How long will things keep for?

hi everyone

i'm not too sure whether this is the right section for my post... though i thought it was the most appropriate one.

Anyway, I've got a little problem: At the moment, I'm living in a house share in the North East of the country. And I'll be leaving for abroad roughly at the end of May/beginning of June for about 3 months. After that, i'll be back and start a new job, yet I don't know where. As I don't want to (and can't) take all my belongings overseas with me, I'll be storing most of it at someone else's. This is not a problem so far. But now i wonder, since i'll obviously have food left in my kitchen as well, what am I gonna do with that? I mean, I guess things like pasta, rice etc. should be fine after being stored in a cardboard box for 3 months. But what about other things? Yes, I am aware that milk, yoghurts, cheese and all that will go off. And frozen food is presumably not such a good idea either
But then there's things like eg an opened jar of mustard. I know that keeps forever... in the fridge! But what about room temperature? Or crackers, biscuits, nuts and all that. Ketchup, mayonnaise, ... And with that, the bb date doesn't really help either, when it says keep refrigerated. I mean, i've got soooo many things to use up in such a short time anyway, and i don't really want to have to bin everything. But then again, my friend might not be such a good friend anymore if my bits'n'pieces start smelling weird after a while
Maybe there's some more experienced people here that can help me with these questions? I'm only young and have so much yet to learn, you see...


Thx in advance & regards


Sarah

Hello Sarah,

like you I shy away from throwing things away but sometimes there really is no option but to get rid one way or another.

I would use up as much as possible by inviting people to a 'farewell leftover meal' ( I do that regularly before going on holiday and some of the food combinations are fantastic and a great talking point).

Anything else I would offer to people to take home. Leftover unopened tins and packages are also always very welcome at your local homeless shelter.

Greetings to the North East

Busylisy

I agree with busylissy,

you better don't keep a fridge or deep freezer running while you are abroad. So except from dry pasta, flour, salt, sugar and unopened tins, unopened tomato puree or mustard tubes etc. I would not recommend to keep anything. You never know, whether electricity fails and the food starts unfreezing in your fridge/freezer.

The idea of a farewell leftover meal is a wonderful one; and besides this, you should start right now to use as much of your supplies as you can. And when you give away the remainders, your friends could fill up your fridge in return when you come back.

susa

Hi,
there was an interesting show on TV not so long ago about just this topic. How long you can keep leftovers in the fridge depends on the type of food and the container you store it in. I can't remember all of it, but anything with mayonnaise, chicken and Asian take-away food should not be kept more than 1 day.
Before I go on holidays I give all perishable food to friends.

Ingrid

Hi Sarah.

Throw a party.

from Connecticut,

LazarusLong

You might also like this idea: Here in Germany there is a charity organization, collecting food from supermarkets, green-grocers etc. which is no longer marketable but still o.k. and give it away for free to people in need. They also accept packed food from private persons (for hygienic reasons no opened packages, raw or cooked food).

Maybe there is a similar organization where you live and they might be happy to receive your food supplies.

susa

Hey Sarah,

I think the going-away party as mentioned above is your best bet. Am I right in presuming your question mostly refers to packages and jars that have been opened, but not finished? Especially things like mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup shouldn't be kept at room temperature for too long, they might come alive... And biscuits/chips etc. will go stale.

Have fun travelling!

kat

hi everyone

and thx a lot for the answers!
I guess, i've not really made myself clear about what i wanted, so sorry! I know that I have no chance to keep things that need to be refrigerated or even frozen. I won't be able to use a fridge/freezer where i will be storing my stuff. My problem (or uncertainty) is much rather that i don't know WHAT I can keep for 3 months that won't require any cooling etc. For example, I assume dry things such as flour, sugar, salt, pulses, pasta, rice, ... will keep well (of course, if the packet is opened, i'll refill them into an airtight container. But what about cereal, coffee (might be a silly one to ask, but mine has never had to last longer than a week, I'm a coffeeholic ), honey, etc. And then there's things like OPEN jars of jam, mustard, ketchup, pesto... which i normally keep in my fridge. But i just wondered whether they would keep without one. Apparently not though, as to what kat said!?

Your ideas of a 'goodbye party' or giving food away to friends are great! However... (i know, i am difficult to satisfy ) The thing is that the semester is finished. And that means that its not only me who's leaving but basically everyone (or at least all of my friends) is. So there's a party every night from now on everyday anyway plus i've got a million exams that I should do some revision for instead of throwing parties
And since everyone else is leaving as well, they're not quite as happy about being given stuff as you would normally be
The thing with charity sounds good, though i'm not sure whether it's actually worth catching the bus there & back (which will presumably cost me more than what my leftovers will be worth ) for a handful of items. But i'll see what my friends say, they might like the idea, too, &want to join in.

Thanks a lot again for all your help, i really didn't expect so many friendly people to reply in such a short time. This site's quality!

regards


Sarah

Oh, and kat: I wish it was travelling i'll be doing for three months. But i'll be going abroad to do all those obligatory family visits instead (I do love my family really )

and: have you ever kept chips so long until they went stale? Don't they go off before they could go stale?

My (our) pleasure, Sarah


maybe the following list helps a little bit

Flour, cereals (in whole grains, unground), rice should be stored in air-tight containers, better than just keeping them in their paper bags. Otherwise there is the danger that they might catch flour moths. Then they will last for half a year or even longer.

Nuts and oatmeal can become rancid; once a box or bag is opened, use it within a couple of weeks, as long as it is sealed refer to the best before date. The same for chips and other oily stuff.

No problems with sugar, salt, pasta (w/o egg), it will last a couple of years.

Honey will last for ages, even in an opened jar (they have found honey in the Egyptian pyramides, which was more than 5000 years old and they said that it was still good ); there is also no problem with mustard. Jam or marmelade should not be kept, once the jar is opened, it will molder. In a sealed jar it will also last for many years; when my Grandma died, we found home-made marmelades and jellies in her cellar which were 10 years old, it was perfectly ok - well it didn't taste very fruity, but you could mix it with cream or yoghurt.

Cans, preserved vegetables in jars etc. - refer to best before date.

Maybe this helps a bit

have a nice stay abroad and come back safe and sound

susa

hi there susa

wow, ta a lot for your help, that's brill, exactly what i needed! Like this, i now have an idea of what i've gotta use up first & what will last over the summer (a bit of an idea, at least). There's still a few separate items im not sure about but if thats ok ill bother you about that closer to d-day, if i haven't managed to use 'em up by then. Cheers a lot again, you're all great help 'ere!

regards


Sarah

Another tip: never ever wrap hot or warm food in cling wrap and then put it in the fridge, especially meat. It will produce moisture which in turn breeds germs.

You should take away things/foods that will not last for 3 months in room temperature. It could be hard but since you are just going to store it in someone else, it might be the better idea.

Also, keep things out that you are not actually needing any more, even when you come back.

Honey is the only food that never goes off even though it goes hard. Most jars have the instructions on how long to store after opening on the side panels but often in very small print. For your own safety never eat rice that has been boiled at home and cooled the following day, can be nasty as it forms spores that you can not kill in reheating. Commercially prepared frozen rice has been blast frozen from hot and has not had time to form spores which can cause nasty food poisoning.

Although people do reheat the chinese or indian from the take away, you should not because it probably was a reheat when you bought it and was out at room temperature for quite a while.

Tinned food should be stored in containers in a fridge not the tins, which can also react when open and poison you.

Simply do not take risks with food if you are not sure. Local councils and shops give out booklets on food safety so look out for them.

Learn the difference between best before and use by. Use by is definite. Best before is when it will be best but may last a lot longer as in your veg and fruit. Meat fish and dairy are more definite as they can perish very quickly and not always smell when they are full of nasties.

Just read labels and be careful, If in doubt chuck it out. x