Urban Survival Guide: Ways to Make your Food Last Longer

 

 

Perhaps all foods should be like honey. Honey does not expire and pots of it have even been excavated from ancient Egyptian tombs! Unfortunately, not all foods behave like so thus they need to be preserved. Here are a couple of ways you can extend the shelf life of some of your foods.

 

• Don’t store onions with potatoes

 

Storing onions with potatoes will cause them to spoil faster. This happens because the two release gases and moisture that will cause the other to rot faster. To prevent them from rotting and make them last longer, store them separate and keep them in a cool, dry and well ventilated place.

 

• Store potatoes with apples to prevent them from sprouting

 

On the flipside, potatoes can be stored with apples. Apples produce a gas called ethylene that will stop potatoes from sprouting.

 

• Add plastic wrap to the top of bananas

 

To ensure bananas retain their yellow hue for longer add plastic wrap to their crowns. This will prolong their freshness for longer.

 

• Store bananas separately rather than in a bunch

 

Also, apparently bananas like solitude.To lengthen their shelf life, store them in isolation as opposed to in a bunch.

 

• Sprinkle lemon/lime juice on a halved avocado

 

Halved avocados usually turn brown when exposed. The citric acid in lemon/lime juice can prevent this.

 

• Store avocados with onions

 

In addition, storing avocados with onions will prevent browning because onions produce sulphur that stops browning.

 

• Soak berries in vinegar and water

 

Vinegar is used as a preservative in numerous foods in a process called pickling. It can also be used to preserve berries like strawberries. To stop berries from moulding, wash them in a mixture of water and vinegar (about three cups water to one cup vinegar) before you refrigerate them.

 

• Add oil to tomato paste

 

Tomato paste often starts to mould once the can is opened. The moulding can be slowed down by transferring the tomato paste from the can to a plastic container. But to extend its shelf life even further, add oil to it. Preferably pure vegetable oil or olive oil.

 

• Freeze eggs

 

If you have an excessive number of eggs, you can crack them and freeze them. However, only do this with fresh and clean eggs. The eggs can be frozen for up to a year!

 

• Separate fruits and vegetables

 

Lastly, store fruits and vegetables separately since most fruits emit ethylene which makes vegetables ripen quicker and thus rot faster.