I've recently learned not to refrigerate tomatoes and they have been holding up pretty well just stored on my countertop. It's frustrating to buy expensive produce and have it go bad quickly. Do you have any tips on keeping fruit and vegetables fresh over time? How do you store your produce?
If I buy lots of vegetables and it's warm outside I usually store them in the basement. The basement is colder and it takes longer for the vegetables to loose their freshness. Another thing I do, but this means I'm not consuming them fresh anymore, is to cut them in pieces and place them in bags along with other vegetables for later use. This way I always have a somewhat fresh vegetable mix for my dishes.
Good idea. I don't have a basement but my pantry is dark and relatively cool. Your post reminds me that I got really tired of my green onions going bad inside the fridge. So, I now slice the bunches finely and freeze them in a zip lock bag to toss into salads and soups as needed.
Actually I heard placing an apple among your potatoes in your pantry will help keep them from sprouting. It's also supposed to help keep your onions from going bad as quickly too. On the other hand, placing avocados in a paper bag along with a banana will help them ripen faster. I've also heard about not placing your tomatoes in the fridge, but honestly, I still do. I don't like eating room temperature tomatoes in my salads or on sandwiches - they have to be really cold, along with the other fresh ingredients. However, I just leave my tomatoes sitting out in the fridge, not wrapped or in any bag or container, so they don't get all mushy on me right away. I make stocks regularly with my pressure cooker, so at the first signs of my veggies going bad, I hurry up and freeze them to use in the stocks so they don't go to waste. If you are putting them into soups, sauces and stews, it doesn't really matter that they were frozen.
Thanks for the tips! I love your idea about making vegetable stocks. I just made my first batch of crock-pot bone broth - completely with bones leftover from roasted chicken. It's delicious and I don't think I will ever buy broth again. It was virtually free! There is a lot one can do with scraps we often just toss out.
The best tip I can give you is to keep your potatoes and onions separate and away from the rest of your vegetables. I also found that not washing your vegetables until you are ready to use them helps them stay fresher a little bit longer. Also, avoid pre-cutting vegetables until you are ready to use them to help preserve freshness. Here is a list that tells you what produce should be kept in the fridge and what should be kept on the counter. Log In
They really do stay fresher longer outside the fridge. Like you, my husband enjoys them cold, so I put them in the fridge the day I plan to use them or even a couple hours before the meal. They still last a long time, but they are nicely chilled before eating. It's the best of both worlds, for me. I've found that a colander or wide weave basket is a good option for storing different fruits and vegetables instead of a bowl. The air can flow all around, so you won't get the "bruised" or darkened spots as quickly as you do when they are just sitting in a solid bowl. I also like to keep them as far from the stove and other heat sources as possible.
In addition to the tips already mentioned of storing fruits and vegetables in their right environments - in the fridge, at room temperature or in a dark, dry cool place - another one that immediately springs to mind and probably the most important tip of all - is that - in order to avoid fruits and vegetables spoiling or going rotten quicker than they should do - there are some that need to be stored separately from each other. The reason being that - as there are some fruits and vegetables that give off more of the naturally occurring gas called ethylene - a ripening agent - and there are some that are sensitive to it - storing ethylene-producing foods next to ethylene-sensitive foods causes them to rot quicker. In fact as this is the reason why doing thiswould do the opposite - as the ethylene gas released by the apple (ethylene-producer) would make the potato/onion (both -ethylene-sensitive) sprout quicker - rather than hinder it - and the importance of storing these two food types is something that not everyone may be aware of. As doing this will not only make fresh produce last longer but more importantly very definitely save money - further information - including a list of both ethylene-producing and ethylene-sensitive foods can be found here Log In
Well, here is a graphical guide for fresh produce storage:Graphical guide courtesy of the Family Nutrition Program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
