FenceFurniture
26th March 2020, 08:39 PM
*Putting this in the "Nothing to do ...." section because "Cooking" doesn't seem to get much traffic, and in the current pandemic, this information is pretty useful, and probably important I suppose.
Preparing food for a single meal is irritating.
Just ask Kuffy. :D
I much prefer to prepare larger amounts - sometimes MUCH larger amounts for vacpacking and freezing. A few weeks ago I made 45-50 litres of soup which is about 90-100 meals. But even for a humble salad I have developed techniques that can make a chopped green salad last for 2 weeks with minimal degradation. I can store some green vegetables for up to 4 weeks, depending on how fresh they were when acquired.
The secret to making vege last is to minimise the water and air that stays in contact with it. This week I have added a new technique which I hope will make it last even longer, but will have to wait and see.
These days I can put together a salad for 1-6 people with chopped greens (leaves & 'erbs), tomatoes, can't-beat-a-root (home made), grated carrot, diced grilled capsicums (home made), pickled qukes (home made) in about 3-4 minutes. Really. The trick is to keep the greens completely separate to the grated carrots, take out what you need for this serve, and to add all the really wet things (tomatoes etc) at the time of consumption.
So here is the chopped greens from earlier this arvo:
470501 (yes, yes Kuffy & fletty, I know :yuk::puke:)
440 grams total, divided into two. The first lot on the left is for immediate use, so it goes into a plastic box with that white microfibre towel folded up at the top of the box, to absorb moisture. I do the same thing with grated carrot, but in a smaller box, and I use folded bumroll - preferably unused - as the moisture absorber. Carrot sheds more moisture than the greens which is why I keep them separate.
The second half, on the right (above) is for the new experiment, which is vacpacking them in a microfibre towel. BTW, I have only just discovered Microfibre Tea Towels, and they are sensational. Unbelievable moisture absorption!
So here is the end result, with the second lot rolled up in the apricot coloured towel and vac packed down to -0.9 atmospheres.
470502
The first half will be consumed over the next week, and then I'll be able to report back on the vacpack experiment.
Preparing food for a single meal is irritating.
Just ask Kuffy. :D
I much prefer to prepare larger amounts - sometimes MUCH larger amounts for vacpacking and freezing. A few weeks ago I made 45-50 litres of soup which is about 90-100 meals. But even for a humble salad I have developed techniques that can make a chopped green salad last for 2 weeks with minimal degradation. I can store some green vegetables for up to 4 weeks, depending on how fresh they were when acquired.
The secret to making vege last is to minimise the water and air that stays in contact with it. This week I have added a new technique which I hope will make it last even longer, but will have to wait and see.
These days I can put together a salad for 1-6 people with chopped greens (leaves & 'erbs), tomatoes, can't-beat-a-root (home made), grated carrot, diced grilled capsicums (home made), pickled qukes (home made) in about 3-4 minutes. Really. The trick is to keep the greens completely separate to the grated carrots, take out what you need for this serve, and to add all the really wet things (tomatoes etc) at the time of consumption.
So here is the chopped greens from earlier this arvo:
470501 (yes, yes Kuffy & fletty, I know :yuk::puke:)
440 grams total, divided into two. The first lot on the left is for immediate use, so it goes into a plastic box with that white microfibre towel folded up at the top of the box, to absorb moisture. I do the same thing with grated carrot, but in a smaller box, and I use folded bumroll - preferably unused - as the moisture absorber. Carrot sheds more moisture than the greens which is why I keep them separate.
The second half, on the right (above) is for the new experiment, which is vacpacking them in a microfibre towel. BTW, I have only just discovered Microfibre Tea Towels, and they are sensational. Unbelievable moisture absorption!
So here is the end result, with the second lot rolled up in the apricot coloured towel and vac packed down to -0.9 atmospheres.
470502
The first half will be consumed over the next week, and then I'll be able to report back on the vacpack experiment.