Savvy storage

Love your fridge

Storing food in the right way helps keep it fresh and tasty for longer and means less of the food we buy gets wasted. That’s good for the environment and your pocket.

What does your fridge say about you?

Love Food Hate Waste is helping you to ‘love your fridge’ on their Facebook page during January 2012. 75% of us report our fridge is organised with certain foods stored in certain places – how organised are you? Share your own photos and ‘like’ them on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/LoveFoodHateWasteCommunity

Remember to keep your fridge temperature below 5^oC. Research shows that up to 30% of our fridges are too warm, meaning food won’t last as long as it could. Milk goes off much quicker if your fridge is just a few degrees too warm. Using a thermometer is the best way to keep your fridge at the correct temperature.

Keep the right food in the fridge

• It’s best not to put bread in the fridge as it goes stale much quicker. Bread keeps better in a cool dark place such as the bread bin or a store cupboard. Bread does freeze well for use another time.
• 17 billion ‘5 a day’ portions are thrown away each year. The fridge is the ideal place to store most of your fruit and veg (except bananas and pineapples – keep these cool but don’t refrigerate; potatoes and onions - keep them in a cool, dark place like a garage, potato/onion bag or pantry).
• Apples last up to two weeks longer in the fridge and peppers up to a week longer.
• Eggs need to be kept at a constant temperature below 20^oC and they keep best in their box stored in the fridge.

Wrap food in the fridge

Remember fresh fruit and veg need to breathe in the fridge so don’t store them in completely sealed containers. Fruit and veg packaging has been designed to help it stay fresh for longer, so don’t take the packaging off until you’re ready to eat the food.

• Once opened, food like cheese and ham keep better if they’re well wrapped by re-closing the pack, wrapping in cling film or foil, or putting it in an air tight container.

More top tips

• To keep your food fresher for longer and at its best your fridge temperature should be below 5^oC. Research shows up to 30% of our fridges are too warm, this means food won’t last as long as it could. Milk goes off much quicker if your fridge is just a few degrees too warm.
• If you aren’t going to eat it, remember you can freeze food before the ‘use by’ date. Defrost when you need it and use within 24 hours.
• Make the most of your food by cooling leftovers as quickly as possible after cooking and store them in the fridge. Eat within two days or freeze for another time. See great recipe ideas for making the most of your leftovers at: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/list?group=2

Great food tips

If you’re only using part of a pepper, leave the stem, seeds and membrane intact, the pepper will then keep in the fridge, if you wrap it, much longer than when you remove them.

If you wash spinach well in cold water, shake off as much water as you can and store in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep fresh for longer. This also revives old spinach.

Wrap lettuce, carrots, courgettes etc. in kitchen paper then put them in plastic bags in the salad compartment of the fridge. The paper stops the condensation from softening the veg and stops mould, they will stay fresh for much longer.

Find many more tips at: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/storage_and_tools/tips/keep_your_cool.