In the modern era, there are few problems as infuriating as food waste. Every year, we deposit vast piles of perfectly serviceable food into landfills across the country. When a piece of food approaches its sell-by-date, we often err on the side of caution, and throw it in the bin. If there’s already a piece of mould growing on it – however small – then few of us bother to try and cut it out; better instead to bin the whole thing.
But if we were to go too far in the other direction, and eat things even when they look and smell suspect, then we run a perhaps even greater risk – that we might contract some unpleasant (and potentially very serious) illness like salmonella. If you’ve ever suffered from food poisoning, then you’ll understandably prefer to err on the side of caution when it comes to binning suspect food.
By properly storing food, we can help to eliminate both of these problems. Let’s take a look at some of the things we might do to achieve this.
Check the temperature of your fridge regularly
It should come as no surprise to anyone that a fridge needs to be able to maintain a stable temperature if it’s to do its job effectively. If said temperature should fluctuate wildly and constantly, then the food inside will go bad before its time.
In order to avoid this, it’s best to occasionally monitor the temperature of your fridge. Many fridges – particularly those in commercial premises where bad food can have legal consequences – come with built in thermometers, which allow this to be done easily – but cheap thermometers can easily be placed on the inside of your fridge, allowing you to quickly check the temperature every time you look inside. A temperature of around four degrees Celsius is ideal – temperature significantly higher might indicate a problem.
Sell by versus Use by versus Best Before
It’s worth addressing a point of confusion concerning the dates written on the side of food packages. ‘Sell by’ dates are there as a non-binding instruction to the shop; it’s still safe to eat food after it’s passed its ‘sell by’ date. ‘Best before’ dates serve a similar purpose – they’re attached to things like salad, and tell us when we should ideally eat a food by.
‘Use by’ dates, on the other hand, are there for the consumer. After something has gone past it’s use-by date, it’s recommended that you bin it.
Don’t place hot food straight into your fridge
When you finish cooking a nice hot meal, whether it’s a bolognaise, a rendang or a chili-con-carne, you might find that you’ve made too much to eat in one sitting, and that you’re going to keep some for later. So, why not put the food straight into the fridge, piping hot?
Well, the trouble is that you fridge will have to work overtime in order to bring the hot food back down to temperature. And while this is happening, your hot meal will be radiating heat onto the surrounding items in the fridge – severely impacting its performance.
That said, it’s inadvisable to leave leftover food out for too long before storing it. Ideally, leave it for no longer than ninety minutes – and consume it within a couple of days.
Don’t put open cans in the fridge
Tins of fruit, soups or coconut milk are rarely, if ever, consumed all in one go. You may be tempted to put the remainder in the fridge, but doing so is inadvisable, as the seal has been broken on the top of the can, allowing rust to creep in on the inside – causing tiny particulates of metal to break off and mingle with the food within. In order to avoid the health problems this can cause, be sure to transfer food from opened cans into a suitable container, or into a bowl with cling-film stretched over the top.
Where to store eggs?
There is some debate over exactly where it’s best to store eggs. While many choose to store theirs at ambient temperatures, it’s probably marginally safer to chill yours in the fridge, especially if you live in a hot climate.
What about meat?
Meat – and particularly white meat – is something that can easily spread bacteria around your fridge. Be sure that any raw meat is kept in a sealed container, and that it’s on the bottom shelf of the fridge, in order to avoid any drips. Remember that bacteria can easily spread up and out of a container that isn’t properly sealed. When you do keep raw meat and poultry in a sealed container, you might notice condensation forming on the bottom of the lid – that’s the moisture from the meat that would otherwise be spreading across your fridge, taking all of the bacteria with it.
If you’re going to store cooked meat as leftovers, then be sure to keep it entirely separate from any raw meat you have in the fridge.
Freezing
Thus far, we’ve mostly concentrated on the fridge. But the freezer is another excellent way to keep food for much longer than its sell-by date. In order to use a freezer safely and effectively, however, you’ll need to follow a few basic principles.
Naturally, there’s no point in freezing food which has already passed its use-by date. Ideally, you’ll want to freeze your food on the day of purchase. If you’ve just bought an enormous side of beef, for example, you might want to carve it in two and keep one half in the freezer, and the other in the fridge for immediate cooking.
Be sure to defrost meat thoroughly before you come to cook it. You’ll want to keep it in the fridge to prevent it from exceeding the safe temperature, and to store it in a bowl in order to catch all of the bacteria-rich juice which will inevitably come from the bottom as it thaws. Once the meat has thawed, never re-freeze it: instead cook it within two days.
I decided to start with the existing bed, and go from there, so I planted what I had a little (retrospectively) too haphazardly, but never mind – it’s year one, and a huge learning curve. 
In the middle of the herbs I’ve put some Kale, and so far they’ve avoided white fly, and have been producing beautifully, so that’s great news!
