A Step-by-Step Guide for Preserving Cooked Food Safely

Do you sometimes cook food in advance for the whole week? Or sometimes you accidentally cook more food, and you wonder how to store it safely? Sometimes we cook food a night before any holiday or party, and you have to preserve it. Cooking food is not hard. But when it comes to storing the food, we all get confused. The freshness of food depends upon how you preserve the food. Hence, it is crucial to conserve the food properly, because you don’t want your stale food to end up in the bin. Even the restaurants pay the most attention to food storage. Most restaurants prefer to store their cooked food in a small blast chiller. But at home, you can use domestic fridges or freezers. When conserving cooked meals, many factors are necessary to ensure the freshness and quality of food. It is very crucial to preserve food properly to stop the bacteria from growing. Your food can spoil because of germs and bacteria. If you do not store your food safely, it can lead to food poisoning. If you want to know the method to preserve cooked food safely, read our guide mentioned below.

The first thing you need to ensure is the temperature of the food. Remember that the temperature of the meal matters the most when it comes to the freshness of food. A little temperature change can result in your food going stale. If you want your food to stay fresh, you will need to pay attention to the temperature. If your food is just-cooked, its temperature will be high. Let your food rest on the counter for almost an hour or until it attains room temperature. If your food is not too hot, you can also chill them in the refrigerator for a few minutes to speed up the process. Do not keep your food at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Once your food is finally at room temperature, the next thing you need to do is to find the right container for your food. Always choose an airtight container. If your container allows the entrance of any air or moisture, do not use that container. You can use Ziploc bags, plastic boxes, or silicon-reusable bags. Your container should never have any crack or hole. Once you choose the container, put your cooked food inside it. Do not put too much food in one box. Your container should never be much crowded. Put poultry, pizzas, and pasta in airtight plastic containers, and gravies and soups in silicon-reusable bags. Cover the boxes with lids tightly.

You can use both freezer or fridge to store food. But it depends on how long you wish to preserve it. If you want to conserve food for a few weeks, you should put it in the fridge. Store the food in the coldest area of the refrigerator. The temperature of your fridge should be around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. But if you want to store your food for a long time (for up to 6-8 months), you should preserve your food in the freezer. There should be some space between your boxes. Do not overcrowd your freezer or refrigerator.

Make sure to mark the expiry date on your boxes along with the name of the food. It will help you identify the product and its expiry date. If you smell any stinky odor in your food, take it out and check if everything is all right. Do not forget to clean your fridge and freezer frequently so that germs don’t grow there.