Shine OnHow to properly store Thanksgiving leftovers
'Tis the week for holiday leftovers.
Not sure how long you can safely keep the Thanksgiving bird in the fridge?
Registered dietitian Leslie Beck tells the Globe and Mail that most leftovers can be stored safely in the fridge for three to four days — as long as they’re stored properly.
To keep foods safe, make sure your fridge temperature is set at 4°C or colder.
Bacteria flourishes within the temperature range of 4°C to 60°C, so Beck recommends storing leftovers in the fridge in airtight containers or packaging them within two hours of taking the food out of the oven.
Health Canada advises Canadians to store different types of leftovers separately, and to use clean containers or leak-proof plastic bags to prevent cross-contamination.
And, yes, you can put hot foods directly in the refrigerator, just divide them into smaller portions and shallow containers so they’ll cool quickly.
“You don’t want to try and chill anything in a deep container because it will be too difficult for that dish to chill quickly. Once it is cool you could put it in something deeper,” Brenda Watson, executive director of Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education, tells the Toronto Star.
To prevent food-borne illnesses, foods sitting at room temperature for longer than two hours should be tossed.
Don’t overstuff the fridge either. Cold air needs to circulate around food to keep it properly chilled, Beck says.
Health Canada recommends dating your leftovers to ensure they’re not stored too long.
In the fridge, meat and stuffing should be consumed within four days. Gravy should be finished off in a day or two, and cranberry sauce can last up to two weeks. Don’t store the cranberry sauce in its original can, however, as metal can leach into the food.
See Beck’s leftovers chart here.
If you don’t plan on eating your leftovers within the recommended time frames, freeze them within two hours of cooking them.
For best flavour, frozen leftover cooked meat should be eaten within three months, frozen leftover stuffing should be eaten within one month, and mashed potatoes are fine in the freezer for up to a year.
Don’t worry if your food stays a little longer in the freezer. It’s still safe — it just won’t taste as good.
According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, “Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavour when stored for longer times in the freezer.”
When you’re ready to eat your leftovers, reheat them to an internal temperature of 74°C.
Not sure what to do with all those Thanksgiving leftovers? Here are some ideas to help you out. Thanksgiving Leftovers Nachos? Yes, please!
Will you be eating leftovers all week?
