Storing food properly is something that concerns many people. After all, the right storage of everyday products primarily serves to extend their shelf life. The better you store food, the longer you can use it.
This means that regional products are also ideally available to you regardless of the season. Each product has its own requirements in terms of the right storage location.
So how can you make sure that your food is stored in the best possible way? What about flakes, granola and muesli? What about fruit and vegetables for my healthy breakfast? And why does food go bad at all? We will answer all these questions in this blog post.
Organic breakfast from Verival – find out more!
Why does food go off at all?
There are various reasons why food spoils. Most often it is physical, biochemical, chemical and microbiological circumstances that cause products to go bad.
In many cases, it is also the result of pest infestation, which you should avoid at all costs. The other circumstances cannot be prevented – but they can be slowed down!
Microbial spoilage is caused by bacteria, yeasts and moulds that attack food. Pathogenic microorganisms produce substances that can be harmful to humans, even if the food is not visibly spoiled.
How quickly food spoils depends on temperature, water activity, pH and the oxygen content of the food. The most important factor here is the storage temperature.
What is the best way to store food?
Generally speaking, all food needs its own space. Some food needs special treatment, while others are not so sensitive.
Onions and garlic need to be stored in the right way
Onions and garlic, for example, are not too fussy – it's best to store these two in a cool room. A clay pot is also an advantage here. Clay is good because it allows space for breathing.
Storing vegetables – this is how it's done
With vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, but also peppers, aubergines or courgettes, it's a bit different. You should never store tomatoes in the fridge, as they quickly lose their flavour in cool temperatures.
Tomatoes do best at 15 degrees. It's also not good for the other watery vegetables if you store them in the fridge. They can go mouldy more quickly when stored like this.
You have to be a bit more careful with avocados – as you know, you buy them unripe. So you should let the avocado ripen – preferably in a bowl. When it is ripe, if you only eat half of it, you can put the other half in the fridge.
Just add a little lemon juice to the cut surface and leave the stone in. This will help it to keep for a few more days. You can wrap cut food in beeswax wrap to protect it, for example.
What should be refrigerated?
Eggs, butter, milk, opened or homemade plant-based drinks , cheese, drinks and opened preserves should definitely be stored in the refrigerator.
Storing bread properly
When it comes to bread, you should definitely make sure it is at room temperature – although bread will generally keep longer in the fridge, it will quickly taste stale. Be aware that wooden bread bins are not useful as bread will dry out even faster in them.
How to store oil properly
Olive oil – as you probably know – is best stored in a dark cupboard. This is how it stays fresh the longest and doesn't go rancid.
What is the best way to store fruit?
Fruit tastes best when it's fresh! We therefore recommend buying fruit fresh and in quantities that you can eat. This is not only good for your wallet, but also for the environment.
Once you have brought the fresh fruit home, you should ideally store it in a bowl. Bananas, mandarins, apples and many other types of fruit should not be kept in the fridge.
If you want to store fruit for a longer period of time, you can also use the freezer. You can find out how to do this in a moment.
Storing muesli, granola and flakes
For muesli, granola and flakes of all kinds (oats, spelt flakes, etc.), it is best to transfer them directly from their original packaging into airtight containers. This also applies to nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
Our pro tip: write the best-before date directly on the airtight container – that way you can always see it and prevent food from going to waste.
Why does food not go off in the freezer?
This question is not quite correct. Yes, it is true that storage in the freezer massively increases the shelf life. This is because the low temperatures almost completely eliminate water activity and also reduce the multiplication of microorganisms to a minimum.
This is how frozen food can stay fresh for several months. The great thing about the freezer is that there is hardly any loss of quality. Before freezing fruit and vegetables, however, they should be cleaned, washed and, if necessary, peeled.
When storing food in the freezer, it is important not to prepare portions that are too large. Airtight storage is just as important. The following basic rules apply to the shelf life of food in the freezer:
- Fruit and vegetables 11-15 months
- Beef and poultry 9-12 months
- Fish and fatty meat 6-9 months
This is particularly important for us when it comes to storing regional fruit, so in summer we can freeze delicious berries and enjoy them all year round as a topping on our muesli or porridge – here is one of our favourite recipes:
