How do I keep my food fresher for longer?
Helen, Burford, Oxfordshire
“You’ve got to start at the very beginning, as they say in The Sound of Music,” says Debora Robertson, author of Notes from a Small Kitchen Island. And that means your shopping list, Helen. “A lot of our problem is buying too much in one go – you set yourself up to fail.” Of course, shopping little and often isn’t always practical, but, as Robertson advises, “if we could curb our instinct to overbuy, that would give us a fighting chance.” A meal plan might help as well, but you don’t need to be too rigid: “Just jot down a few ideas of what you might cook throughout the week, and be realistic about how much you’re going to need.”
Another thing to bear in mind is your fridge and its environment. “I have an independent thermometer, because often fridges aren’t as cold as you think,” says Robertson, who keeps hers at between 3C and 5C. Then, when unpacking your big shop (ie, when the fridge door is open a fair bit), take advantage of the “supercool” setting (if you have one). “You don’t want to use it too much, though, because it’s quite expensive to run.” And don’t pack the fridge to the rafters, either, Robertson adds: “You want air to be able to circulate, so it works at its optimum efficiency.”
