Tips for Safe Storing and Processing Leftovers

Cook too much or deliberately cook for more than one meal, making you need to save excess cooking. In order to stay healthy, storing and warming food should not be done haphazardly. Let's find out how! Besides being able to save expenses, storing food that is cooked to be reheated is a practical way that can help you when you're in a hurry. However, you also need to pay attention to several things so that the nutritional content and quality of these leftovers are maintained, and do not trigger disease.

How to Store Leftover Food Well

If you want to save it, you should save the leftovers in less than 2 hours after cooking, to avoid the growth of bacteria in food. Unless the food is kept warm, like a buffet. In addition, there are several other guidelines that need to be followed to maintain the nutritional content and flavor of stored dishes, including:

• Store leftovers in the refrigerator

Store leftover food in the refrigerator at temperatures below 5 ° C, to maintain food quality. This temperature is safe for storing food for 3 to 4 days.

• Avoid storing leftovers for more than 4 days

If you want to store food for more than 4 days, you should put it in the freezer. In a frozen state, food can be stored for up to 3-4 months. But the longer it is stored, the taste and aroma of food can change.

• Label the date on the leftovers

The aim is to identify which foods are first stored and when they expire. Place the longest food on the front.

• Prepare special containers for meat and milk

Cooking made from meat or containing milk needs to be stored in a tightly closed container. At least wrapped in plastic or aluminum foil.

• Separate dishes in several containers

If there are many dishes to be stored, separate them in several containers. Provide space between containers, so that cold temperatures can be spread evenly.

• Store food in small sizes

Cut large foods, such as whole chicken, into several pieces before storing, to save space in the container.

No less important, you also have to always keep the kitchen clean by cleaning it regularly, including ensuring the cleanliness of the refrigerator as a place to store food.

How to Safely Process and Warm Leftovers

If you have leftovers, you can use them to be processed into other dishes. For example, the remaining white rice last night can be processed into fried rice for breakfast. Another example, if you have red onions and garlic that has been cut off, or chopped meat and sausage, you can add it to the omelette to make an omelette. This method can also be used on leftover fruits or those that have not been consumed. For example, bananas that are too ripe can be processed into banana cake. Avocados that are too ripe can also be processed into smoothies, by adding cream. The easiest, you can make juice from the remaining fruits. Maybe you have been wondering, is it safe and healthy to warm food that has been stored in the refrigerator? The answer, as long as it is stored and warmed in the right way, the food is safe for consumption. To avoid food poisoning due to bacterial contamination, it is recommended to warm the food until the temperature reaches more than 70 ° C evenly. Then keep food at that temperature, for at least 2 minutes. You can measure food temperature using a special food thermometer. The longest time to warm food is two hours. Because the longer the heat, the nutrients in food will be reduced. Microwave is one of the right tool choices for warming food, because it can warm food in a short amount of time, so that not too much nutrients are lost. Then can food that has been stored and warmed be stored again? It's okay, as long as you keep paying attention to the guidelines above. But rather than leaving any leftover food that has been warmed up, it's better to take as many servings as you need for one meal. The rest you can save again to be warmed next time. So that there are no leftovers, you can plan your menu before shopping. That way, you can set how many ingredients you have to buy, and how many dishes you have to make. Although it can be stored, of course food will be more delicious and healthy if consumed not long after cooking.