how long does food last in the fridge

In this article, I will teach you how to store food so that it does not lose its properties or go bad.

When you want to eat healthy, getting organized in the kitchen is key.

If you plan a weekly menu in advance and leave some preparations (or almost all) ready, you will ensure that in those moments when you do not have much time or when you are exhausted and do not feel like cooking, you will continue to eat well.

It’s all an advantage.

You don’t have to be thinking 24/7 about what to prepare for breakfast, lunch, dinner…

You hardly waste any time during the week in the kitchen, because you just have to heat up, combine food or do something else quickly.

And, in addition, you save money, because when you go shopping, you only buy the food you need for the menu you have planned.

But what happens is that when we talk about leaving food ready or buying in advance, there is something that does worry us and that usually puts us off a lot: food preservation.

How long does food last without spoiling?

That’s why, in this article, we’re going to talk about all of this so that you can organize yourself in the kitchen with total peace of mind and without the worry of eating something spoiled or having to throw it away.

So keep reading and I’ll tell you.

Food preservation: what temperature should it be at and where?

This is important to prevent the development of bacteria and contamination that can lead to food poisoning, which is something we don’t want!

According to the OCU (Consumers and Users Organization), the ideal temperature would be the following:

Below -18ºC in the freezer. In the refrigerator, meat, and fish bear between 1 and 4ºC, and the rest at 5ºC.

Keep in mind that the coldest part of the refrigerator is the one closest to the freezer.

Some refrigerators tell you the temperature of each shelf, but others don’t. In the latter, you can find out by placing a thermometer in a glass of water on each shelf.

My advice is that even if it takes you a little longer to put away your groceries, don’t put them away lightly and think about where each food item should go.

How you should store food so that it is preserved.

The OCU advises the following:

Less cold areas: drinks, sauces, eggs, fruits and vegetables that need refrigeration…
Areas with intermediate cold: yogurts, sausages, pre-cooked dishes, etc.
Colder areas: fish and fresh meat should always be kept separate (they should not come into contact).

It is also important not to overload the refrigerator so that the cold reaches everywhere.

Okay, knowing this, now let’s see how long some of the foods you use most frequently can be kept both in the refrigerator and in the freezer.

Take note!

Shelf life of raw foods in the refrigerator and freezer.

Special case: vegetables and fruits.

This often raises a lot of doubts because it is true that there are some that should not be stored in the refrigerator because they lose properties due to the cold, but there are others that should be stored so that they do not spoil.

There are even fruits that can be left at room temperature to ripen at first but then stored in the refrigerator.

Here are some examples:

In the fridge: blueberries, strawberries, apples, green leaves, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, green beans…
Out of the fridge ONLY until ripe: pears, avocados, kiwis, peaches…
In the pantry: bananas, plantains, lemons, tangerines, watermelon, potatoes, pumpkin, peppers…

Shelf life of cooked foods in the refrigerator and freezer.

Here I have left you a list of the most common ones, but if you want to know about any other specific food, you can look it up.Inn the Foodkeeper app at FoodSafety.gov.

Shop with food preservation in mind to save time and money.

When you shop without taking into account what you are going to eat during the week and the storage times of the food, you end up throwing away a lot of food because it is not eaten and it goes bad.

This, in addition to contributing to the large amounts of food wasted each year, means an extra expense.

So what I recommend is that before buying you think about these two things.

For example, I buy vegetables and fruit weekly, because they don’t freeze and since I don’t want them to go bad, I don’t buy extra.

But in the case of meat and fish, which I have the option of freezing, I do buy them every two weeks.

Another thing I recommend is that if you have frozen meals, make the weekly menu thinking about them because you have already seen that they do not last forever and in the end, we have them there forgotten when they save our lives on those days when we do not have time.

The same goes for things you have in the fridge that are still good.

Another mistake when shopping is breaking the cold chain of food. It is important to:

When you go shopping, first take the foods that are not refrigerated, those that do not need to be kept cold. And finally the frozen ones.
If you are going to be late getting home, it is a good idea to keep them in an insulated bag so they don’t lose their coldness.
And once you get home, do the reverse process of what you did at the supermarket. First, put away the frozen items, then the fresh items, and finally what goes in the pantry.

In short, when you go shopping you have to take into account what you are going to eat during the week, what you already have in the fridge and freezer, and the storage times of the food. This way you can make sure that you are only buying what you need and that it will not spoil.

Other things to keep in mind are to improve food preservation.

Don’t put cooked food in the fridge for too long. As soon as it stops burning, you can put it away. It doesn’t have to be cool outside. Be very careful with this, especially in summer.

Store cooked foods, or fresh meat and fish, in well-sealed and separate containers.

Avoid food touching each other to avoid cross-contamination. For example, in the case of fruits and vegetables, it is also better not to have them together, because some fruits produce ethylene that damages vegetables.

Change the container of opened preserves.

When you are going to freeze them, write down the date you stored them so you can see how long they will last and prevent them from accumulating.

Preparations that you can make in batch cooking taking into account food preservation.

Well, after everything you have learned throughout the article, we return to the beginning.

As I was saying, one of the keys to eating healthy is to get organized and prepare your meals in advance, so that when you have less time, you can make sure you eat well and don’t end up eating anything fast and ultra-processed.

And since you already know how to properly preserve food, you have no excuses for not getting started on this.

What meals can you leave ready?

Stews made with legumes, me, a,t and fish are great. You can eat them during the week because they keep well for a few days and you can even make a larger quantity and freeze it for other times.