the Devastated Plate

This is a gripe of mine.  When I go into the cooler at work or the refrigerator at home, I want to know what and how old the item I am looking at is.  If it isn’t labeled in some way, I have a habit of just throwing it out.

It is not just the things in the refrigerator that need to be labeled.  Dry goods should be labeled if they are transferred to a different container or portioned out.  Things that have closer expiration dates should be kept towards the front of the shelf to be used first.  Stores rotate things on the shelf for a reason – freshness.  Do it at home and your cooking will be more consistent, letting you improve without fighting your ingredients.

How to label things?  There are fancy systems that some restaurants and industrial kitchens use involving colored stickers with the day of the week pre-printed on them and places to write the actual date and what it is.  There are some systems that go as far as to have bar-codes scanned in and then labels printed right there to put on items as they are checked in to keep inventory straight.

These are great systems, but I recommend starting with something simple and working up from there.  Masking tape and a permanent ink pen, such as a Sharpie, is where to start.

The base of labeling is always the date you opened or portioned something and what is in the container, if it is not the original. When you are portioning things out, make a label out of a strip of masking tape to go onto the container.  I like to put it on the lid, but you my wish to put it on the side if you stack many items.  I put the date, what it is and possibly a use-by date.  If it is going into the freezer, I put ‘into freezer’ and the date, even if it is already labeled with a date.  There are variations, such as using different colored masking tape for different people or cuisines.  It is up to you how you use it, but choose a method and try to stick with it.

When you have labeled things, it is easier to see what you have, which makes it easier to shop or order things.  It also makes it easier to go through the old food and toss it if need be.  This keeps things cleaner and you have a better chance to have fresh food, not things that have turned.

I bet if you went to your refrigerator and pantry right now that there is at least one container you have been eyeing for a while because you don’t know what it is.  If you start labeling, that won’t be a problem.

Chef Rena

I was coming into the kitchen this morning and was blinded by the sun. Looks like I need to dust and clean a little, as well as reorganize. Soda in with the cans?