FOOD STORAGE - MYTHS FACTS AND FICTION

1. You should not store coffee in the freezer.

Oh pish-tush! For medium to long-term storage (more than a couple of weeks) this in fact the best place to store coffee. Coffee goes stale mainly because the oils in it (I am talking roasted coffee, whole beans or ground) react with oxygen in the air and go rancid, giving it a stale taste. One way to prevent this is to seal the coffee away from air — this is why coffee in cans and some bags is vacuum packed. The second way is with cold, which slows down chemical reactions. Cold, freezer, duh!

The reason I have heard for not storing coffee in the freezer is that it can absorb odors from the other food. Well, I dunno about you, but I wrap things tightly before they go in the freezer. Even if my leftover garlic and limburger tart comes unsealed, the coffee will be in a jar or zipper bag.

There is one situation when freezer storage may not be a good idea, and that when the weather is very humid and your kitchen is not air conditioned. Because moisture condenses on cold surfaces, there’s the risk of the coffee becoming moist when you take it out of the freezer to use. This would likely affect the coffee.

2. Bread becomes stale by drying out.

Stale bread...yuck. The crumb (the part inside) gets hard and stiff and the crust loses any crispness it might have had. Most people attribute this to drying out, but the opposite is in fact usually true. The bread is actually absorbing moisture, as shown by an increase in weight as the loaf goes from fresh to stale. The moisture absorbed by the crumb causes the starch granules to crystallize, hardening the bread. This is why the fridge is a bad place to store bread, even when it is well wrapped, because low temperatures speed up the starch crystallization process (although freezing bread is fine because starch crystals don’t form at freezer temperatures). It’s also why a brief visit to the oven can improve stale bread; the heat drives out some moisture and helps melt the starch crystals.

Bread can dry out, of course, but that’s another matter.

2. It’s OK to store flour and other ground grains in the pantry.

Whole grains contain a small amount of oil, and this is where the problem arises. Over time, the oil can become rancid, and this will have a negative effect on the flavor of the grain. White flour and white rice have been milled to remove the oil-containing parts, so they are OK at room temperature (this was in fact one of the main reasons behind the development of milling, to prolong storage life). Other items, such as whole wheat flour and brown rice, are better off stored in an air-tight container in the fridge, particularly for extended periods.


3. Frozen chicken lasts more or less forever.

Like many people, I used to think that chicken would last a long time in the freezer without any loss of quality (assuming it is properly wrapped to prevent freezer burn). Turns out this is not the case. Freezing chicken for more than about 2 months leads to a decrease in tenderness. The folks at Cooks Illustrated verified this using chicken breasts. Whether it’s true for dark meat is unclear. Of course, chicken will keep forever in the freezer (it won’t go bad), but the quality will suffer.

4. Store tomatoes in the fridge for best flavor.

Makes sense, right? Cold preserves food and slows down flavor loss for other foods, why not tomatoes? Turns out they’re unusual.

Flavor development in tomatoes depends on enzymatic activity that continues throughout the ripening process, even after picking. Chilling inhibits this process, resulting in less flavor. Chilling — meaning temperatures below about 55° — also can affect the texture in unpleasant ways. Store your ‘maters at room temperature.

Of course, many commercial tomatoes are so tasteless to start with that the deleterious effects of refrigeration won’t be noticed!

5. Butter must be kept refrigerated.

It seems to be almost universal, at least in the United States, for people to keep butter in the refrigerator. This is not really necessary if your kitchen stays relatively cool, say at 75° F or lower. The advantage is that the butter is not really hard when kept at room temperature, so it’s always ready to spread on muffins or toast. I really dislike tearing up a piece of toast trying to spread rock-hard butter on it! You can keep your butter in a butter bell, which uses a water seal to protect the butter from air, odors, and dust.

Of course, butter that you won’t be using soon should stay cold.

By Peter Aitken in " Kitchen Myths: Facts and Fiction about Food and Cooking", Tips Technical Publishing, USA, excerpts pp. 36-61. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

Share this post