How long do leftovers last? Experts reveal how carving meat off the bone, adding salt to your eggs and storing cakes in the freezer could make your meals last months

Irrespective of how arduous you attempt, likelihood is you will nonetheless be some leftovers from Christmas dinner this week.

However you may keep away from consuming infinite turkey sandwiches and make the remnants of your gigantic meal go additional by storing it appropriately.

FEMAIL has compiled some ideas and methods to scale back your meals waste and provide help to take pleasure in scrumptious meals nicely into the New Yr...

Beautiful leftovers: Slice turkey off the bone and it'll hold within the freezer for 3 months

TURKEY AND HAM

Sydney chef Travis Harvey advises carving all turkey and ham from the bone after Christmas to make sure it stays recent.

So long as they're carved shortly after cooking, slices of turkey and ham will be saved within the freezer in a container for as much as three months, Mr Harvey says in a submit for OzHarvest.

To make sure you're not consuming meals that is gone dangerous, label baggage and containers with the date you set them within the freezer. 

Easy: Peeled prawns last more and will be saved within the freezer for as much as three months

How do I hold meals secure?

The NSW Atmosphere Safety Authority's Love Meals Hate Waste web page has these tricks to hold your meals secure:

Verify the meals labels

At all times wash and dry your arms totally earlier than dealing with meals.

Hold your kitchen, meals preparation and meals storage areas spotlessly clear.

Verify your fridge and freezer temperature to ensure your meals is saved cool sufficient to cease micro organism rising.

Separate uncooked meals (particularly meat, poultry and seafood) from ready-to-eat meals and use colour-coded chopping boards if attainable. 

Make certain all meals (particularly meat, poultry and seafood) is cooked totally. Warmth kills micro organism. 

PRAWNS AND SEAFOOD

To make prawns last more, peel them earlier than storing within the freezer for as much as three months, in accordance with Mr Harvey.

You would additionally put prawns into rice paper rolls and freeze these for a fast meal whenever you fancy it. 

Mr Harvey additionally advises freezing prawn shells first earlier than disposing of them to keep away from a smelly garbage bin. 

In response to the NSW Atmosphere Safety Authority's Love Meals Hate Waste web page, in case your freezer can preserve a temperature of minus 18°C or colder, lean seafood comparable to prawns, bream, whiting, snapper, lobsters and scallops will hold for 9 months to a 12 months.

However fatty seafood, comparable to mullet, will hold for under three to 4 months.

'If freezing fish, clear and put together it as in case you have been going to eat it and freeze as fillets. You'll be able to freeze an entire clear fish, if you wish to prepare dinner and serve it entire. Ensure you label and date the fish,' the web site advises.

Have your cake and eat it: Muffins with icing final for 3 months within the freezer, however for six months with out icing

CAKES 

Chances are high you were not capable of get via your complete Christmas cake after dinner - however fortuitously they'll final a superb whereas when saved in an hermetic container.

If a cake has been iced after it has cooled, that may assist improve its shelf-life by chopping down on moisture loss and stopping it from going stale.

Love Meals Hate Waste advises wrapping muffins tightly in clingfilm or foil to take away any air earlier than freezing.

Frozen muffins with icing will final for about three months and for six months with out icing. 

Tacky does it! Mushy cheeses must be saved in waxed cheese paper and arduous cheeses in plastic wrap

CHEESE 

Mushy cheeses, like Camembert, must be saved in waxed cheese paper or baking paper. 

Meals consultants advise folks to keep away from utilizing plastic wrap as a result of it'll trigger the cheese to sweat.

Blue cheese will be wrapped in foil, however keep in mind to vary the foil each few days as acidity will assault the foil.

Onerous cheeses, like cheddar or Parmesan, will be saved in plastic wrap or hermetic containers.

EGGS 

When you purchased far too many eggs to Christmas baking, however did not find yourself utilizing all of them, to not fear. The best method to retailer them is within the fridge within the carton they got here in. 

Check for freshness by checking if the egg sinks in a bowl or glass of water. Contemporary eggs will keep on the backside, however stale eggs float to the highest. 

But when your wish to retailer for longer, eggs will be frozen too.

In response to Love Meals Hate Waste, you calmly beat entire eggs and add both a teaspoon of salt or a tablespoon of sugar for each six eggs.

Freeze the eggs in small quantities of 1 or two and they need to hold for as much as 10 months.

Use the salted yolks in savoury dishes and the sugared yolks for muffins, custards and desserts - however remember to label them - and use the eggs immediately when thawed, in dishes that require cooking solely.

 

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