For the health of themselves and their families, many small partners began to choose to reduce takeaway and cook at home. To minimize your risk of infection, you mustReduce the number of outings / callsThis way, every time I shopThere must be a lot of stock.

In my own experience, "I finally managed to grab the delivery time from instacart and bought vegetables and meat for a week, but because I didn’t store it properly, I wanted to eat a green vegetable on the weekend and I took it out of the refrigerator and found that the leaves were all yellow. After that, I made up my mind to study it and learn some skills in response to the demand for a lot of food.Extend the fresh "life" of ingredients.

 The confusing "shelf life" of American food 

First of all, the "shelf life" of food on the US market is not the same as what we understand at home. According to Science Daily's explanation, let's distinguish it first.What do the various logos mean :

Use by deadline

This label is for consumers, meaning that the food should be consumed before this date; the measure is food quality. After the use by date, theThe quality of food will decline faster, The safety of eating is greatly reduced.

Sell ​​by sales deadline

This label is for merchants, meaning the food shouldSold or removed from the shelf by this date;Does not representThis item is not safe to eat after that date.

Best byperiod

This label is recommended to consumers, the best flavor to eat before that date.

It turns out that exceeding these "shelf-life" does not mean that the food must not be eaten.

The USDA also said that food isBeyond these deadlines, it may still be safe to eat, But wantPay attention to the smell, texture and texture; if the food is spoiledIt can no longer be consumed.

(Picture from cycling.com)

Judging the "safety period" of common foods 

So how to judge some common foods"Food Safety Period"What?

Chicken and other poultry:According to USDA, chicken is stored in the refrigerator after purchase. It can usually be stored without opening.multiple days. Fresh and edible chicken meat should be firm and shiny, without a strong chickeny smell, and without seeping too much blood.

 

Pork, beef and other red meat:OnSales deadlinePut in before buying backRefrigerated for 3-5 days; Put in the freezer,Not thawedCase, you can save6-12 months. Fresh frozen meat is gray-red, red after thawing, no odor, and the meat is elastic and shiny.(Deteriorated meat tincture).

(Image from Furious Grill)

Fresh salmon : Store in the refrigerator after purchase to savemultiple days;put into aFrozen for 2-3 months.

 

Bacon:Unopened in the refrigeratorKeep refrigerated for 2 weeks.

 

nut:Nuts can be inStore in a cool, dry place for 10-12 months.

 

milk:With refrigeration, milk is in itsDrinkable for approximately one week after the sales deadline. In addition, the shelf life of milk can be extended to 3 months by freezing.

Under normal conditions, milk is basically odorless or slightly milky, clear and non-caking; if there is a sour taste and layering, there is a possibility of spoilage (picture shows spoiled milk) 👇.

(Picture from BBC)

Yogurt:Unopened, inWithin 10 days after the sales deadlineBoth are edible. It can be stored frozen for 1-2 months.

 

egg:Put the eggs after you buy themRefrigerated, can be stored for 3-5 weeks.

(Image from Wonder How to Food Hacks)

Jenn Fillenworth, a registered dietitian in the United States, said, "The USDA stated thatCanned foods, shelf-stable foods, and frozen foods are generally safe to consume after their expiration date, But may have an impact on the taste, such as oatmeal and cereals will appear oily. She added, "At the same time, after the suggested date,Its nutrients may be lost. "

 How to extend the "edible period" of food  

Extending the "edible period" of food is also an effective way to strengthen the use of materials in special periods.

 First of all, these basic storage methods can refer to:

1. Frozen food: "Frozen food is one of the best ways to extend the life of food. Not only our well-known meat and cooked food can be frozen. Milk, bread, cheese and raw eggs can be frozen. (Before freezing, eggs should be cracked slightly)

 

2. Organize your refrigerator regularly: Sometimes the refrigerator is too full, and some horny things will be forgotten. If the food hidden in the corner is moldy or spoiled, it can easily contaminate other food in the refrigerator.

3.Do not wash fruits and vegetables before putting them in the refrigerator

After washing, it will accelerate the decay rate of fresh fruits and vegetables. Most fruits and vegetables should be bought home and put directly into the refrigerator. Wash them before eating ~

4.Avoid storing some different kinds of fruits and vegetables together

Apples, bananas, avocados, etc. emit vinyl, etc. on their ownNatural ripening gasFood should be stored separately;

And relatively stable vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and broccoli will not have much impact on storage.

The most worrying thing is green peppers, sweet peppers, etc. It doesn't matter who you put them in in the refrigerator. [It feels that green peppers and a variety of ingredients are also suitable for a wok, really a good player! 】

Image from www.commonhealth.com

5.Don't throw the ripe fruit: Ripe bananas, apples, and citrus are all good raw materials. Ripe fruits are very sweet. Although the taste may not be the best, it isMake a milkshakeJiapin! You can search for the Amazing Waste Cookbook online to discover more ideas.

Xiao Bian also helped you check some specific

 How we eat fruits and vegetables

1.Leafy vegetables

After buying it home, wash the dirt attached to the dish and directly remove the yellowed or slightly broken parts.Wipe off surface moisture, Put in a fresh-keeping bag, whileTuck in a few napkins / kitchen paper. Exhaust the air from the bag as much as possible, seal it, and store it in the refrigerator.

The picture shows the red bean paste students who can't live without vegetables for a day.

2.celery

According to the recommendations of The Kitchen, if you want to maximize the preservation time of celery, you can put itWrapped in tin foilAfter that, put it in the fresh-keeping box of the refrigerator. andTry not to cut off before eatingDo not wash.

3.tomato

It is said that tomatoes for all-purpose ingredients that Chinese loveDecide how to store based on its maturity. Green tomatoes that are not completely ripe can be put in paper bags with their stems facing down; while ripe red (hard) tomatoes should be stored at room temperature, separated from each other and out of direct sunlight.

For overripe (softer) tomatoes, in order to prevent their further ripening and causing spoilage, you can put them in the refrigerator, but putting them in the refrigerator may lose some of the taste and nutritional value of the tomatoes. (I always buy refrigerators when I go home, do I always make a mistake ...)

Image from almanac.com

4.Blueberries, raspberries and other berries

Similarly, leave it in a well-ventilated place after buying it home. Do not wash it in advance or put it in the refrigerator. Wash it before eating. However, actuallyBerries are not suitable for long storage, Not recommended to store ~

5.milk

A tip for milk storage. Although the structure of the refrigerator door seems to be tailor-made for the milk carton, in fact, because the refrigerator door is often opened, the temperature is unstable, which may accelerate the deterioration of milk. So if you want to store milk longer, you should put itPlaced in a lower temperature place in the middle and lower layers of the refrigerator.

Image via New York Times

5.Ginger

Ginger, which is indispensable for Chinese food, is too easy to dry directly at room temperature. The correct way to store it is to putFresh-keeping bag, Try to exhaust the air in the bag, and then put it in the refrigerator.

6.bread

Bread is not suitable for refrigerated storage, the best way to store it isRoom temperature protected from light. If you buy more than a week at a time, you can actually considerwillPut the bread into the freeze. But if you choose to store frozen, remember to put the breadSliced ​​into portionsAvoid thawing the whole bread multiple times + repeated freezing.

7.egg

After doing research, I found that storing eggs is also a misunderstanding of myself for many years ... Every time I buy eggs, I will put a whole box directly into the refrigerator, because eggs are sold in the freezer in the supermarket. But according to Eggs.ca Argument, eggsNo need to put in the refrigerator. (Recall carefully, it seems that when I was a kid, my grandma never put the eggs in the refrigerator, and placed them directly in the kitchen)

Ball chefs who have rich life experience tell me, which storage method do you think is better?

Pictures from Foodiesfeed

8.mushroom

There are also some tips for keeping mushrooms fresh. The cartons used to sell mushrooms on supermarket shelves are not their best destinations. After buying it from the supermarket, you should firstClean the dirt on the mushroom roots, And then dry the remaining water on the surface or wipe dry, useWrap the mushrooms in a paper towel and put them in a paper bag, And then put it in the refrigerator for longer lasting freshness. If you buy more at one time, you can pack them in different paper bags and eat one bag at a time.

9.Raw meat

Put it into a fresh-keeping bag, and try to empty the air in the bag as much as possible, and then pack and freeze it. Tips for exhausting air, using a basin of water, immersing the lower part of the bag in water to squeeze out the air in the bag, and then sealing and sealing can effectively prevent the meat from being frozen.

Image from Serious Eats

 

Risk of eating "expired food"  

However, even if you use these methods to keep the ingredients longer, once you find the foodwill get May deteriorate, justNever eat.Eating expired foods can lead to food poisoning and exposure to large numbers of bacteria.

Large numbers of bacteria such as E. coli and Bacteroides may be present in expired food. Bacterial toxins found in some expired foods may even be harmful to the human bodyHarmful for life, causing irreversible damage such as kidney damage.

 (Picture from Hi Care)

special period,Hospital tooHigh-risk areasBeing healthy and alive, we try to avoid going to the hospital.

I hope that everyone in the house can eat and drink well, have sufficient supplies and are healthy, and work hard to spend this time together. If you have your ownExclusive storage food tips, remember to share comments ~~

Information reference

https://scottscompostpile.com/2019/02/11/my-year-of-eating-expired-food/

https://www.insider.com/what-happens-if-you-eat-food-that-went-bad-2019-2

https://www.insider.com/foods-most-likely-make-you-sick-food-poisoning-2017-8#shellfish-bottom-feeders-concentrate-bacteria-5

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/574663/americans-dont-understand-food-labels-expiration-dates

https://www.insider.com/how-to-store-food-so-it-lasts-longer-2018-9#treat-herbs-like-flowers-by-keeping-them-hydrated-1

Text | Ai Kesi A Chuchu

Picture | Network picture, copyright belongs to the original photographer

Edit | Ouchs

* This article is an original article on food, which only represents the position of food,

No commercial interests are involved. For transmission and reference purposes only.

Does not constitute a recommendation for any behavior.

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