyone grapples with on a daily. Gone are the days one can plan on weekly food spend or put together a feasible grocery budget before heading to the market. You either get more money to complete your shopping or you head home with whatever you could get with the money you have; and times are getting steepier by the day.
Today is literarily one of the hardest times to have many mouths to feed and it is surely not a time to waste food.
In my new blog series, join me to look at some cost effective food preservation and storage methods for specific kinds of food. Such knowledge will surely come in handy. You’ll either get richer or healthier.
In the first post of the series, let us look at some items you need to have in order to begin an effective food preservation journey. Our goal is keep excess food fresh and uncontaminated with the same taste, flavour and quality. This will enable us buy food cheaper in large quantities while they’re in season since we now know how to store them better. We will also look at some general tips for food preservation and storage.
THINGS YOU NEED AT HOME TO STORE FOOD
- Open space for sun-drying
- Ziploc / Freezer Bags
- Covered bowls
- Fridge
- Freezer
- Polythene bags
- Old newspapers/ brown paper
- Cane / plastic Baskets
- Wooden slabs
GENERAL TIPS FOR FOOD STORAGE
Storing in Fridge
- Ensure your fridge is always turned on and is cold (between 0 – 5 degrees).
- Do not leave the fridge door open for long periods.
- Allow foods that are hot to cool before refrigerating.
- Ensure the fridge thermostat is set at an effective temperature.
Storing Meat
- Seal fresh meat or store in non-leaking containers at the lower section of the fridge, to avoid dripping on to other stored foods (this is to avoid cross contamination).
- When meat is cooked, transfer into the fridge / freezer as soon as it cools.
- Raw meat and cooked meat should be stored in separate containers.
Storing n Freezer
- Allow hot foods to cool before transferring to the fridge/freezer.
- Try to label freezer meals/leftovers with details such as date stored.
- To make sure the taste and texture of food is retained long enough in the freezer, try to keep freezer frozen all the time and minimize opening the lid in times of power failure.
- Transfer leftover foods into freezer within 2 hours of cooking.
- Always cover foods in the freezer to avoid freezer burn or loss of flavour.
- Store food either fresh or well cooked.
Storing grain in containers/bags
- Ensure the containers/bags are covered to avoid rodents and insects.
- Don’t store around chemicals.
- Try not to store directly on the floor, place food on wooden slabs.
- Try not to use containers that have been used for other purposes to store food or you may well wash properly.
- Storage area should be dry, well ventilated and cool.
Storing canned foods
- If you are unable to exhaust canned food at once, transfer what is left into a plastic container, cover and keep in the fridge.
- Some cans are designed with resealable lids, those can be used to store the foods even after the can has been opened otherwise never leave food in an already opened can as the food can react with the can once exposed to air.
Kitchen foil
- Aluminium foil affects the taste of acidic foods and so should not be used to store such foods like tomatoes and cabbage.
