How to Store Your Food So It Lasts Longer

[Ookii]

So I was reading this article and came upon two choice tips:

Know which need room temperature: We tend to keep most of our fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator. But cold temperatures can actually damage some produce, like squash, tomatoes and oranges

Chill your bananas: Most of us keep our bananas on the kitchen counter. But it seems like they spoil almost as soon as they ripen. Instead, store them in your refrigerator once they have ripened. The skin will turn brown but the inside lasts a lot longer

http://www.gomestic.com/Cooking/How-to-Store-Your-Food-So-It-Lasts-Longer.44510

Tell me I'm not crazy and that none of you all knew to do this all of this.  Oranges and tomatoes were always kept in the fridge AFAIK.

[Trippy]

I knew that.

[murdoc]

I kinda knew that, but we keep our bananas out on the counter too. They don't last long enough to become an issue though.

[Sky]

I knew that. Look at how the supermarket stores stuff :) For bananas, most don't last long enough to worry about (and I like them very ripe). When they are super-ripened (very spotty but not quite all brown yet), I keep a freezer bag for them. Stuff the last couple in there and freeze them, and when you get enough leftovers, make bread.

You should also hang your onions, though I don't have a pantry right now so I mostly buy stuff fresh every day or two. Don't store moisture exuders like onion family veggies near moisture absorbers like root veggies (potatoes etc).

Also, on freezing meat: use a two-pronged attack. Tightly wrap in foil to stave off freezer burn and then put it in a heavy-duty freezer bag and squeeze all the air out.

On dry goods. Store in the fridge? They must have a huge fridge. Even with just two of us, I wouldn't do that. Get some of those lock-tight plastic containers with locking clasps around teh top and a rubber gasket.

Another tip, I only use freezer bags (ziploc). I keep pints, quarts and gallons on hand. Squeeze all the air out (years of my youth spent bagging pot was useful!)! The heavier freezer bags are great for non-freezer usage, keeps scents in and out much better than the flimsy stuff. I also only use the heavy duty big roll of foil, the flimsy stuff kinda sucks, though it does have applications. I found some super-heavy duty reynolds that I haven't seen on the shelf again. That stuff was like sheet metal, not for normal usage but man was that a handy roll of foil!

In the comments, someone mentioned keeping your fridge at 37F. I keep a thermometer in my egg tray (DO NOT use the egg try for eggs unless you like off-flavors), and it reads 32F. Non-beer items on the top shelf sometimes freeze, it's a great place to hold meats just at freezing for a few hours, too (easier to cut). In case you don't know, the DANGER ZONE of bacterial action is 40F-140F: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/How_Temperatures_Affect_Food/index.asp Going back to freezer bags for a minute, after you squeeze all the air out of the bag, flatten the food out if possible.  The greater surface area and thinner width will speed cooling or freezing, inhibiting bacterial action.

[Sky]

I get a little wacky about food safety :)

[Oban]

I get a little wacky about food safety :)

http://www.jibjab.com/view/141756

[Mandrel]

I found some super-heavy duty reynolds that I haven't seen on the shelf again. That stuff was like sheet metal, not for normal usage but man was that a handy roll of foil!

You can probably find the heavy duty foil at a restaurant supply store.  I love that stuff.  No worries about the foil coming apart when making baked potatoes on the grill.

[cmlancas]

Also, on freezing meat: use a two-pronged attack. Tightly wrap in foil to stave off freezer burn and then put it in a heavy-duty freezer bag and squeeze all the air out.

I find the best thing to get your hands on for meat is deli-style quicksheets (The little tiny plastic sheets), but I don't know where to find them outside where I work. I just buy them for what my supermarket pays for them. If you take the quicksheets and put them between your meat, it helps to reduce the horrible "shit, my meat stuck together." and helps to speed defrost time (+surface area=-defrost time). I also have what is known as freezer paper that has a wax backing and creates a seal when it is tightly wrapped.

I find plastic bags really hurt meat unless you are a pro at air-suppression.

[Sky]

I am a pro at air suppression. Also, I usually freeze stuff in individual serving sizes, so stuff sticking together isn't a problem.

Actually, I need to get my shit together and freeze more stuff. Make soup on sunday and freeze individual servings and whatnot.

[Soukyan]

Tell me I'm not crazy and that none of you all knew to do this all of this.  Oranges and tomatoes were always kept in the fridge AFAIK.

I can't say that I've ever kept oranges in the fridge, but occasionally tomatoes end up in there. Depends on my mood.

[voodoolily]

I knew that. Look at how the supermarket stores stuff

Not always a good indicator - our Safeway keeps all their potatoes in the cooler. WRONG!! The cold temps turn the starch to sugar, which makes the potatoes taste wrong.

But yeah, I knew the other stuff too. 

I find the best thing to get your hands on for meat is deli-style quicksheets (The little tiny plastic sheets), but I don't know where to find them outside where I work.

You can use parchment or wax paper too. I buy meat in bulk (like whole pork tenderloins) and slice them into thick chops, then wrap two at a time in wax paper (with a sheet in between), freezing in 4-packs in freezer bags. Unless the freezer gets too cold, I can always break off a little 2-pack of pork chops for dinner.

[Sky]

Potatoes in a cooler? Wha? 

Parchment and wax paper are two things I never used before that I love to have around when I need them.

On freezing: thanks for the reminder. I need to restock my freezer! Been dipping into the pantry alot lately because we haven't been shopping much. Our local walmart has been really good about stocking large slabs of meat (not quite primals, not sure what the term is). Last few years I've gotten the full rib section at a steep discount because I know the manager and he hooks me up. I think I paid $40 for the full rib section! Had "prime rib" for xmas and steaks for weeks after.

[Signe]

I normally don't keep tomatoes in the fridge but I need to find some sort of cage or something because of the kittens.  I have a dark, cool cupboard for potatoes and onions but that's not suitable for tomatoes.

[cmlancas]

VDL, if you buy whole pork tenderloins in bulk, you might consider buying whole pork loin roasts and boning them out -- they tend to be less expensive when they are on sale.

Plus, you'll get some boneless chops! :D

Oh, and you need to message me some tasty recipes! 

[Bunk]

AAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGTTTT!!! - NO!

There is to be no private messaging of recipes here. Only public posting allowed, where everyone can share in the goodness. Even for VDL's crazy ass 17 hours in the kitchen, with 5 pounds of magic mushrooms, and bizaro cooking implement recipes.

[voodoolily]

That's what my recipe thread is for!

The whole pork loins already boneless, I just trim the "silverskin" off (connective tissue and ligaments and such are not good eats).

[cmlancas]

Say huh? I think you mean a whole pork tenderloin, not a whole pork loin (I'm splitting hairs, but you brought up the silver-skin!) Here's what I mean:



Okay, now imagine the one on the left not being cut on a bone saw and about 4-7" thick. You can take the pork tenderloin on the left off and then take the pork loin roast off and voila!, less expensive meat.

Your tenderloins won't nearly be as long as a whole tenderloin, but if you can use a top loin roast (a.k.a. a boneless pork chop), and I think you said you cut your tenderloins into medallions already, it won't matter. If you really wanna get into the nitty gritty, you could use the bone as fresh neckbones (I know they didn't come off of a chuck, so don't jump me here) and they should work just the same in recipes (I don't waste anything).

I think the roasts I mentioned above retail for $2.39 or so per pound where I work. Tenderloins on sale are $5.99 and boneless chops on sale are $3.49. Neckbones are something like $1.39 and never go on sale. That's a pretty decent savings if you buy in bulk.

Since I have a picture of a pork rib chop up here too, for those of you who are interested in saving some money by buying meat in bulk, see if your supermarkets or butcher shops sell "bone-in center-cut pork rib roasts." There is a difference between center-cut and rib-end (one looks like a ribeye, although pork, and the other just looks like the picture) pork roasts, make sure you don't get a rib end unless you want fattier pork chops. I prefer rib-end, but most people I serve don't like them. Anyway, if you take a center cut rib roast and take the top loin off, you are left with the same top loin roast in the previous picture, but this time, the bone that will be left will be baby-back ribs. Where I work, they retail for around the same as the other roast. The baby back ribs are about $4.49 on sale, so you'll again save quite a bit of money.

I think I should make an official "I'm a butcher, here's how to eat well for not a lot of dough" thread. It'd go well with the knife porn thread that we already had in Serial Business.

[voodoolily]

This is what I'm talking about, only I buy this in 3-foot lengths and cut it into chops (as pictured) or into roasts.

Edit: It's an affordable meat when you buy the whole (tender)loin, and with the Safeway Club Card you can get deals like $1.49/lb. A whole (tender)loin for $15 is a pretty stellar deal, imo.

[cmlancas]

What you're showing there is a pork top loin roast.

This is a pork tenderloin:



A pork tenderloin would be analogous to a filet mignon/chateaubriand and a pork top loin roast would be analogous to a NY strip.

Is that a little more clear?

[voodoolily]

Well do pork top loin roasts come in 3-foot lengths? With silverskin on them? Whatever comes in 10lb, boneless, 3-foot meat logs is what I buy, and I cut them into chops that look like the ones in the picture. They label those chops as "loin chops" in the store, so that's all I got.

I know nothing about meat except how to cook it. Well, I do know that the tenderloin is where filet/chateaubriand comes from, but the only time I get that piece is when my dad gives me some off the deer he shoots. There is so much to learn!

[cmlancas]

The silver-skin you described threw me off at first because pork tenderloins have silver skin as well. You're referring to the silver lining in between the meat and the fat on the outside of a boneless pork loin chop.

I think the biggest pork tenderloin I've ever come across was in the neighborhood of two pounds. When I get a chance sometime, I'm going to start that "ask the butcher" thread. Too much college thesis writing going on at the moment though. 

[Bunk]

VDL was starting to throw me off a little, as I constantly buy whole pork tenderloins (as cm pictured - about 2 lbs of meat).  Makes for a nice alternative to chicken in stirfry type meals. Most people get scared off of any meat with "tender" in the name, assuming it will be too expensive, but with pork it's still pretty cheap.

I have recently seen whole pork loins in my supermarket. It didn't occur to me that I could just chop them several inches thick to make a roast instead of chops. Will have to consider that. Been buying pork roasts for my slowcooker lately.

[voodoolily]

I was calling it a loin before cmlancas corrected me, then corrected me again. IAMBUYINGLOINSDAMMIT! They are boneless. They are tasty. The narrower end makes a great roast. I should pull one outta the freezer, as a matter of fact.