11 summer storage secrets you need to know

11 summer storage secrets you need to know

Summer is in full swing now, which means your kitchen should be full of sweetcorn, salad and stone fruit.

With these foods only being in-season for a short time, you’ll want to make the most of them, so it’s important to make sure you’re storing them in the right place.

Here are Love Food Hate Waste’s 11 storage secrets to keep your food fresh in the summer heat:

Aubergines (Eggplants)

Eggplant
Don’t put aubergines in the fridge – store them somewhere cool, but not in the fridge. Refrigerating them can affect the flavour and lead to browning.

Avocados

Ripen at room temperature, then refrigerate once ripe.

Once you have opened an avocado, wrap the leftover half (with the stone in) tightly in cling wrap. If you don’t want to use cling wrap, store it in an airtight container.

Bread

You can buy bread all year round, but with the humid climate during summer, now is the most important time to keep your bread in the fridge or freezer so that it doesn’t grow mould.

Cherries

Cherries

Cherries should be ripe when you buy them, so pop them into the fridge to extend their life – that’s if you don’t eat them all on the day that you buy them!

Cucumbers

Cucumbers can be stored either in the fridge or at room temperature. Keep the plastic wrapping on telegraph cucumbers as it protects the soft skin and prevents dehydration.

Iceberg lettuce

Store in a lettuce crisper, if you have one, otherwise wrap the lettuce in paper towels and place in a resealable plastic bag.

Melons

watermelon

Once melons are ripe, store in the fridge. Always refrigerate cut melon.

Salad greens

New research from the University of Otago has revealed the best home storage methods to lengthen the shelf life of vegetables. Love Food Hate Waste, the national campaign to help New Zealanders reduce the amount of food they waste, partnered with the University of Otago to test storage practices for many common vegetables found in Kiwis’ refrigerators. The results, released today, show that simple techniques can lengthen the life of produce and dispels many urban myths around how best to store food.

Make slimy salad a thing of the past by keeping your salad greens in an airtight container in the fridge.

Stone fruit

If your stone fruit is ripe, store them in the fridge to make them last longer. If they need to ripen, keep them at room temperature. Storing them in a paper bag with a banana will speed up the process.

Sweetcorn

Refrigerate sweetcorn in its husk to keep it fresher for longer. Tip: To save on dishes, cook your corn in the microwave. Put the sweetcorn (in its husk) in the microwave and cook for 3- minutes per cob. Cooking times may though vary depending on the strength of your microwave. Allow to cool slightly before peeling.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes in a bowl

Store tomatoes at room temperature – refrigerating them affects their texture and flavour. If they have gone soft, use them for cooking.