Cooked more than you could eat? Lots of people have managed to waste food, specially after a great party or dinner celebration due to not having an idea about what to do with a table full of leftovers. Storing your leftovers safely not only keeps you from wasting delicious food and limits your exposure of food born infections.
Any food left out for more than two hours is susceptible to harmful bacterial growth and should be disposed of. Bacteria thrive between 41 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When the food hits that range, bacteria start to grow immediately and lead the food spoil very soon. So the less time spent in that zone, the safer the food is. Plus there are bacteria who are able to grow in extremely hot environment and cold environment. The foods with high moisture such as breads, buns, fish etc will spoil very because the moisture enhance the growing of bacteria. And the dry foods such as biscuits will mainly spoiled by fungi. Hope this might gave you a rough idea about food spoilage process.
Basically food storing is a technique to learn and follow! Storing leftovers is such a hard process to handle and you better have some knowledge about that.
Ways to handle the leftovers,
Ways to handle the leftovers,
• Save only the food which hasn't been tainted by double-dipping or by lots of hands picking at it. If it's been on the table uncovered just get throw it off.
• Just store or freeze whatever the food you would like to grab in next coming days. If no like to eat certain food type, so it's not worth storing it in your fridge just to end up throwing it out anyway.
• When storing food make sure pack them properly. Mark the storage containers or bags with the item names and the dates you packed them so you can keep track of what to use by when.
• It's smart to divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator.
• Cool all foods completely before storage, preferably no more than 40 degrees. And also make sure to not overloading the refrigerator, which compromises its efficiency.
• Allow food to stand after microwaving because the food will continue to cook after the microwave is off.
• When reheating, leftovers must reach a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 seconds to kill bacteria. Soups and gravies should be brought to a rolling boil.
You may like to read: Awesome Ways To Lighten Up Your Favourite Meals
You may like to read: Awesome Ways To Lighten Up Your Favourite Meals
Storing ways for common leftover foods
1. Pizza
- Let the remaining slices cool down until cheese has hardened and cooled off enough that the slices don’t stick to each other and pizza that’s not too saucy. By doing this, slices don’t stick to each other. Then just stack all the slices into a resealable bag and put right on the refrigerator.
- If the pizza that is too saucy and have a lot of loose toppings place a single layer of slices on a dinner plate, top with a foil or parchment paper and keep stacking, alternating pizza and paper until all the pizza’s on the plate. Then wrap the whole thing tightly up in plastic wrap before placing in the fridge. Just wrap one slice in plastic wrap. Voila!
2. Tacos
Put fresh produce which includes lettuce, tomatoes, onions and toppings might include grated cheese, sour cream and guacamole aside. Then remove meat, other main ingredients and set aside. Warm and crisp taco shells in the oven. After that reheat the main ingredients. Be careful not to overcook or the protein will become dry and rubbery.
If you want soft tacos, you can also leave the taco shells with their main ingredients inside the foil wrappers and re-heat them in the oven. Remove from the oven and check if the tacos are hot through the middle.Once the taco shells are crisp and the meat or beans are hot again, reassemble the taco, placing the fresh produce and condiments on top.
You can use the same step to reheat burritos, nachos and other dishes.
3. Pasta
Place the cooked pasta in an air tight container. To keep the cooked pasta from clumping and sticking as it dries out add some butter or olive oil to the pasta until its coated lightly and evenly. Then Refrigerate the pasta. From this method the cooked, un-sauced pasta can stay fresh in the refrigerator for few days. If you've made a pasta sauce just store the sauce separately.
You may like to read: Awesome Ways To Lighten Up Your Favourite Meals
3. Pasta
Place the cooked pasta in an air tight container. To keep the cooked pasta from clumping and sticking as it dries out add some butter or olive oil to the pasta until its coated lightly and evenly. Then Refrigerate the pasta. From this method the cooked, un-sauced pasta can stay fresh in the refrigerator for few days. If you've made a pasta sauce just store the sauce separately.
You may like to read: Awesome Ways To Lighten Up Your Favourite Meals