One of the purposes of the 3 Things I Learned series is for me to have an excuse to research topics. A huge problem at Hectic Manor is the amount of spoiled food we have. Over the years we’ve gotten better, but I’m still embarrassed by the amount of food we pitch.
This week I investigated that topic to discover what we’re doing wrong…and learned a ton!
As always, if the packaging on your produce says you should treat it differently, take that as gospel. But if there’s no information, then this is great starting point!
Tomatoes
I have a lot of family members who swear tomatoes must be refrigerated. I hate doing that. Frankly I think that refrigerated tomatoes are mushy and taste bland. At worst they’re practically inedible.
As somebody who loves to garden, tomatoes are my #1 crop. Of course, that means we often have a lot of tomatoes, so I have to be very careful about how they’re stored. Later in the season I’ll delve into some of the things you can do with an overabundance of tomatoes. For this week though, I picked up two tips that have been working out great.
First, ditch the refrigerator, store your tomatoes on the counter. If you have a problem with summer bugs, cover your tomatoes with a cake cover or other similar lid.
Second, store your tomatoes with the stem facing downwards. I’d never heard it before. The theory is that moisture doesn’t enter the tomato as readily, making the tomatoes last longer. I started doing this a few weeks ago and was astounded how much longer my tomatoes lasted. Give it a try, I hope you’ll be amazed too!
Crisper Drawers
We’re terrible about using the crisper drawers in our refrigerator. For whatever reason, we store everything except produce in the drawers labeled Fruits and Vegetables. Honestly, I’m not sure how it happened, but I’ve been as guilty as the rest with this transgression. Frankly, I never noticed one drawer was labeled fruit and the other vegetables. I thought the two drawers were the same!
It turns out that refrigerated vegetables like a moisture-rich environment, while fruits do better in a drier habitat. If your crisper has an adjustment, let air in for the fruits but close it off for the veggies. The drawer will trap the moisture and make the veggies happy while the fruit will like the fresh breeze.
If you’ve run out of room in your crisper, use a plastic container to hold your produce. Put a lid on the veggie container, but leave it off the fruits. Remember, anything you store in the fridge is already deteriorating, so try to eat it in as reasonable a time as possible.
Mushrooms
I’ve seen packages of mushrooms that say to refrigerate and others saying never refrigerate. I’m not really sure why. In my research, pretty much everybody says that mushrooms should be stored at room temperature. I did see a neat trick that recommended storing them in paper bags (lunch sacks) or wrapping them in paper towels. I hate when my mushrooms get slimy, so I’ve been using lunch sacks for a while and I’m proud to say I think I’ve kicked the slimy-mushroom habit.
Many sources also said you should never store your mushrooms in plastic. If they have plastic wrap covering the container they recommend removing it. I’m taking that advice from now on and removing the plastic wrap as soon as we get home.
The Bottom Line
While not a whole ton of information this week, I think these are three useful tips to help save your precious produce. Fruits and vegetables are just too darned expensive to let them rot!
Do you have any other tips or tricks for avoiding rotting produce in your kitchen? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
As always, make it a great day in the kitchen!