Can You Put Deli Meat in a Crisper Drawer
Think about this as you dig into your Thanksgiving feast.
The average American will fork over $50 to feed 10 people (probably much more); then a few days later will scrape, pour and dump about $14 of it into the trash.
Despite our best efforts to polish off Thanksgiving meals by consumingmore than a day's worth of calories in one sitting, it won't be enough to avoid leftovers.
The typical line-up in our house usually includes containers full of turkey (mostly dark meat), stuffing (probably the smallest portion), a can of cranberry sauce (minus two spoonfuls) and the rest of the food gets crammed into various crevices of the fridge.
How the influx of leftovers mingles with fresh foods in the refrigerator can be the difference between chowing down on a turkey sandwich smothered in mayo after scoring a TV deal on Friday or tossing out stuffing that's grown a 2-inch layer of mold after having gone missing for a month behind a jug of milk.
Oh, and that milk smells a little funny, may want to toss that too. No reason to risk missing the open bar at the office holiday party.
FOOD WASTE GURU SAYS
Enter Dana Gunders, author of "Waste Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money by Wasting Less Food." (Chronicle Books, 2015, paperback, 200 pages, $12.63 through Amazon and Barnes & Noble)
A staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, she gives the refrigerator its due as a key ally in reducing food waste.
"When you use your refrigerator properly, the food lasts longer and gives you more time to use things up," Gunders said.
Wait, there's a wrong way to use a refrigerator?
For anyone who might mock that idea, you can get to the bottom of things by searching the lower levels of the appliance where the crisper drawers live.
"I was putting something away and I was thinking what are these dials here for?" Gunder said.
Turns out they serve a very important, if often misunderstood, function.
DEMYSTIFYING THE FRIDGE
The key to fresher fruits and vegetables runs deeper than simply keeping them separate. They need to be stored in the proper humidity. Open vents for low humidity, closed for high humidity.
Store ripe fruit in low humidity. This airflow allows more ethylene gas (given off by some ripened fruits) to escape and prevent nearby fruits from ripening and spoiling before they can be eaten. This is also a good place for mushrooms and vegetables like peppers that rot easily.
Store most vegetables in high humidity. Water provides structure in vegetables like broccoli, carrots and lettuce. They droop, soften and wilt as water escapes. A high-humidity environment slows the drying out process.
Other frig faux pas include:
- Storing deli meats in the cheese drawer. That is no place for a stick of summer sausage. Cheese should stand alone because it easily picks up undesirable flavors from other foods.
- Putting milk or eggs in the door. That is the warmest place in the refrigerator and should be used for less sensitive things like soda and condiments.
- Setting the dial down the middle. If your refrigerator doesn't have a built-in thermometer, use a refrigerator thermometer to ensure that the temperature is at or below 40 degrees F.
- Putting raw meat in unsafe spots. It's better to be on the bottom than top. This reduces the chances of it leaking and contaminating other foods. Use a rimmed baking sheet as an extra layer of defense.
Inspiration for writing an entire book about reducing food waste is rooted in Gunder's work with the New York-based environmental non-profit.
CASH IN THE TRASH
There's plenty of work to be done on that front. Anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of edible food gets tossed. In 2010, that amounted to trashing $161 billion.
It's all fine and good to try to shock-and-awe with big numbers but, let's bring the impact of food waste closer to home.
Grab six $20 bills. (Yes, millennials that means you need to find an ATM. We'll wait.) OK, now go to your kitchen and throw those bills into the garbage can. Now scrape the half-eaten mashed potatoes and gravy from a plate on top of Andrew Jackson's stoic face. Repeat monthly.
Gunders figures the average household of four wastes about $120 each month. Skeptical that the average American wastes that much? She provides instructions in her book on how to conduct your own household food waste audit.
CUT WASTE, SAVE MONEY
Boosting refrigerator knowledge is just a small part of the "Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook" that provides a bounty of checklists, infographics and tips aimed to maximize food usage. Because, let's face it, nobody buys food thinking, "Boy, I can't wait to throw this in the trash."
Need to know how much food to plan for a party? A two-page chart covers everything from hors d'oeuvres to dessert and drinks. That might come in handy for your Christmas or New Year's bash.
Remember that milk that didn't pass the sniff test? There's a pancake recipe for that and other recipes for other commonly tossed foods.
What table scraps are pet friendly? Oatmeal, yes. As long as it doesn't have raisins in it.
Finally, there's a directory of 85 foods and ingredients with information about optimal storage (including if it should be refrigerated or can be frozen), when a food is at its freshest, and use it up/revival tips. You can toast seeds of winter squash other than pumpkin, BTW. Which would be a nice addition to that salad made with lettuce that's still crisp because it's stored in the high-humidity crisper drawer.
Daniel Higgins writes about food and drink for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Email:daniel.higgins@gannettwisconsin.com,
Twitter andInstagram @HigginsEats,facebook.com/gwmdanhiggins.
Can You Put Deli Meat in a Crisper Drawer
Source: https://www.postcrescent.com/story/life/food/2016/11/20/avoid-these-common-fridge-faux-pas/91490644/