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I've figured out meats. I can vacuum-seal, freeze and throw right into sous vide. Veggies and especially fruit have to be eaten almost immediately or they go ba

I've figured out meats. I can vacuum-seal, freeze and throw right into sous vide. Veggies and especially fruit have to be eaten almost immediately or they go bad (mold). I eat a lot of zucchini and carrots because they'll keep a while.

MichaelApproved 7y ago
> Veggies and especially fruit have to be eaten almost immediately or they go bad (mold). That seems like an exaggeration or maybe you're not storing them correctly. What do you buy and how do you store it that won't last several days to a week?
- jerkstate 7y ago
  Mold is a common problem for small soft fruit that come in plastic clamshells, like blueberries and raspberries. Often it has a little mold right from the store. I try to wash these in water with a some white vinegar as soon as I get home from the grocery store and then right in the fridge.
  - MichaelApproved 7y ago
    And they last for several days in the refrigerator, right?
    - jerkstate 7y ago
      There can definitely be too much mold to eat right when you open it. You can usually return it, but for a couple of bucks it's a hassle. And if you don't wash it right away, even a small amount of mold will grow to more than you want to try to wash/cut off in a couple of days. I buy and eat a lot of fruit and my experience agrees with OPs, at least in some cases.
      - MichaelApproved 7y ago
        > at least in some cases. So most of the time, fruits and vegetables keep for days and don't have to be eaten immediately, right? I'm being not picky because this is a conversation in a thread about how people throw out a lot of food. That waste is due, in part, to false sense of spoilage and OP was furthering that false sense.
  - war1025 7y ago
    Blueberries and raspberries are an "eat on the drive home" treat for us. We do have giant 10lb bags of frozen berries that we keep at home. We get them from a Mennonite bulk food store. Not sure where else you can buy such things.
  - logfromblammo 7y ago
    I have long suspected that the switch from basket-like paper containers to plastic clamshell containers has contributed to mold growth. By the time you buy it, it is already too late, because it has been sitting in that plastic moisture prison so long already. The mold is already there. If it were coming from my kitchen, wouldn't it affect the topmost fruits first, rather than the bottommost? Nobody seems to want to fix the mold problem. They blame you, the consumer, for not noticing that the thing you were buying already had mold hidden in the center of the packaging. The seller has a perverse incentive to keep foods sold by weight or by outward appearance moist. They even spray everything on the refrigerated bins with those stupid misters all the time. Cool, dry air would reduce the weight and generate a desiccated appearance over time. I don't remember this happening when I was younger. Is it a flaw in my memory, or do fruits show mold faster now?
- astura 7y ago
  Berries. If I don't eat them either the day I buy them or the next day they end up moldy
- notJim 7y ago
  Ripe fruit in general needs to be eaten immediately. And unripe fruit is not worth eating.
  - frenchyatwork 7y ago
    Ripe fruit should usually last for 2-3 days, as long as it's not bruised or damp. Some things like tomatoes & citrus can last for even longer.
- frenchyatwork 7y ago
  It probably depends on what you eat, where you shop, and how you store your food. I can't imagine it's easy to run a produce department and the whole produce supply chain. Often people pick food that's been sitting around for a while.
stronglikedan 7y ago
Flash-frozen veggies are as good as fresh nowadays.
- rdtwo 7y ago
  They tend to excrete their moisture really quickly though and it messes up the cooking process because consumer burners/ovens can’t keep up with all that extra water coming out so quickly and you end up steaming things 90%of the time
  - rootedbox 7y ago
    defrost on colander.. pat dry.. cook..
- ska 7y ago
  That really isn’t my experience. Maybe roughly as good as some of the bad hothouse stuff, but not comparable to anything really fresh esp. in season.
ratmice 7y ago
One thing that helps is doing a vegetable scramble with anything that needs to be used up in the morning, falling back to shelf-stable cereals otherwise...
cgriswald 7y ago
Different fruits and veggies produce and are sensitive to ethylene. You can find lists online of which are which, but they should be stored separately or you’ll see them go bad much more quickly. With some exceptions like avocados and berries, all the fruits and veggies we store are good for at least a week. If your food is molding within two days, I’d guess it’s either your fridge or the grocer. Clean your fridge out with bleach and baking soda semi-regularly. If your house is humid, consider a dehumidifier and try not to leave the fridge door open too long.

MichaelApproved 7y ago

> Veggies and especially fruit have to be eaten almost immediately or they go bad (mold). That seems like an exaggeration or maybe you're not storing them correctly. What do you buy and how do you store it that won't last several days to a week?

jerkstate 7y ago
Mold is a common problem for small soft fruit that come in plastic clamshells, like blueberries and raspberries. Often it has a little mold right from the store. I try to wash these in water with a some white vinegar as soon as I get home from the grocery store and then right in the fridge.
- MichaelApproved 7y ago
  And they last for several days in the refrigerator, right?
  - jerkstate 7y ago
    There can definitely be too much mold to eat right when you open it. You can usually return it, but for a couple of bucks it's a hassle. And if you don't wash it right away, even a small amount of mold will grow to more than you want to try to wash/cut off in a couple of days. I buy and eat a lot of fruit and my experience agrees with OPs, at least in some cases.
    - MichaelApproved 7y ago
      > at least in some cases. So most of the time, fruits and vegetables keep for days and don't have to be eaten immediately, right? I'm being not picky because this is a conversation in a thread about how people throw out a lot of food. That waste is due, in part, to false sense of spoilage and OP was furthering that false sense.
- war1025 7y ago
  Blueberries and raspberries are an "eat on the drive home" treat for us. We do have giant 10lb bags of frozen berries that we keep at home. We get them from a Mennonite bulk food store. Not sure where else you can buy such things.
- logfromblammo 7y ago
  I have long suspected that the switch from basket-like paper containers to plastic clamshell containers has contributed to mold growth. By the time you buy it, it is already too late, because it has been sitting in that plastic moisture prison so long already. The mold is already there. If it were coming from my kitchen, wouldn't it affect the topmost fruits first, rather than the bottommost? Nobody seems to want to fix the mold problem. They blame you, the consumer, for not noticing that the thing you were buying already had mold hidden in the center of the packaging. The seller has a perverse incentive to keep foods sold by weight or by outward appearance moist. They even spray everything on the refrigerated bins with those stupid misters all the time. Cool, dry air would reduce the weight and generate a desiccated appearance over time. I don't remember this happening when I was younger. Is it a flaw in my memory, or do fruits show mold faster now?
astura 7y ago
Berries. If I don't eat them either the day I buy them or the next day they end up moldy
notJim 7y ago
Ripe fruit in general needs to be eaten immediately. And unripe fruit is not worth eating.
- frenchyatwork 7y ago
  Ripe fruit should usually last for 2-3 days, as long as it's not bruised or damp. Some things like tomatoes & citrus can last for even longer.
frenchyatwork 7y ago
It probably depends on what you eat, where you shop, and how you store your food. I can't imagine it's easy to run a produce department and the whole produce supply chain. Often people pick food that's been sitting around for a while.

stronglikedan 7y ago

Flash-frozen veggies are as good as fresh nowadays.

rdtwo 7y ago
They tend to excrete their moisture really quickly though and it messes up the cooking process because consumer burners/ovens can’t keep up with all that extra water coming out so quickly and you end up steaming things 90%of the time
- rootedbox 7y ago
  defrost on colander.. pat dry.. cook..
ska 7y ago
That really isn’t my experience. Maybe roughly as good as some of the bad hothouse stuff, but not comparable to anything really fresh esp. in season.

ratmice 7y ago

One thing that helps is doing a vegetable scramble with anything that needs to be used up in the morning, falling back to shelf-stable cereals otherwise...

cgriswald 7y ago

Different fruits and veggies produce and are sensitive to ethylene. You can find lists online of which are which, but they should be stored separately or you’ll see them go bad much more quickly. With some exceptions like avocados and berries, all the fruits and veggies we store are good for at least a week. If your food is molding within two days, I’d guess it’s either your fridge or the grocer. Clean your fridge out with bleach and baking soda semi-regularly. If your house is humid, consider a dehumidifier and try not to leave the fridge door open too long.