Storing fresh food items and ingredients in the wrong place around your kitchen could cause it to go off much faster and lead to unnecessary food waste. By learning a little about what causes food to go off and moving your ingredients accordingly could add months onto their use-by date, ultimately saving you money.
Garlic is a fresh ingredient that can be used to add flavour to a vast array of dishes, but one which people commonly store in the wrong place.
According to Vlatka Lake, the storage expert from storage brand Space Station, keeping garlic in a space that is too warm or sunny could mean that it goes off. Therefore if you commonly pop your garlic on your kitchen counter or even chuck it into the fruit bowl after unpacking your shopping, you could be wasting months of use.
The same rules apply to onions and shallots, all of which do not do well in warm or sunny environments. Vlatka says that simply by moving these allium family members you could get up to six extra months before they go off.
“These should be stored in a cool, dry and well-ventilated place out of direct sunlight as moisture, light and lack of circulating air may lead to mould and sprouting,” explained Vlatka.
“As with potatoes, many people choose to store them in their garage, as it’s cooler.”
Vlatka added: “If stored correctly, a whole head of garlic could last for up to half a year, however, once you break apart the cloves, their shelf life drastically decreases, typically lasting from two to three weeks.”
Interestingly, experts from Real Simple advise keeping garlic away from the fridge. They said: “Garlic is best kept in a cool (not cold) place, so avoid putting it in the refrigerator unless you plan to use it all within a few days.”
If you do find that you’ve broken off a few more cloves than you need while cooking, Real Simple advises storing these cloves alongside any full bulbs of garlic.
“Just store the unpeeled cloves with the remaining heads of garlic and thank yourself for getting that one step ahead. Again, keep any cloves out of direct sunlight so they remain as fresh as possible,” they said.
“If you notice that your garlic cloves have begun to sprout, don’t worry! You can still use garlic that sprouts, but be sure to cut off any green shoots.”
