How to Keep Food Fresh

Your refrigerator is a necessity to keep foods fresh, but what is the optimal temperature to keep foods happy? Well, in order to keep bacteria from quickly growing, the best temperature is 34 to 40 degrees. At this temperature foods will last longer, stay fresh, and minimize bacteria growth.

It is equally as important for safety reasons that foods such as leftovers are refrigerated as soon as possible. You should never reheat foods that were left out for extended periods of time thinking that cooking will destroy the bacteria, if you did, well you thought wrong, the bacteria can actually grow to dangerous numbers and can produce toxins that are resistant to heat, not even boiling will kill this type.

- Keep foods you store away from any hot areas such as hot water pipes, ovens, dishwasher, and range. Storage foods should be kept in a dark cool place, and in a temperature between 50 and 70 degrees

- And these are the some of the foods that are not good as frozen: vegetables, dairy products and eggs

- Leftovers should be separated into small portions. Do this before freezing them, and this will allow the food to freeze faster.

- This next advice is important if you have many food in your refrigerator. You should always mark items with a date before freezing so that you know if they are frozen for long or not. It will keep things organized.

- Some refrigerators allow you to see the temperature. If that is your case, then make sure that the temperature inside the refrigerator is always around zero degrees. If your refrigerator does not allow you to see the temperature, then you can use a thermometer.

- You should also check the seals on the refrigerator and make sure that is air tight.

Proper Thawing

Common methods such as leaving frozen meat on a counter tops, or putting frozen chicken under warm water can lead to many types of food-borne illnesses. Leaving food on counter tops in an environment that is warmer than 40 degrees but cooler than 140 degrees can multiply bacteria quickly. Additionally, the exterior of the meat that is already thawed will start growing bacteria buy the time the center is fully thawed. Keeping chicken under running warm water is equally as dangerous because you can splash contaminated water onto countertops, and nearby foods. The three recommended thawing options are; refrigerator thawing, cold water thawing in a sealed leak proof package or container, and microwave thawing.

By following these tips, your food will stay fresh and the risks of food-borne will be minimized.