The best ways to keep food fresh

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Proper food preservation is a method to help you keep food fresh and prolong its shelf life. For each type of food, there will be a different preservation method. Find out below!

1. What is food preservation?

Food preservation is a method that helps to keep the quality of food from spoiling naturally. In addition, the ways to preserve food also help prevent food from being degraded or contaminated after use.
In fact, there are many types of microorganisms living in food, they often tend to grow quickly in moldy environments and rancid food. Therefore, preserving food is an important step to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. Currently, many people choose to preserve food with chemicals, but it can have many potential health risks for consumers. Therefore, natural ways of preserving food are still being chosen by many people and become the current trend.

2. The most common ways to preserve food

According to research, there are 3 most common methods of food preservation, including: salting, refrigeration and drying. Specifically:
2.1 Preservation of food by salting method It can be said that salt is one of the ingredients that help preserve food very useful. You can apply salting to fresh foods such as meat or fish to help them become delicious and retain their flavors. On the other hand, the salty taste of salt also helps to significantly eliminate harmful bacteria and molds.
2.2 Storing food by refrigeration Refrigeration is the simplest and easiest way to preserve food. With this method, you do not need to use preservatives and can still maintain the freshness of the food. According to experts' recommendations, the ideal time to store food in the refrigerator will be for 30 days at a temperature of 0 - 2 degrees Celsius. However, preservation by refrigeration is often impossible to reduce. disinfect or remove bacteria, so you need to take extreme care when applying this method, including:
Avoid stacking food containers without lids on top of each other. Never place unprocessed food on top of processed food. Avoid placing unwrapped or covered food directly in the refrigerator. Do not put too many different foods in the refrigerator compartment because this can make it difficult for air circulation in the refrigerator, leading to an imbalance when refrigerating foods. Avoid storing hot food in the refrigerator. Ideally, you should let the food cool at room temperature for about 20 minutes and then store it in the refrigerator.

2.3 Preserving food by drying In addition to the above two methods, you can also preserve and prolong the shelf life of food by drying. You can dry food in the sun or use a special drying tool. For this preservation method, you should only apply it to fruits, fish, meat or foods high in fiber.
3. Specific preservation methods for each type of food Here are the preservation methods for each certain type of food, specifically:
Eggs are one of the foods that we regularly consume. According to experts, the best way to preserve eggs is to keep them in a carton. You should also keep eggs on the refrigerator shelf to help them stay fresh longer. Berries To preserve berries, you should rinse them quickly under clean running water immediately before use. If not eating right away, you can put the fruit in a box lined with paper towels to absorb the moisture. Ideally, you should avoid washing unused fruit before storing it in the refrigerator because high humidity can make them spoil faster.
Wheat flour Some insects can hide and destroy flour and grains if you store it incorrectly. Similar to other food preservation methods, to keep flour from getting rotten, you need to store them in an airtight container, in a cupboard or a cool place.
Cooking oil Heat, air and light are the top 3 culprits for food spoilage, including cooking oil. When the cooking oil is damaged, although the color remains the same as the taste has changed completely. It is best to store cooking oil away from places with high temperatures and easy exposure to direct light.
Mushrooms Mushrooms act like a sponge, so they are prone to becoming mushy or mushy if stored incorrectly. Whether you buy mushrooms loosely or packaged, transfer mushrooms to a brown paper bag to reduce moisture. You should store mushrooms in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature as this can cause the mushrooms to lose their flavor and color more quickly.
Asparagus For asparagus, store them like a bouquet of fresh flowers. You should cut off the top and place the tops of asparagus in a glass of water just enough to cover the stem. Then, wrap the asparagus packets in a damp dish or plastic bag to store in the refrigerator. Usually, the best time to keep the quality of asparagus in the refrigerator is from 2 to 3 days.
Coffee Normally during the roasting process, the coffee beans will darken and release caffeol oil - the substance that helps bring the familiar taste and aroma to coffee. However, exposure to moisture, air, light and heat can weaken the action of caffeol. To keep the unique flavor of coffee, you should store them in an airtight container, in a shady place and out of direct light.
Bread To preserve food, especially bread, you need to keep them in a cool place and consume within 1 week. When the bread is left for too long, the moisture will be absorbed and lead to rancidity. You should keep the bread in an airtight bag and store it in the refrigerator.

Tomatoes Tomatoes will go moldy faster if you keep them at room temperature. Therefore, you should store them in the refrigerator within 1-2 days is best. You can put tomatoes in a plastic bag or a paper bag with air holes to keep moisture and a certain amount of air to circulate to prevent the tomatoes from drying out.
Walnuts You can store food and walnuts in an airtight container. If the pantry is dry and cool, walnuts can be stored for up to 3 months. For nuts with or without shell, they will be stored in the refrigerator for about 6 months or 1 year in the freezer without worrying about losing nutrients.
Meat and fish The best way to preserve canned or processed fish meat is to keep it in the refrigerator. For raw fish meat, you should store it in the freezer, then defrost it before using.
Milk Milk is usually pasteurized by heat to prolong its shelf life. However, if you do not maintain a storage temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or below, the bacteria in the milk will grow again. Some other foods also need to be refrigerated, including opened cheese, powdered milk or maple syrup.

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Reference source: webmd