Food Storage Suggestions?

[logstaa]

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to store meats and vegetables so they stay fresh for as long as possible. I want to keep my trips to the grocery store few and far between.

Great site, by the way

[ryan]

hmm.

i always bought fish and meat fresh that day (i guess im lucky im within walking distance to the food store)

but to answer your question i got this from the wiki

"Meat

Unpreserved meat has only a relatively short life in storage. Pork should be eaten within one day but beef and venison improve with up to 5 days storage in a cold room. Dry aging techniques are sometimes used to tenderize specialty gourmet meats by hanging them in carefully controlled environments for up to 21 days. Semi-dried meats like salamis and country style hams are processed first with salt, smoke, sugar, or acid, or other "cures" then hung in cool dry storage for extended periods, sometimes exceeding a year.

[edit] Fish and shellfish

It is unsafe to store fish or shellfish without preservation. Fresh shellfish and whitefish should be eaten within a few hours of harvesting.."

so i guess your best bets are to go with smoked meats or meats loaded with preservatives. although i dont think the ones meant for long shelf life are the best for you.

[riot]

We usually buy meat when it's on sale and freeze it. For example, we buy about 6-9 lbs. of hamburger meat (ground chuck, round, etc.) that's solf in about 3 lb packages and repackage it in quart size freezer bags with about 1 lb in each bag. Try to get as much air out of the bag as you can. Having 1 lb bags is great for when we make various recipes because they normally call for 1 or 2 lbs at a time. This will normally last us about a month.

Another thing we do often is purchase a whole pork loin and have it divided (most supermarkets have a butcher that will do this while you wait) up into thin pork chops, thick pork chops, tenderloins, and/or keeping a part whole for a roast. Again once it's home, we divide it up with 2-3 chops/tenderloins per quart sized bag and the roast in a gallon sized bag. Try to get as much air out of the bag as you can. Again we try to use this within 1 or 2 months.

If you're storing for longer than a couple of months, either wrap the meat tightly in foil before placing in the freezer bags or purchase one of those vacuum seal devices that sucks all the air from the bag.

For fish or other seafood, the only recommendation I can give is to buy it pre-frozen. Unless you do a lot of fishing and need to freeze what you catch, buying fresh fish at the store only to freeze it seems silly to me.

This website has more information about freezing meat.

Here's a website that talks about storing vegetables.

[Admin]

Great info Riot

Thanks

[iblumenfeld]

Any advice for vegetables? I seem to have some sort of natural talent for buying great stuff only to have it start rotting within two days, no matter how I store it.

[Admin]

I usually bake allot of vegetables zucchini, yellow squash, onion, tomatoes mushroom.... on the weekend with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosary salt pepper and eat it during the week. Sometimes I will cook chicken or sausage with it to enhance the flavor. If it is already cooked and ready to eat you will probably use it quicker.

Cheers

[usetheforce]

What kind of sausage do you bake with your veggies?

[Admin]

I just try to get stuff that is natural no weird nitrates or preservatives.