Summer and high temperatures have countless benefits for the human body, but they also have several drawbacks, especially when it comes to food. This is according to Mireia Anglada, a professional organic chef who specialises in healthy recipes.
She explained this in an Instagram post, in which she highlighted the common mistake that chefs often make during this time of year. ‘You’re ruining your food without even knowing it!’ began the expert in her explanatory text, where she also delved into how to fix this mistake.
But what do summer and high temperatures have to do with food? Well, in addition to the fact that there are countless products that can help cool the body, this time of year also carries certain risks when it comes to food, especially when it comes to storing it.
What is the mistake being made?
‘Summer brings sunshine, heat… and a big challenge in the kitchen: food preservation,’ the expert began her explanation. High temperatures can be harmful to these products in terms of health, and can also affect their texture, flavour and nutritional value.
The chef assured us that ‘high temperatures accelerate bacterial growth and food oxidation’. This means that their shelf life decreases much more quickly and a lot of food tends to go to waste. Along the same lines, there is a very common mistake among chefs precisely related to how they are stored.
This is ‘storing them in plastic containers or poorly covered in the refrigerator.’ ‘As a health coach, I can assure you that organising your refrigerator well helps you eat better, avoid waste and take care of your health,’ said the expert.
What solution does the expert recommend in this case?
For these cases, the organic chef has recommended the use of ‘glass containers with airtight lids’. Using these containers instead of plastic ones has a wide range of advantages, the first of which is that they ‘do not contaminate food’, either with substances from the plastic itself or through cross-contamination.
Glass containers ‘better preserve flavour and texture’ and ‘do not absorb odours’. In addition, this type of container ‘is resistant to cold, heat and temperature changes’, making it ideal for storing food in summer. To top it all off, the expert pointed out that they are ‘easy to clean and reusable’, so they could be described as ‘more sustainable’.
According to the expert, glass is the perfect option for storing ‘cooked legumes, ready-made salads, steamed vegetables and chopped fruit’, among other things. They are also useful for storing meals for the week in the fridge and using them day by day.
