Food Storage: Refrigerator & Freezer

[oldhouseman]

I'm sure most everybody here is familar with food storage guidelines but I wanted to share this. As someone who reads food packaging labels very close I found it interesting. I printed it out to put by the 'fridge as my partner and I are constantly disagreeing on storage times.

http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC3522.htm

 

[frigilux]

I'm always amazed at how many refrigerators I come in contact with aren't kept cold enough. Get a refrigerator thermometer and keep your fridge below 40-degrees!

 

[oldhouseman]

I think

I will put a copy of this in the staff lounge. To save power the refriderator is barely cool inside.

 

[rp2813]

We just recently purchased a new counter-depth KitchenAid "Architect Series" side by side. It has a digital readout inside at the top of the refrigerator cabinet that provides temps of fridge and freezer sections. We have it set at 37 for the fridge and 0 for the freezer. It seems to be spot-on at keeping things at those temps and has way less fluctuation in that regard compared to our older KA SxS that we left behind at the house we sold.

This is great info Greg, and I agree you need to have your fridge at work cold enough to prevent problems. If it's anything like the situations I've seen in my office experiences, things can sit in those fridges forgotten for quite a while and if the fridge isn't cold enough to start with, the spoilage potential goes soaring.

 

[sudsmaster]

Useful article.

I'd like to add the value of a vacuum sealer. These are very useful, especially for stuff like cheeses. You know, that cheese that never seems to mold when left in the unopened store wrapper, but quickly develops mold after you open it. The reason is simple: mold requires oxygen to grow, and a vacuum sealed bag doesn't allow it much if any oxygen. What I sometimes do is buy a big 5 lb loaf of my favorite cheese, then cut it into 1 lb sections, and vacuum seal each one of those separately into oxygen-proof plastic vacuum bags. These will keep in the fridge for as long as the store bought wrappers would have kept them. And even longer if you freeze them, although I've found freezing ruins the texture of some cheeses.

Most foods last longer in the freezer, as well, if vacuum packed. This prevents freezer burn, as long as the vacuum stays intact.

Lastly, bread products store relatively well in the freezer for a month or two. They get less stale that way than if they were stored in the fridge for even a brief time. I routinely freeze bagels for use later.

One last point: some people think that freezing kills bacteria and mold. Well, not true. It does retard their growth, and might even kill some, but their spores are not deactivated by freezing and will quickly multiply and cause food poisoning if thawed and the food was spoiled before it was frozen in the first place. Plus, the toxins are not changed by freezing anyway.