With Christmas behind us, fridges across the UK are brimming with leftover stuffing, turkey, ham and veg.
New research has shown that many of us are not storing the extra trimmings correctly. One chef has revealed that our Christmas leftovers must be eaten to a specific deadline.
According to chef Anna Williams, all extra food should be eaten within three to four days of storing and should be chucked if still in the fridge by New Year's Eve. By this calculation, the absolute last day the festive dishes can be eaten is this Thursday.
The professional is also warning home cooks not to put hot food into a cold fridge as doing this can spur bacteria growth.
Anna has urged against over-packing the appliance and has shared some industry tips on how to safely store leftovers.
She explained: "The important thing to remember is to make sure food is refrigerated within 2 hours to prevent bacteria growth. But hot food should be brought down to room temperature to prevent your fridge over working and potentially spoiling other food items."
The advice comes following research from appliance retailer AEG, which shows that a third of Brits don't know how to correctly store cooked foods, with those aged 16 to 24 being the worst culprits.
More than two fifths of the age group think hot believe hot food can be immediately stored in the fridge, compared to just 13 per cent of those aged 55 and over.
"Store any leftovers in an airtight container, but make sure to place the lid on when the item is cold to prevent condensation and bacteria forming," Williams continued.
"Make sure to eat the leftovers within 3-4 days, so a good rule of thumb is before New Year's. If you don’t think you will eat it in that time, freeze on the day of making to try and lock in as much nutritive content as possible."
Improper storage may force households to throw out food, despite keeping leftovers to prevent food waste. But Anna said that Christmas food doesn't have to be served as is and can make tasty additions to other meals.
She added: "If you're worried about food waste, many aspects of a Christmas dinner can be used for other dishes, a popular choice is vegetable stew or a classic bubble and squeak.
"I like to be creative with food, if I don't have all the ingredients, I just substitute with something I have similar and often end up with an even better twist to a favourite dish.”
When stored correctly, Christmas leftovers can be used to create tasty leftover dishes. A chef recently shared how to make tasty Brussel sprouts from those still in the pot.
The professional explained that his recipe uses an ingredient that makes reused sprouts taste like "liquid gold".
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