Storing your food

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- Fridges and freezers
- Fridges and freezers
  
  Most fresh foods stay fresher for longer if chilled. If you're not going to get round to eating it soon, freezing your food will make it last.
- Keep your fridge temperature below 5ºC for food safety and freshness. Find its optimum temperature on the user manual
- Don't overfill your freezer – to maintain the correct temperature, air needs to be able to circulate
- Use an airtight container to keep fresh food that's been opened fresher for longer
- Organise your fridge and freezer shelves so you use up older items first
- Foods you might not think freeze well but do: cheese, double cream, mashed potato, nuts, rice
- Storing dairy products and eggs
- Storing dairy products and eggs
  
  Read the label to see where your food is best stored. Most fresh food can be kept in the fridge or a cool, dark place to stop it going off so quickly.
- You can freeze milk in the carton and defrost it as it’s needed. Milk expands when frozen, so there should be an air gap at the top of the carton. Whole milk will separate when defrosted – just give it a shake before using
- You should always keep dairy products in the fridge
- Once open, cheese should be carefully wrapped in its original packaging, foil or cling film, or kept in an airtight container, so it doesn't dry out
- If your recipe uses egg yolks only, you can freeze the whites to use later
- You can freeze leftover double cream – whip it up, freeze it in ice cube trays then store in freezer bags for smaller portions. Use an airtight container to freeze larger portions of cream
- Hard cheeses like Parmesan can be frozen whole. Grate cheddar cheese before freezing. You can freeze Stilton whole or crumbled
- Eggs should be kept in a cool dark place, preferably in the fridge, and stored separately from other foods. Keep them in the egg box or in the egg tray.
- Storing fruit
- Most fruits are perishable and require refrigeration. You can leave some fruits out to ripen, but when they’re ripe, they’ll last longer in the fridge.
- Squeeze lemon juice on leftover apples, pears, avocados and other fresh produce to stop it turning brown
- Freeze any tomatoes you won’t use in time – place them in a bag whole, then defrost to use in sauces
- Keep bananas away from other fruits as they give off a gas that speeds up ripening
- Buy a mixture of ripe and firm fruits and eat the ones that are ready first
- Storing vegetables
- Most vegetables can be kept fresher for longer in the fridge. But put potatoes and onions in a cool, dark place instead
- Perk up chopped carrots and cucumber by placing in a bowl of cold water in the fridge for 30 minutes
- Remove any moulding produce before it makes other vegetables go bad
- For freshness, add a sheet of kitchen towel to bagged salads after opening or buy a whole lettuce to eat leaf by leaf
- Steam, puree and freeze unused vegetables in ice cube trays – the portions are great for adding to soups and sauces
- Storing bread
- If you don’t use many slices at a time, freeze loaves of bread and take out slices as you need them
- Keep bread fresher for longer by storing it in an airtight container or a paper bag, but not in the fridge
- Put bread approaching its 'use by' date in the freezer to save it being wasted
- To revive a hard crust bread that's been frozen, sprinkle it with a little water then warm it in the oven
- Storing meat, poultry and fish
- If you won't need to use a whole pack of bacon or sausages at once, divide into smaller portions before freezing
- All meat and fish should be kept fresh in the fridge, with raw items separate from food that's ready to eat. Raw meat stored on the bottom shelf can't drip its juices onto other food
- You can freeze raw or cooked meat and fish if you’re not going to use it all up immediately
- You should only freeze meat and fish once. But you can defrost meat, cook it as a meal and then freeze the meal
- Chop up beef or chicken into strips before freezing to use later in stir fries or curries
- Get to know your dates
- Get to know your dates
  
  Date stamps tell you a lot: when it’s at its best quality, and when it’s no longer safe to eat.
- 'Sell by' and 'display until' indicate only when a shop needs to sell its product by – a food that's past its 'sell by' date but not its 'use by' date is safe to eat
- 'Best before' tells you when the product is at its best – beyond this date the food is safe to eat but won't be as fresh
- 'Use by' is the date to watch out for – don't eat food after this date has passed, even if it smells and looks okay
- Rotate foods in the fridge and cupboards so you eat them in the order they needs to be used
- When you go food shopping, make sure you go for longer 'use by' dates when picking items you won't use immediately

Home Energy Scotland

Storing your food

Where and how we keep the food we buy can make a big difference to how long it lasts and how much we waste. Use food with the shortest date first. Freeze for later any foods you won’t get around to eating in time.

Title

Fridges and freezers

Fridges and freezers

Storing dairy products and eggs

Storing dairy products and eggs

Storing fruit

Storing vegetables

Storing bread

Storing meat, poultry and fish

Get to know your dates

Get to know your dates

Top Tips at a Glance