Fridge Tips

Keep the fridge at a cool 1 - 5 degrees and chilled food will stay fresh for longer. Our most perishable (and often most expensive) food is kept in the fridge, so keep tabs on their use-by dates - the freezer may be the option for food we won't get round to eating in time.

• Using up melons!

  Submitted by Womens Institute,

  Melon can be a great addition to your breakfast in the morning or as an afternoon or evening snack. Simply chop the melon into pieces and place them in an airtight container in the fridge. They should last up to 5 days.

• Bad apple!

  Submitted by Womens Institute,

  There's always one bad apple that spoils the barrel, so keep an eye on your fruit, seperate fruit which is ripening up more quickly than the others.

• Pepper Storage

  Submitted by Connie, Happyville

  If you are only using part of a green or red pepper, leave the stem, seeds and membrane intact, the pepper will store much longer than when you remove them.

• Salad storage

  Submitted by Cath Marsland, Stockport

  I threw away the drawers that came in the bottom of my fridge and replaced with long thin plastic sealable boxes now my salad ingredients stay fresher for days longer.

• Keeping Spinach/silverbeet fresh

  Submitted by Pip Clark, Sydney, Australia

  If you wash spinach and silverbeet well in cold water, shake off as much water as you can and store in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep fresh for longer. This method also revives old spinach.

• Bag it to preserve it!

  Submitted by Helen Williams, Farnham Common, Bucks.

  Debbie Meyer Green Bags are absolutely wonderful for keeping fruit and veg fresher for longer. Broccoli especially lasts far longer than usual - I used to throw out a lot of broccoli when it started turning brown.

• Fast Cool

  Submitted by Bev Donnison, Shropshire

  When I need to cool cooked food quickly, I put it on top of frozen freezer blocks like the ones for picnics, this cools the food quickly so it's less likely to get bugs in and can go into the freezer twice as quickly as just waiting to cool down.

• Keeping Lettuce Fresh

  Submitted by Michelle Talbot, Leeds

  When you buy an iceburg lettuce (it may work for others?) break it up with your hands and store it in the fridge in a bowl of cold water - it will stay fresh and crispy for much longer than normal.

• Stop veg going mouldy

  Submitted by Gilda , Shoreham by Sea

  I wrap lettuce, carrots, courgettes etc in kitchen paper then put them in plastic bags in the salad compartment of the fridge. They keep fresh for ages. The paper stops the condensation from softening the veg and stops mould.

• Keep salad fresh

  Submitted by James Wo, London, e1

  Keep salad in a paper bag, or in a plastic bag with a strip of kitchen roll. Keeps them moist, but not soggy!