Making Stuff Last
Mar. 21st, 2010 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI started reading Yankee Magazine's Make It Last by Earl Proulx (1996) and realized that a good new year's resolution would be to get better at keeping things working. We live in a throw-away society and I actually don't know how to maintain some things, so this would be a good resolution for me. For any traditionalists who feel that resolutions should start on the first day of the year, you can just consider this to be part of my resolution to reduce irritants, because things breaking down and going bad are irritants.
So, at the ends of some of my blog posts, I'm going to pick a category of things and list some possible hints for making those things last. I'll pick out my favorite ones from the book (if any) and add any others I know about. I'm going to use the book to organize these entries--it has chapters on kitchen stuff, clothing, furniture, house stuff, valuables, hobbies, and motor vehicles. I'm going to break these categories down into smaller categories. So, the kitchen chapter starts with food, and I'm going to break that down into food groups. And so here is my first entry:
Making Stuff Last: Grains
* flour - "Add a bay leaf to your flour or sugar tin to keep insects out." (p. 6) - this sounds good to me--we sometimes have a moth problem, so I have added a bay leaf to my flour and sugar canisters. Mostly, we moth-proof things by putting the whole box in a sealed plastic bag and by tossing anything we find that has even the slightest evidence of moths in it. It's been a few years since our last problem, but I'm still going to try the bay leaf solution.
* whole grains - Real whole grains include the germ which has oil in it, so these should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Same with wheat germ, obviously.
* bread - I've learned that bread keeps longer in both the refrigerator and the freezer than on the counter. There is some controversy about whether freezing works better than refrigeration or vice versa--I go with whichever place has more space. I've heard breadboxes also help, but have not tried them. "To keep frozen loaves of bead from becoming soggy, put a cloth (not paper) towel in the bag with the bread as it freezes. The towel will draw out the moisture and keep the bread firm." (p. 12) I've never tried this, but agree that sometimes water escapes the bread and turns to ice which, when it thaws can then make the bread soggy. Lately, our fridge has had more room than our freezer, so I'm unlikely to try this hint any time soon.
* crackers, cereals - "To crisp up crackers or cereals that have succumbed to humidity, try placing them in a 350-degree oven for five to ten minutes." (p. 13) I have a vague memory that I tried this once or twice and it worked. Mostly I just keep these things in well-sealed containers.
* sandwiches - "Prepare cold-cut sandwiches ahead of time and store them in the freezer for up to two weeks. But skip the mayo, mustard and ketchup (as well as the jelly for the PB&J crowd) until you're ready to eat the sandwich. Condiments don't do so well at low temperatures and will tend to make your lunch soggy. Wrap the sandwiches in foil or waxed paper until you're ready to use them." (p. 13) - I have never tried foil or waxed paper but always use plastic containers or plastic sandwich bags. I have had trouble with pumpkin butter making my sandwich soggy and have tried to minimize that by storing my sandwich with the peanut butter side down (so that gravity pulls the pumpkin butter into the peanut butter rather than the bread), but this doesn't work so great (capillary action?). I have not tried bringing the pumpkin butter to work separately and adding it to peanut butter sandwiches. These days I am bringing hot lunches to work, so I won't be trying this tip any time soon.
* popcorn - "If you want to make sure your popcorn kernels pop, keep them in the freezer. This also prolongs the life of other nonperishables such as coffee beans and nuts, because the freezer protects them from moisture." (p. 13) - I have not had trouble with popcorn, but it's always either stored in microwaves bags (a bag plus a plastic bag plus a box) or in a sealed glass jar, so maybe that's good enough at keeping out the moisture. I have learned that popped popcorn is not the ideal party food because it doesn't handle humidity well. But I have no problem bringing part of a batch of popped popcorn to work so long as I keep it in a sealed container.
So, at the ends of some of my blog posts, I'm going to pick a category of things and list some possible hints for making those things last. I'll pick out my favorite ones from the book (if any) and add any others I know about. I'm going to use the book to organize these entries--it has chapters on kitchen stuff, clothing, furniture, house stuff, valuables, hobbies, and motor vehicles. I'm going to break these categories down into smaller categories. So, the kitchen chapter starts with food, and I'm going to break that down into food groups. And so here is my first entry:
Making Stuff Last: Grains
* flour - "Add a bay leaf to your flour or sugar tin to keep insects out." (p. 6) - this sounds good to me--we sometimes have a moth problem, so I have added a bay leaf to my flour and sugar canisters. Mostly, we moth-proof things by putting the whole box in a sealed plastic bag and by tossing anything we find that has even the slightest evidence of moths in it. It's been a few years since our last problem, but I'm still going to try the bay leaf solution.
* whole grains - Real whole grains include the germ which has oil in it, so these should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Same with wheat germ, obviously.
* bread - I've learned that bread keeps longer in both the refrigerator and the freezer than on the counter. There is some controversy about whether freezing works better than refrigeration or vice versa--I go with whichever place has more space. I've heard breadboxes also help, but have not tried them. "To keep frozen loaves of bead from becoming soggy, put a cloth (not paper) towel in the bag with the bread as it freezes. The towel will draw out the moisture and keep the bread firm." (p. 12) I've never tried this, but agree that sometimes water escapes the bread and turns to ice which, when it thaws can then make the bread soggy. Lately, our fridge has had more room than our freezer, so I'm unlikely to try this hint any time soon.
* crackers, cereals - "To crisp up crackers or cereals that have succumbed to humidity, try placing them in a 350-degree oven for five to ten minutes." (p. 13) I have a vague memory that I tried this once or twice and it worked. Mostly I just keep these things in well-sealed containers.
* sandwiches - "Prepare cold-cut sandwiches ahead of time and store them in the freezer for up to two weeks. But skip the mayo, mustard and ketchup (as well as the jelly for the PB&J crowd) until you're ready to eat the sandwich. Condiments don't do so well at low temperatures and will tend to make your lunch soggy. Wrap the sandwiches in foil or waxed paper until you're ready to use them." (p. 13) - I have never tried foil or waxed paper but always use plastic containers or plastic sandwich bags. I have had trouble with pumpkin butter making my sandwich soggy and have tried to minimize that by storing my sandwich with the peanut butter side down (so that gravity pulls the pumpkin butter into the peanut butter rather than the bread), but this doesn't work so great (capillary action?). I have not tried bringing the pumpkin butter to work separately and adding it to peanut butter sandwiches. These days I am bringing hot lunches to work, so I won't be trying this tip any time soon.
* popcorn - "If you want to make sure your popcorn kernels pop, keep them in the freezer. This also prolongs the life of other nonperishables such as coffee beans and nuts, because the freezer protects them from moisture." (p. 13) - I have not had trouble with popcorn, but it's always either stored in microwaves bags (a bag plus a plastic bag plus a box) or in a sealed glass jar, so maybe that's good enough at keeping out the moisture. I have learned that popped popcorn is not the ideal party food because it doesn't handle humidity well. But I have no problem bringing part of a batch of popped popcorn to work so long as I keep it in a sealed container.