Cold Storage

A few weeks ago, I was in New York’s Flatiron district with some time to kill.  I wandered into Fishs Eddy on Broadway to take a look around when I found an interesting item.  It was a simple cotton dishtowel with two charts inscribed on the front listing the cold storage durations for everything from meats and poultry to eggs and dairy.  As I looked it over, I came to realize the sheer practicality of such information and how little of it I could cite from memory. Countless times I’ve have pulled something from the fridge or freezer and wondered if it was still safe to consume.  Yet I didn’t have any handy reference on which to rely.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in six Americans will become ill due to foodborne pathogens. That amounts to 48 million people. Of those, 128,000 will be hospitalized, and 3,000 will die.  It’s shocking. Yet how many people know how long an egg will keep in the refrigerator? (3-5 weeks) Or an uncooked piece of chicken? (1-2 days)  And what about raw fish vs. cooked vs. smoked (1-2, 3-4 and 14 days, respectively).

It’s bad enough when contaminates enter your food before you’ve purchased them, but it’s no less dangerous, or disheartening, when they are the result of improper handling within the confines of your own home.  No one wants to send a dinner guest home with food poisoning because of spoiled food.  That’s why it’s important to have this information readily available.

I have posted a more complete chart in my Notes section, which also includes cold storage durations for fish and shell fish.  The chart was assembled by NSF International and is sourced from both the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA or The Food Marketing Institute. Bookmark it in your favorites and you’ll always have it available to quickly look up on your computer.

If you’re interested in the cold storage dish towel, it’s manufactured by Simple Memory Art and is sold as part of a set of two – the second towel lists measuring conversions. They retail for about $20, but Fishs Eddy will sell the cold storage towels separately for about $11.  It makes a great lining for a food-related gift basket and is indispensible for a son or daughter who is just rolling out of the nest.

If you would like a one-page reference sheet to keep handy in your kitchen, click on the image below.  It will take you to a .pdf version that can be printed onto an 8×10 sheet of paper.  This chart was created by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s International Food Safety Council.  Slip it into a plastic sleeve and keep it near the fridge.

Here are a few more tips for safe handling of perishable foods:

• Your refrigerator should be kept at 40°F, and your freezer should be kept at 0°F.  It’s a good idea to check these temperatures regularly with an appliance thermometer.  You can pick one up at most kitchen stores for about $10.
• If you store food in re-useable plastic or glass containers, get yourself a couple of “old school” grease pencils.  You can write purchase or expiration dates on the containers when you first store the food.  This way you’ll never be in doubt. The dates will easily wipe off when you clean the containers.
• Perishable food should not be left out for more than 2 hours.  ( One hour when the temperature is above.)
• When freezing meat and poultry in its original package, wrap the package again with foil or freezer-safe plastic wrap.
• The best place to thaw frozen food is in the refrigerator, not on a counter.  Bacteria can grow when thawing on a countertop.  If you need a faster method, you can defrost in the microwave, or submerse the food in cold water and change the water every 30 minutes.  Food thawed in the refrigerator can be refrozen.  Otherwise, raw foods should be cooked before re-freezing.