A consumer expert has explained how to keep your bread fresher for longer - with a common household vegetable.
There's nothing better than buttering a fresh slice of toasted bread in the morning, or feasting on a fluffy sandwich at lunch time. But bread can go stale quite quickly, often forcing us to chuck the remaining mouldy loaf.
To combat this, most people freeze their bread, but you can never quite get the same freshness upon thawing. Luckily, one expert has shared his top tip for keeping bread fresher for longer, which could save you just over £31 a year on loaves, the Mirror reports.
Tom Church, co-founder of money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk, has shared his hack for storing bread with a stick of celery - which can cost as little as 47p a bunch from Tesco or 49p from Sainsbury's.
A bunch of celery typically contains eight or nine stalks, so you're looking at around 6p a stalk per loaf. Tom suggested: "If you’ve ever opened your loaf of bread to make a sandwich, only to discover that it’s gone mouldy, consider placing a stick of celery into the bread bag.
"It may sound odd, but the bread will absorb the moisture provided by the celery and, in turn, remain fresh. Your loaf won’t become dry and mouldy at the same rate, so your chances of getting a sandwich together will increase."
He adds: "If you buy bread such as the £1.20 Hovis Soft White Medium weekly and only buy half as much due to this hack, you’d be saving just over £31 a year."
The method also gives you a healthy snack option by using the other sticks of celery from the bunch. Meanwhile, Tom also says he uses a vinegar hack for strawberries that can see them last for up to two weeks.
He washes the summer fruit with one cup of white vinegar to three or four cups of water.
Tom explained: "Dry them thoroughly and place them in a container with paper towels. Not only will this remove any pesticide residue, but you’ll also be able to eat these strawberries for up to two weeks.
"If you were buying a £3 punnet of strawberries a week and halving your spending with this hack, you’d save £78 a year!"
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