We’re a big family, so we rarely have leftovers. That’s good because I find dealing with fitting them into containers and stashing them in the refrigerator to be a giant pain. But every time we have guests or at holidays, I have mountains of leftovers. Then I found out the hard way that some foods can literally get us ill if we don’t take care of them immediately. My husband got quite sick after thanksgiving. He ate turkey leftovers that unfortunately weren’t stored properly.
Why Proper Storing Is Important
Properly storing your product matters. You see, bacteria just love to party at room temperature. That danger zone so familiar to health inspectors is open between 40°F and 140°F, when bacteria grow so quickly. If you allow food to sit out or don’t store it properly, food can become contaminated with pathogens that can make you very ill. Who wants that? I found this out the hard way after a summer BBQ and the potato salad was left out a little too long! Eww. The evening was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Haha.
Eggs
Eggs surprised me. We all know not to let them languish on the counter too long, but I was surprised to find that recipes, such as quiches or certain desserts, that contain eggs should be chilled promptly. One time, I made a huge platter of breakfast burritos with scrambled eggs, and I left them out for a couple of hours — and let’s say, now I’m careful to fridge anything eggy right away.
Potatoes
Another I can think of are cooked potatoes. We most of the times ignore them because they’re just so harmless, right? Well, that’s wrong. Potatoes wrapped in frosty foil, the kind of tasty baked potatoes we have at family gatherings, can produce botulism. I couldn’t believe it the first time I heard about this. All the times we’d carelessly left potatoes sitting out to cool… Not cool, guys, not cool. Never doing that again.
Beets
Beets, being closely related to potatoes, have the potential to be dangerous if improperly stored following cooking. They are not as popular in my house but I’ve learned in recent years to think about them the way I do potatoes, particularly since I once made a gigantic beet salad for a potluck and was told after I had served it that it wasn’t such a good idea.
Rice
We’re rice lovers in our house and it happens to be one of the riskiest leftovers. I think most people realize by now that if rice is stored at room temperature, the bacteria in the rice can multiply, and it can make toxins. I had no idea until a friend told me her food poisoning story. She ate some rice that had been left out overnight. You only can imagine what happened to her. This kind of thing happens to all of us, all the time. Find out more about why leftover rice can be risky and how to store it safely.
Spinach
I thought that warming my spinach dishes was a way to avoid food wastage. But now I know you’ve got to get it fresh or if you’re going to be eating it cold, you really have to know how to keep it after you’ve cooked it. We don’t warm up spinach dishes. It’s a lot nicer if we eat them when they are fresh and new. This is my recommendation.
Cold-Pressed Oils
My husband is a huge fan of cold-pressed oils because of their health value, but had no idea that improper storage could convert these good fats into the unhealthy type. When not stored properly, these oils can spoil really quickly, which can lead to oxidation and harmful free radicals. Careful there.
Chicken
Chicken, of course, and other poultry also need to be stored at and reheated to the proper temperature to reduce the risk of salmonella and other bacterial food poisoning. I had a bad ’bout of food poisoning from improperly reheated chicken leftovers, so now I’m obsessive about how I store and reheat poultry.
Buffet Food
Buffet food has a place in my heart and my gastrointestinal terrors. Between the variety and the time it spends out, it’s like a petri dish for bacteria. My rule now? If it’s been out for two hours or more, it’s not going back in my fridge, ok? No way.
Oily Foods
Greasy foods, particularly deep fried treats, can get stale if they’re not secured properly. Rotten fats that taste bad, if you eat them today, can also result in bad health news tomorrow. I’ve trained myself to eat these foods fresh, without letting them languish too long.
Seafood
Last but not least, seafood. This one’s a toughie, since it can get spoiled so easily. After a traumatizing encounter with remains of sushi I’d rather not remember, I have learnt to treat my seafood with respect. And I LOVE seafood so much.
It was a game-changer for me to learn how to handle leftovers correctly. It is not just for to avoid waste, or sit down to a good meal, to protect both my family and myself. And take care of our health. So the next time you’re looking into that fridge full of leftovers, just remember, it’s important to store food properly.. And when in doubt, try to remember the old saying “when in doubt, throw it out” — that became number 1 rule in our family. Why risk it?
