Make your food go further

10 top tips for keeping food fresh without a fridge

1. Keep onions in paper bags: Make a few holes into several paper bags, separating the different types of onion you have, such as white and red. As an additional tip, if you have any leftover avocado, place it in any of the bags with the onion and it will stop it from going off.
2. Keep peanut butter jars upside down – To stop the liquid from separating from the peanut butter simply keep the jar upside down and you won’t have to ever stir it again.
3. Remove pineapple tops – Cut the top of your pineapple off and keep it upside down. This helps the pineapple’s sugars that have sunk to the bottom redistribute and keeps the pineapple fresh.
4. Keep your sugar soft – After a packet of brown sugar has been opened it often goes hard. Unless you’re a keen baker you’re going to need to store it. Keep your sugar soft by keeping it in an airtight jar, and placing a marshmallow in the top of it. The marshmallow helps retain the sugar’s moisture.
5. Put spring onions in a water bottle – Once you get your spring onions chop them up and place them in a water bottle. Then place the water bottle in the freezer. Get the spring onion you want as and when from the freezer and return the rest.
6. Make asparagus last longer – Don’t keep it in the fridge. Place your asparagus in a glass with an inch of water, like you would with flowers. This keeps them well hydrated and prevents wilting.
7. Store apples and potatoes together – Normally, storing anything with apples speeds up the ripening process. However, with potatoes, the ethylene gas apples emit stops potatoes from sprouting.
8. Drying food – Before refrigerators this was one of the ways people used to make food last. Bacteria thrive in moisture, so drying food out stops mould from growing. You can buy a food dehydrator and then rehydrate food when you need it by soaking it in water for several hours.
9. Get a refrigerator which doesn’t use electricity – The MittiCoolrefrigerator is made of clay and keeps food cool using evaporation. The water which is evaporated can then be drunk via a tap on top.
10. Long term storage for veg – Fill a draw with sand and place any vegetables in. The sand prevents moisture from rotting your veg, making them last for months.