Take the guesswork out of freezing food with our guide
Representational image. (Photo: visualphotos.com)
While we try to cram everything eatable inside our refrigerator, especially during summer, here is a list of foodstuff that can safely be kept outside:
Eggs
You usually do not need to refrigerate your eggs. But if you are not sure about the source of your eggs, you might want to if you are worried about salmonella.
Cake
Some cakes need to be refrigerated, but doing so can cause them to become dried out. Cakes with no frosting, or that have been frosted with a simple buttercream or ganache, are good left out (in an airtight container) for three days.
Butter
Spreading hard butter on a piece of fragile toast requires skill and wizardry rarely accessible during the groggy morning rush; which is why a lot of people like to keep their butter out. But given that it’s a dairy product, some fear that it will sour and quickly become rancid. The USDA’s food safety hotline says that, in fact, leaving your butter out is fine.
Bread
If you like hard bread, keep it in the fridge. If you like soft, flavourful bread, keep it at room temperature. The refrigerator will keep your bread from getting moldy, but it will also dry it out.
Tomatoes
Chilling tomatoes breaks down the sugars, acids and aroma-producing compounds that give them their beautiful flavour; the cold also damages the fruit’s cell structure, resulting in that unpleasant texture.
Condiments
Ketchup and mustard packages advise that they should be refrigerated after opening, but there’s enough acid in both of them. Leaving them out won’t put you at risk for foodborne illness, but they will only keep for about a month until their flavour and texture start to deteriorate, so it depends on how frequently you use them.
Source: www.mnn.com
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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