Listen now to Chef Cary present some do-ahead french fry techniques for Thomas, of Alaska. He asks: “Can I peel and cut french fries hours ahead of time?”

Chef Barb describes why and how to cool and properly store a large pot of soup for Chana in Brooklyn. Chana’s soup, prepared for her own food business, spoiled in just two days time. We’re sorry that happened to you….but it’s happened to us all. Listen now and learn best practices for storing soup in a commercial or home kitchen.

Some additional tips for the home cook follow.

Q: Why do we cool food before placing in the refrigerator?
A: Placing hot food in the refrigerator raised the temperature inside the refrigerator and may increase the temperature so much so that bacteria can grow. Also, the hot or warm food will flavor (smell up!) other foods. In addition, condensation will form and impact not only the food you are cooling, but nearby items too. Remember, your goal is always to cool your hot foods as quickly as possible to get them out of the warm air, and into the refrigerator.

Q: Why do cover our foods when storing in the the refrigerator?
A: Always cover your food before placing it the refrigerator to: keep the odor of your foods from mixing and to prevent the food from drying out by the de-humidified air. Once removed from the refigerator your food will not only stay cooler longer but it will stay put if you trip over the dog!

Here is a link to a recent article with a good introduction to food safety issues: Is your meat safe? Tips for handling food

In response to your question, Chana, ChefsLine will conduct a survey of our chefs to get recommendations for the best brands of appliance thermometers for commercial and at-home use. Stay tuned!

Kenenjan from Santa Cruz has some moldy nicoise olives. Bummer. Listen now to Chef Katie offer her advice on to keep, or not to keep and why.

Storing brown sugar.
Once your brown sugar hits air, as you know, it’ll dry out. If your refrigerator is a newer model, it’s probably a “frost-free refrigerator” which actually de-humidifies the air. To beat the elements, triple wrap brown sugar for proper storage. Triple wrap your brown sugar (original bag with a slice of apple, ‘ziplock’ storage bag, and a container. Keep brown sugar in the refrigerator and it will stay pliable for three months. The apple will slowly release the moisture tied up in it’s cells and the sugar will act a a preservative to keep the apple from spoiling. Then, you’ll want to add a new slice of apple.

Softening hard brown sugar.

Microwave Method.
Place sugar in microwave boul with a slice of apple. Microwave for 30 seconds.

Countertop Method.
Place brown sugar in re-sealable (storage) container. Put plastic wrap or aluminum foil ontop. Place damp, folded paper towel on top. Close container for a minimum of eight hours. The humidity in the container will soften within 8-12 hours.

Refrigerator Method.
Add a slice of apple, wrapped in a paper towel, to the brown sugar package. Then stick the package in a ziplock bag. Closed and place ziplock bag in a sealed plastic tub in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for 4-6 hours.

Homemade Chips & Guacamole
Chef Adam Cutsinger

INGREDIENTS
4 avocados
1/4 cup grated red onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1/8 cup lime juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup diced tomato
1/2 cup sour cream
salt to taste
15 corn tortillas
3 cups corn oil

METHOD
Whip the avocados, onion, pepper, lime juice, olive oil, tomato, sour cream and salt in a medium-sized bowl until smooth. Cover completely with plastic wrap, making sure to cover the entire surface area of the guacamole to prevent any air from coming into contact with it. Let set in refrigerator. Heat the corn oil in a small sauce pan. Cut the tortillas into 6 pieces each, like a pie. With a wide slotted or perforated spoon or skimmer, lower a handful of the chips into the oil. Turn regularly to make sure they cook equally throughout. When they are golden brown, use the same tool to remove them from the oil and lay them onto a plate covered with a rack or paper towel. Salt them immediately while they are still wet with oil. Repeat with more chips until they are all evenly cooked. Serve with guacamole. You may opt to slice limes or cilantro as a garnish.

Jackie’s Tailgate Guacamole
Chef Jackie Lee

INGREDIENTS
4 Haas avcados
1/2 red onion, small dice
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
2 roma tomatoes, small dice
1 garlic clove, finely minced
juice of 2 lemons to taste
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
salt to taste

METHOD
Prepare and set aside onion, cilantro, tomatoes, garlic, lemon, and jalapeno. Cut avocados lengthwise and peel. Remove pit. Using a tablespoon, scoop avocado into a medium sized bowl. Using a wire whisk, mash avocados until broken into “chip-sized” pieces. Add the rest of ingredients and mix. Guacamole can be refrigerated for up to one hour before serving. Cover completing with plastic wrap. You may add one pit to the container to help prevent browning although proper storage and lemon juice will do the trick.

NOTE
From the Chef: Select dark, almost black Haas avocados. The fruit should be yielding to the touch but not mushy. Refrigerate avocados for an hour before preparing. Use enough lemon to make the guacamole tart but not lose the creamy texture. You do not need to remove the jalapeno seeds but do taste the jalapenos before adding to control heat.

Here is some helpful information from the Chocolate Manufacturer’s Association:
Chocolate Bloom Defined
Chocolate bloom is the tell-tale sign that chocolate has not been stored correctly. The most obvious type of bloom, fat bloom, looks like gray-white blotches and streaks on the chocolate and occurs when the chocolate is exposed to heat during storage. Sugar bloom, which leaves the chocolate feeling rough, occurs when the chocolate is stored in damp conditions. Melting and/or tempering bloomed chocolate eliminates the problem, although chocolate affected with sugar bloom should not be melted and used for fine candy making.

Storing Chocolate
Store chocolate at cool room temperature in a dark place with good air circulation; the refrigerator in not recommended although if your kitchen is particularly hot and humid, it might be your only choice. Wrap it well to protect it from odors.

Ideally, chocolate should be wrapped first in foil and then in plastic and stored at a constant temperature of 65F and 50% humidity. Slightly higher temperatures and humidity are acceptable although the chocolate may not last as long. Stored under perfect conditions, unsweetened and dark chocolate will last for 10 years, and certainly up to a year in good home kitchen conditions; milk and white chocolate for 7 to 8 months.

Formed chocolate candies such as truffles and pralines can be frozen and defrosted in the refrigerator before being brought to room temperature for serving.

Following is an easy, fool proof method for tempering chocolate.

Quick Tempering Method for Chocolate
By Carole Bloom, CCP

METHOD

Chop 1 pound of chocolate into very small pieces and set aside one third of them. Melt the remaining two thirds in the top of a double boiler over hot, not simmering, water, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula to ensure even melting. The chocolate should not exceed 120F (110F for white chocolate). Or melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl on low power for 30 second bursts. Stir the chocolate with a rubber spatula between each burst to make sure it melts evenly.

Remove the double boiler from the heat, then remove the top pan of the double boiler and wipe it dry. Stir in the remaining chocolate in three batches, making sure that each batch is completely melted before adding the next. The finely chopped chocolate will cool the melted chocolate and the warm melted chocolate will melt the chopped chocolate.

When all the chocolate has been added, test the chocolate by placing a dab under your lower lip. If it feels comfortable, not too hot and not too cool, it is tempered. If the chocolate is too warm, stir in more finely chopped chocolate and test again until the chocolate is tempered. There is no need to use a thermometer to register the temperature of the chocolate using this method of tempering.

You might also be interested in our Chocolate Truffle audio class and recipes with Carole Bloom.

Food safety experts recommend not eating, or freezing your ham within 3-4 days as a rule of thumb. Before deciding on whether to keep or toss it, consider the following:

What kind of ham did you bake?
If it was a fully cooked whole ham, you have more time (Hormel sugests up to 7 days). If it was a fresh ham, you have less storage time (4 days). If was a “cook before eating” ham, then you have 5 days. Generally, Hormel and the USDA are very good sources of information on food safety as well as our chefs.

Regardless, proper storage of your ham is essential. Did you store your ham well?

Did you refrigerate your ham within 2 hours of preparing?
Was your ham very fresh when you purchased it?
Did you wrap your cooked ham tightly? Was it airtight?
Was your ham stored in the coldest (usually the lowest, back corner) of your refrigerator?

There are many factors to consider but the safest is always to toss meats if you are unsure.

Food safety rules give you around 5 days in the refrigerator for such a fresh turkey. Thus, you are just under time for recommended practice. You may opt to freeze the turkey, Kim. Then, use the refrigerator method to defrost (4 pounds per day so a 12 pound turkey should be removed from the freezer and placed in your refrigerator on Friday night.

See this link to our Turkey Help page for step-by-step directions and a timeline for preparing a great Turkey.

While it might be more practical to put your turkey in the coldest spot in your refrigerator, we cannot recommend that in good conscience. Plus, you have such a great turkey – it will be wonderful and better to be safe AND keep worry to stress to a minimum.

Keeping Food Cold How To FYI (source: USDA and ChefsLine)

• Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer with an appliance thermometer. The refrigerator should be at 40 °F or below and the freezer at 0 °F or below.
• Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within 2 days; other beef, veal, lamb, or pork, within 3 to 5 days.
• Perishable food such as meat and poultry should be wrapped securely to maintain quality and to prevent meat juices from getting onto other food.
• Store meats and poultry in the coldest (generally lowest and back) of the refrigerator and below fresh foods.

Annie from Santa Rosa want to prep her brussel sprouts the day before cooking.