7 Mistakes That Cost You Money Every Week
1. You put everything in the fridge without thinking.
Not everything belongs in the fridge.
Keep out of the fridge: potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes (they can lose flavour and texture), bread (it goes stale faster), bananas, unripe avocados, whole pumpkins and whole, uncut melons.
Keep in the fridge: cooked food, dairy products, eggs, meat and fish, cold cuts, leafy vegetables, berries and anything that has already been cut.
2. You don't know your fridge's layout.
Your fridge has different temperature zones, and each one has a purpose. The upper shelves are often colder, while the door is usually the warmest area. However, every fridge is different, so check the user manual that came with yours.
Here's a practical guide:
Shelf closest to the freezer (coldest area): cooked leftovers, opened dairy products, cold cuts and meat.
Middle shelves: eggs, cheese and yoghurt.
Drawer furthest from the freezer: fruit and vegetables (stored separately).
Door: sauces, jams and drinks — foods that are less sensitive to temperature fluctuations.
3. You store all your fruit together.
Apples, bananas, avocados and tomatoes release ethylene, a natural gaseous plant hormone that speeds up the ripening of nearby produce.
An apple can cause nearby vegetables to spoil much faster. But ethylene can also work in your favour: if you have a hard, unripe avocado, put it in a paper bag with a banana to help it ripen faster.
Produce that is sensitive to ethylene, such as citrus fruits, strawberries, grapes, peppers and courgettes, should be stored separately from ethylene-producing fruit.
4. You fill your fridge to the max.
Cold air needs room to circulate. An overcrowded fridge cools less efficiently, uses more energy and can cause food to spoil sooner.
A practical rule: if you can't see absolutely nothing of the back wall, your fridge may be too full.
5. You store onions and potatoes together.
They don't make good storage companions. Onions can encourage potatoes to sprout, while moisture from potatoes can cause onions to rot.
Keep them separate, in cool, dry and well-ventilated places.
6. You don't understand the two types of food date labels.
Use by (consume before): relates to food safety. Don't eat the product after this date.
Best before: relates mainly to quality. After this date, you can use your senses to assess the food's condition, provided it has been stored correctly and the packaging is intact. Use common sense, too!
7. You don't handle cooked rice carefully.
If you want to save cooked rice, don't leave it out until it reaches room temperature.
Let the initial heat dissipate briefly to avoid excessive condensation inside the container, then refrigerate it as soon as possible, ideally within one hour.
Why? Cooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that can multiply when rice is left at room temperature and produce toxins that may cause food poisoning. Some of these toxins are heat-resistant, so reheating won't necessarily make improperly stored rice safe.
Comments