Some foods seem to last forever and even get better with age. I mean, what could happen to olive oil? Brown rice also appears to be nutritious. Unfortunately, not all materials that look durable are actually durable. To avoid eating spoiled food, it’s a good idea to know which products need to have their dates checked regularly.
This guide to storing groceries in the refrigerator so they last longer will help. Below are five foods that spoil faster than you think – important information so you can gauge when it’s time to throw them away and consider a new jar, bag or bottle. If you have ingredients that need to be used up before they run out, try these nine cooking tricks that work.
olive oil
Aged olive oil won’t hurt, but the flavor profile will be lost.
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Oil seems to last forever, right? You might even think that olive oil gets better with age, but that’s not the case. On the other hand. Although olive oil has a fairly long shelf life once sealed – roughly 12 to 18 months – it begins to lose its potency as soon as it is bottled and especially after it is opened. While this doesn’t pose a health risk, over time the olive oil will lose its flavor or develop a taste that you definitely don’t want to drizzle on your barramundi.
This is especially useful if you have an expensive bottle of EVOO that you want to use sparingly. It’s best to choose it when its full flavor profile is still intact, within 60 days of breaking the seal. Remembering that fresh olive oil is good olive oil, it is also a good idea to check the bottle or harvest date before purchasing, as the taste will be lost before it is even opened.
Brown rice
Thanks to its higher oil content than white rice, raw brown rice only lasts three or four months in the kitchen.
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Brown rice is another pantry staple that tends to be shelf-stable, but should run out in a relatively short time. While white rice can last for years if stored in an airtight container, brown rice only lasts about three or four months before it starts to change color. This is mainly due to the higher oil content in brown rice.
Cooked rice, white or brown, has a shorter shelf life. If not refrigerated for 90 minutes, cooked rice poses a real risk of food poisoning.
mayonnaise
Mayo may seem like something you can store in the refrigerator for years, but it actually only lasts about two months.
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Mayo contains a healthy dose of vinegar, so you’d think it would last a long time. Not in this case. The eggs in mayonnaise make it susceptible to spoilage, so most mayonnaise should be used within about two months of opening. It’s best to just store it in the kitchen unopened for about three or four months.
The same goes for most salad dressings: about two or three months in the refrigerator after opening. Vinegar helps keep them in good condition over time, but other materials do not withstand the effects of time.
Spices
Spices that are no longer in tip-top condition won’t do any harm, but they won’t be of much help either.
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Even if the spices themselves don’t spoil, over time they will become useless, losing much of their flavor, even if stored in small, airtight jars. Try to avoid buying spices in large bottles and be selective in what you put in your basket. That’s one of the reasons I like it high quality spice mix, which I finish faster than a bottle of cardamom or cloves. (You can also grow some expensive spices at home, including turmeric.)
Wine
Red grapes, if stored properly, can last for decades. The same is not true for most white people.
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I know, wine gets better with age. This is true, but this is especially true for red wine, and all wine should be stored carefully, otherwise it will become something you don’t want to drink. I found this out the hard way when I got a suitcase for vacation. I might stack the bottles in a wine rack NO living room with temperature control. When I opened the lid less than a year later, the damage was already done.
Although some varieties can be aged, most white wines are best consumed within one to two years. To last this long, bottles of white wine should be stored away from light and at temperatures above 40 and below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. To prevent red wine from turning into wine vinegar, the key is to keep the wine cool and dark. Red wine should be stored away from direct light, at a temperature of 50 to 59 degrees F.
To check similar information for other foods, please use Food Guard Application from the Food and Drug Administration provides a list of recommended storage times and protocols for almost everything you can eat and drink.
2023-12-26 22:00:56
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