The Lunar New Year is a time to rejoice for many reasons such as the much anticipated reunion dinner, hong bao for the kids and overdue catch-up sessions with relatives and friends! However, in the midst of all the festivities, we constantly find our freezers stocked up to the brim with all sorts of foods that usually get thrown away after a couple of days. Thus, instead of disposing them, we are here to suggest a couple of useful tips on how you can preserve your food longer in the freezer.
Poultry
Poultry in this case would include most meats such as chicken and duck. If you’d like to retain maximum freshness, remember to freeze the meat immediately at 0 degrees or lower upon reaching home. Even though most of the time frozen meat will be safe to eat indefinitely, it is advisable to consume it within six months to a year. Use a freezer bag or aluminium foil to wrap the meat together under the store bought plastic bag to avoid the poultry drying out.
Fruits and Vegetables
Freezing fruits and vegetables is still very uncommon for most people usually because they do not have enough storage space in their freezers or because they are unfamiliar with the technique. Freezing vegetables is actually a really great way to keep unused vegetables fresh. The trick is to blanch in boiling water for 1 minute before putting it immediately in ice-cold water and then transferring it to a freezer bag to freeze. Blanching is important because it helps prevent enzyme reaction.
For fruits, the tip is to line up your favourite fruits individually on a baking sheet and freeze them for 2 hours. Once they are completely frozen, transfer them from the sheet to the freezer bag. Fruits such as apples and pears should ideally be peeled or sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent the fruits from browning. When consuming, we recommend consuming frozen fruits before they have completely thawed to avoid them getting mushy.
Prevent Bad Odour
One common problem faced when keeping food for too long in the refrigerator is the bad odour. In order to deodorise your fridge, we have listed down a few things you could put to great use that are all easily found in your kitchen.
Baking Soda
Baking soda works wonders with eliminating bad odour. Simply sprinkle some baking soda on a wet sponge and start scrubbing away the sides of your fridge to make it squeaky clean of which after that you are recommended to leave a small bowl of fresh baking soda in the fridge to keep it smelling fresh.
Lemon
Besides making lemonades, lemons are also great with removing bad odour. After removing the items causing the bad odour, place a lemon wedge in the different sections of the fridge. You will be able to notice the difference in smell in just a couple of hours.
Vinegar
Should you run out of baking soda, vinegar makes a good alternative. Simply pour a little white vinegar onto a damp cloth and start cleaning the interior and exterior of your refrigerator. Vinegar is especially good on tough stains.
Oats
Who knew oats had other uses besides making a healthy breakfast? Putting a bowl of oats in the fridge will absorb the bad odour.
We would love to hear about your experience on keeping food fresh in the refrigerator. Share with us in the comment box below!
