How do I keep my food fresher for longer?
Helen, Burford, Oxfordshire
“You’ve got to start at the very beginning, as they say in The Sound of Music,” says Debora Robertson, author of Notes from a Small Kitchen Island. And that means your shopping list, Helen. “A lot of our problem is buying too much in one go – you set yourself up to fail.” Of course, shopping little and often isn’t always practical, but, as Robertson advises, “if we could curb our instinct to overbuy, that would give us a fighting chance.” A meal plan might help as well, but you don’t need to be too rigid: “Just jot down a few ideas of what you might cook throughout the week, and be realistic about how much you’re going to need.”
Another thing to bear in mind is your fridge and its environment. “I have an independent thermometer, because often fridges aren’t as cold as you think,” says Robertson, who keeps hers at between 3C and 5C. Then, when unpacking your big shop (ie, when the fridge door is open a fair bit), take advantage of the “supercool” setting (if you have one). “You don’t want to use it too much, though, because it’s quite expensive to run.” And don’t pack the fridge to the rafters, either, Robertson adds: “You want air to be able to circulate, so it works at its optimum efficiency.”
Generally speaking, food (fruit and vegetables, for example) should come out of its packaging, so “it can breathe”, says the Guardian’s perfectionist Felicity Cloake. “Then, it sounds obvious, but put things that go stale in sealed containers and things that rot in containers with good airflow.” Cloake’s potatoes and root veg go into dark, breathable bags (don’t leave them in the plastic they came in, and keep them away from the fridge), while Robertson puts hers (and sometimes lettuce) in Lakeland’s StayFresh Longer bags. “They’ve got Japanese stone powder in them, which is supposed to keep things fresher. I was sceptical, but they really work.”
Cloake covers lemon and onion halves with stretchy, silicone pods (“they’re a great invention”) and makes use of “those little caps you get for tin cans when you’ve used only half”. If, however, there’s a half-empty jar of, say, harissa or pesto knocking around, “top it up with olive or vegetable oil, depending on what it is, to make sure everything is submerged, so it doesn’t go mouldy”. Robertson, meanwhile, is a big fan of glass containers (particularly the stackable square ones), and not simply to keep food fresh. “It’s very important to be able to see what you’ve got, because then you’re more likely to use it.” Do scribble down what’s in them, mind (“you think you’ll remember, and you won’t”) and the date (“that’s really important, too”).
Glass jars also have their uses: “A few years ago, I had a weevil infestation,” recalls Robertson, who had to bin the entire contents of her cupboards. “I now put pulses, lentils, flour and cornmeal in jars.” If you do get an evil weevil, that way you’ll see it and “it’s contained in that one jar”. Well, hopefully.
Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com
