Every time you shop at grocery stores, leaving without any fruit and vegetables in your bag is almost impossible. While shopping for the freshest produce would always be more flavorful and healthier, it’s not economical to do them daily, especially when you are working. It would be more cost-efficient to buy them in bulk instead of shopping daily.
While buying in bulk allows you to make a single trip and save gas money, the real challenge is how you will be able to keep them fresh at home. This way, you can enjoy its freshness without visiting the market daily. With that, listed below are some of the best ways to properly store your fruits and vegetables:
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1. Use The Right Container
Since most fruits and vegetables are going inside your fridge, you must use the proper food containers to seal their moisture and freshness. There’s no point in storing them inside if you just let them dehydrate or go stale. With that, you should look for a truly air-tight container. This way, you can keep the moisture in to prevent the produce from dehydrating. In addition, putting them inside a cold refrigerator can be ideal for extending their lifespan.
Along with choosing a suitable container, using a paper towel would also be helpful to keep the moisture locked inside. A paper towel helps absorb the moisture and prevents it from damaging and spoiling your fruits and vegetables. That said, wrapping your freshly cut produce with paper towels and putting them inside your air-tight food containers would effectively keep them fresh for a longer time.
2. Utilize Water
Using water is a great way to keep your hard vegetables crisp and fresh for a long time. If you store some of your fruits and vegetables inside the freezer, you can almost anticipate them getting soggy after just a few days inside your home. To help maximize their freshness, you should use water and soak them well until you plan on using them inside your kitchen.
One of the most popular food organizations and meal planning methods is cutting your hard vegetables into your desired cuts and storing them inside your air-tight containers but soaking them with fresh water to keep them fresh. You can do this with carrots, potatoes, and celery. Ideally, you should change the water every few days to keep it fresh longer.
3. Place On Your Counter Tops
Surprisingly, not every fruit and vegetable would last longer inside your fridge. The cold temperature might cause the fruit or vegetable to go lumpy, thus shortening their lifespan. With that, you should determine which vegetables and fruits are ideal to keep in the fridge and those that you can just place on top of your countertops. Notably, it could also add to the aesthetics of your kitchen, making it look fresher and more natural.
Ideally, it would be best if you placed your garlic and onions on your countertops. While storing your tomatoes inside the fridge might be tempting, they’ll strive better with room temperature. However, you must ensure that you keep their roots upside down to prevent them from getting lumpy. Moreover, some fruits are best stored on countertops until they’re ripe because moving them to the refrigerator ahead of time might make your fruits mushy. When your fruit has reached its peak ripeness, it should be heading off to your fridge to extend its lifespan.
4. Put Them Inside The Fridge
Of course, the most popular, effective, and best way to properly store your fruits and vegetables is by putting them inside the fridge. The colder temperature helps delay their fruit development and slow their aging process. This way, it can feel like you’re getting them fresh from the market.
Typically, you can store most fruits and vegetables inside the fridge to help them last longer. In addition, some fruits and vegetables should only be washed when you’re about to use them and not before storing them in the freezer as it can cause them to sag. Likewise, your leafy vegetables should remain unwashed before storing them as they’re quicker to get stale if they’re wet.
5. Store Them Inside Your Freezer
Not only can you use your fridge to store your fruits and vegetables, but you can also put them inside your freezer. The intense cold temperature could help freeze their aging process and allow you to use them for months even after you’ve just bought them at the market. This would be a great way to extend their lifespan, especially if it’s hard sourcing them as you need to visit a specialty store to buy them.
Luckily, you can store almost every type of vegetable inside your freezer. The only vegetable types that you cannot freeze are celery, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, radish, watercress, and endives. To freeze your vegetables, you should blanch them first to destroy microorganisms and prevent the enzymes from damaging the vegetables’ nutrients, flavor, and color. After blanching, drain and dry them thoroughly before storing them inside the freezer. Since they could last for months, it’s helpful to put a label on them to know when you can use them.
6. Use Lemon Juice
After cutting your fresh apples, it can get really annoying to see them brown, even after a few minutes. One way to prevent that is by using lemon juice to keep your apples fresh and crisp. But apart from your freshly cut fruits, you can also use lemon juice to keep some of your fruits and vegetables fresh all the time.
After cutting some of your fruits and vegetables for proper storing, add a few splashes of lemon or lime juice to help maintain their colors for as long as possible. With a splash of lemon or lime juice, you can extend the lifespan of your fruits and vegetables while also adding a kick of flavor that would surely help emphasize your dish’s taste.
Takeaway
As soon as you arrive home from the market, your goal should be to keep your vegetables and fruit fresh and crisp for as long as possible. Doing this can help you save money and prevent food wastage. To make this all possible, you must consider the tips mentioned above on how to properly store your fruits and vegetables to extend their life and for you to use them for a longer time.
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