11 Clever Ideas to Keep Products Fresh for Longer

Did you know that every year in Poland we throw away 5 million tons of food in the trash? Even if it seems to you that one slice of bread or half of yogurt that ended up in the garbage bag is a marginal amount - think that tens of thousands of people do the same every day. Why do we throw away food? Most often it is because we buy too much of it or store it improperly. And yet, there are simple ways to prolong the freshness of products! Meet 11 of them!

Breads

When buying good quality bread, it is worth stocking up on a bread maker. If we do not have space in the kitchen to put the bread maker, we can replace it with a bag of thick linen. A linen bag (unlike, for example, a foil bag), allows air to pass through, so it allows the bread to breathe, but on the other hand it protects the bread from drying out.

Cheeses

To preserve the taste and quality of the cheese and at the same time prolong the freshness of this product, it is good to transfer the cheese from the foil packaging to the breakfast paper immediately after returning from the store. Breakfast paper, on the one hand, allows the cheeses to breathe, and on the other, it acts as a barrier in the refrigerator between moisture and the product.

Bananas

In the case of bananas, foil just happens to be an ally. Bananas ripen even after being picked from the plant. As a result of maturation, a gas called ethylene is produced. To stop this gas from escaping, it is a good idea to wrap the banana stalks with breakfast film or a plastic bag. Thanks to this, we will stop the process of fruit ripening.

Asparagus, radishes, root vegetables, berries

Asparagus

Some vegetables need access to water to keep their freshness. These include asparagus. To keep them fresh and crispy longer, we proceed with them as with flowers: when we get home, we cut off the stems at a height of 1 cm from the end and put them in a glass with cool water and then in the refrigerator. In this way, asparagus is able to last up to a week, as long as we change their water on a regular basis.

Radishes

Another vegetable that needs water to keep its freshness longer is radishes. Radishes in general are very easy to reanimate: we cut off the leaves, and put the pink roots in a bowl of cool water. In the case of radishes, an hour or two is enough for them to be shiny and crispy again, as if they had just been plucked.

Root vegetables

Remaining still in vegetables that like water, it is worth mentioning root vegetables, such as carrots, parsley root, beetroot. To restore their freshness, we put them in a bowl or in a glass with water and put them in the refrigerator overnight.

Blueberry fruits

Blueberry fruits, i.e. strawberries and raspberries, do not like long “standing” in water, because they are very watery in themselves. Therefore, we wash them just before eating and only as much as we eat. We store the rest in the refrigerator — in a pull-out drawer, which is designed for this purpose.

Garlic, onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, sliced fruit, yogurt, kefir

Garlic and onion

To prolong the freshness of onions and garlic, it is good to store them in a dry, dark and cool place. Kitchen cabinets or a cellar are recommended for this. When we have large quantities of onions and garlic, we use the old grandmother's way of tights: we pack one onion into the legs one by one, tie it into a knot, then put another onion, tie a knot, etc. We also do the same with garlic. In this way, food will be stored in the cellar for up to several months.

Cucumbers and tomatoes

Fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, just brought from the store, do not particularly like with the refrigerator. It is best to store them on the counter in a bowl lined with breakfast paper or a kitchen towel. Then tomatoes and cucumbers retain their firmness, freshness and brilliance longer.

Sliced fruit

We eat half of the apple, and put the other in the fridge — after a while we observe that the part of the apple that remains slowly turns brown. To avoid such a situation, it is good to sprinkle this cut off part with lemon juice. There is also a way to store the cut lemon: let's take 1/3 cup of lukewarm water and put the lemon in it, the uncut part (where the peel is) down.

Natural yogurt and kefir

If we know that in the next 24-36 hours we will not eat the whole package of natural yogurt, let's put a pinch of salt inside. Salt has preservative properties, thanks to which the dairy product will retain its freshness longer.