How To Know If Tortillas Are Bad?

Tortillas originated in the border region of Mexico and Texas that primarily made of corn or wheat. They have a round shape and are usually baked on the flat plate of iron or the earthenware. Tortillas are used to make many dishes like tacos, burritos, quesadillas, … and even stews or grilled meats. People normally eat tortillas by deep frying them and accompany with different kinds of dipping sauces. Nowadays, low carb tortillas also become favored because of multiple health benefits, if you care, let’s take a look.

I am a big fan of Tortillas and I often buy bulk tortillas in store and sometimes do it myself. I believe some of you are just like me, so for later use, you might store them in your kitchen area. But how long do wraps last once opened? Normally, wraps last for about 3 to 4 weeks in the fridge and up to 6 to 8 months in the freezer. Though, how to know if Tortillas are bad if it doesn’t reach that period of time? There are two cases: your tortillas are still fresh or moldy. No need to discuss the fresh situation, in this article, I will give you some signs to know if your tortillas go bad after buying or storing.

#1 Texture

Tortillas include two main kinds as I said above are corn and wheat. Normal tortillas are baked or fried so they seem to be dry at first. Once they have gone bad, you can easily see change happening in the texture of tortillas, they become slippery and slimy. This sign is earlier recognized in wheat/flour tortillas than that of cornmeal. To overcome the situation, you can discard the top and bottom of your tortillas and then eat the rest. Though this solution might not solve the problem, it can save a bit for you to eat.

Another sign in the texture part that I will tell you is tortillas’ stiffness. Through storing time, tortillas might get hardened and begin to grow stiff, especially when you store in refrigerator or freezer. However, it is not a very serious bad sign of tortillas because it can be easily fixed by reheating them in the microwave. If they are still tough to eat, do not keep anymore.

#2 Spotting

If you see some spots on the surface of tortillas such as blue or dark, your tortillas might be mold. Blue spots are created by bacteria in a humid environment so they will badly affect your health. You had better take a look at tortillas’ surface before you decide to make any tortillas dish. Adding one more sign for you to recognize when tortillas go bad is the change in color. If you see there are light green or yellowish tints appearing, those tortillas have gone bad. These colors are very faint, hard to observe so you have to be very careful. Once you see this visible sign, the only thing you need to do is toss it right away.

#3 Unpleasant smell

When your tortillas smell moldy, weird or even rotten, obviously, they become worse in quality. This indication is the most casual way to recognize instead of visual techniques. Do not hesitate to throw them away unless you want to get food poisoning.

Conclusion

Check your tortillas and see is there any visual or smell sign that can make your food goes bad? If neither of these signs is presented or you store your tortillas in the proper method, so they are perfect and also safe to be eaten. Let’s enjoy your meal with tortillas now.

How To Dry Herbs?

I believe in any kitchen counter always has a corner of herbs because they have a variety of uses including culinary, medical and in some cases, spiritual. While the herbs that you harvesting from the garden are freshly used, so the normal way to use is just in one season and another one is drying them for later use.

Drying is a common technique to lengthen their shelf life for a very long time. It is a simple and economical method than artificial ingredient one that you may know. But how to dry herbs and what equipment is used to dry herbs? In this article, I will let you know.

Drying Methods

#1 Air Drying

This is one of the easiest ways to dry herbs at home. As its name, it requires fresh air and direct sunlight to dehydrate homemade herbs. If you live in a humid area or want to dry herbs in a humid atmosphere, the procedure may be lengthened and create a good condition for mold to develop. Therefore, dry seasons (from November to April) or in summer with high temperatures will be the most suitable environments for the best-dried herbs or even fruits. There are two methods you can use: by racks and ties.

By Racks

Spreading herbs out over racks is an ideal technique that will dry your plants faster with less ability to be rotten before being completely dehydrated. Individual leaves or sprigs of herbs are laid evenly on the cheesecloth racks in a warm environment with warm sunlight. This method needs 2 to 3 days to dry out herbs when they reach the crumbly texture. Remember to turn over the leaves every 12 hours regularly in order to avoid mold and let them dry constantly.

By Ties

Air-drying herbs by ties may take more time than by racks – up to 2 weeks but the results will be more beautiful and simple to store. With this method, you tie herbs into small bundles, do not tight larger or dense ones because they can create a good condition for mold to develop, especially in the humid air. After being fastened with a knot, hanging the brunches upside down in the warm spot and direct sunlight and then loosely wrapping in muslin or paper to keep out dust and keep leaves or seeds from falling. Normally, it may take about 10 days for herbs to become crispy when crushed.

#2 Oven Drying

Oven drying is a quite fast method due to its temperature adjustment. Though you have to be careful not to set too high heat or dry too long, it may burn your herbs and even lose their good taste. Depending on the size and thickness of herbs then adjusting drying time. Normal heat and time to dry is not over 100 degrees F and about 1 hour. Don’t forget to preheat the oven and turn over the leaves every 20 minutes to make sure your herbs will be evenly dried. After being completely dried, instead of taking herbs out, just let them cool inside the oven.

#3 Microwave Drying

This technique definitely takes a shorter time than by air-drying and needs less effort to dry herbs than an oven. Microwaving suits for small quantities and when you don’t have much time. Place the separated leaves on a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate and cover them by another paper towel to avoid direct heat of the microwave. Turn it on high mode for about 1-10 minutes which seems to be different in every case. Keep an eye on your herbs to control the quality of herbs. If the herbs are not truly dried yet, you can continue spinning 30 seconds more.

Conclusion

After reading those details of how to dry herbs and how long does it take to dehydrate herbs, I hope this will be less challenging for you now so that you can cook many delicious food for your family from herbs which you dried.

Another product from herbs might light up your meal which you can see in here

How Long Does Hummus Last?

Hummus, a creamy and thick dip made mostly of mashed chickpeas with the addition of healthy ingredients. This kind of spread has become favored in many countries and regions, especially Middle Eastern and North African.

What if you are really into hummus but you seem to be too lazy to make it in every meal? Make a large dish of hummus for later use must be the best way to save time and effort. But how to know that how long does hummus last? In this article, I will give you the final answer about the shelf life of hummus in different environments.

For Homemade Hummus

#1 In the Fridge

“Everything can be stored in the fridge” seems to be right even for hummus. I suggest not storing hummus in the fridge beyond three to five days. This period of time still keeps the creamy texture and the original taste of hummus. Remember to not put hummus in the bottom shelves – the coldest part of the refrigerator because it will cause water splitting (lime juice or lemon juice) in hummus, you are not able to maintain its smooth texture. Moreover, if you keep hummus longer, I guess you might waste the best condition of hummus and its taste. In case you cannot eat all hummus in a maximum of 5 days, send it over to your neighbors or friends might be helpful.

#2 In the Freezer

If hummus can be refrigerated, it also can be frozen too. Putting that tasty chickpea sauce in the freezer will extend its shelf life for consumption for up to 7 months. However, I would not recommend this method because the extreme temperature of a freezer might change a little bit the quality of food from moisturing and creamy to bland and dry. The longer your hummus is kept frozen, the more flavor it will lose.

Please note to add some extra oil on top of hummus and use freezer-safe boxes. This does not guarantee your hummus will keep fresh in total 6 months but will reduce the ability to lose its flavor. Putting some oil helps to avoid water splitting so after defrosting or thawing, you can stir it up to its original consistency.

For Packaged Hummus

For store-bought hummus, from the day you buy and open the canned or packaged hummus, it may last for 4 to 6 days in the fridge. Definitely, once you open the hummus, it’s shelf life is cut shorter than that of unopened one. You also should notice the expiry date on the packaging to ensure that the quality of hummus is still fresh and have a pleasant smell.

If you want to keep your store-bought hummus longer, you can try freezing technique. However, as I said, I will not recommend this to you because it is quite hard to maintain the authentic taste of hummus in such a long time (by months).

Conclusion

Remember, the information I gave you about how long is hummus good for can be used as references or opinions because individual cases would vary. Therefore, according to the actual situation, you can decide to keep it in a time that is best for your health.

You can look for its shelf life, signs to know once hummus goes bad and other helpful information here.

How Long Does Chicken Last In The Fridge?

Chicken is one of the most popular types of poultry in the world and also a healthier alternative to pork with diverse food options and many different cooking methods such as grilling or frying. But if you want to cook chicken more often, the leftovers might be a bit challenging for you to deal with. Therefore, to help you overcome this situation, I will give you some essential information about how long chicken lasts in the fridge based on my actual experience and some researches that I have collected.

#1 Raw Chicken

According to Foodsafety.gov or the official information from USDA, whole uncooked poultry such as chicken or turkey is safe to eat in the refrigerator for only 1 to 2 days. For poultry are cut into pieces, these parts are stored safely in the same period of time.

If you want to keep your fresh chicken in the best condition in these 2 days, you should contain it in a leak-proof container to avoid its juice leaking and contamination other foods in the fridge. Keeping raw chicken on the lowest shelf in your fridge might be one of the best methods to lengthen its and other food shelf life.

#2 Cooked Chicken

Comparing to raw chicken, cooked chicken can last for a longer time up to 3 to 4 days in the fridge, even for whole chicken or parts. Though you cook your chicken in multiple ways such as broiling or deep-frying, it is said that chicken is only safe to eat in up to 4 days.

Cooked poultry like chicken also needs a special storing method to keep it reach the longest storing time, prevent it from going bad too soon. After processing chicken, within 2 hours at room temperature ( about 20 to 25 degrees C) and 1 hour at a higher temperature, you should put it in the refrigerator. Beyond that time, bacteria will grow and create a good condition for mold to develop, you cannot eat your cooked chicken anymore to avoid food poisoning and unsafety. Place cooked chicken in an airtight container might guarantee that it lasts for about 3 to 4 days, so might reduce the ability of rotten food.

#3 Vacuum sealed chicken

Vacuum seal chicken is also a popular product you might easily find in the supermarket. I guess some of you still confuse about its lifetime if you store in the fridge. Because vacuum sealers are used to remove air in bag so it is a great way to preserve chicken’s flavor and freshness for a longer time than normal ways. This method might lengthen not only your raw but also cooked chicken for up to 6 days, keep your food safe 50% more days in the fridge.

There are many brands of vacuum sealers in the market, but which is the best vacuum sealers in 2019 for you to buy? See more

Conclusion

All the information above is just for reference, you need to stick to the reality to decide how long you will keep your chicken in the fridge. Obviously, I would recommend that storing chicken by vacuum sealers is the greatest choice if you think the storing time of other ordinary methods is too short and quite hard for you to consume in just few days.

How to Tell if Cooked Rice Is Bad?

Cooked rice is a staple that has been boiled and steamed with water and heat. Maybe leftover cooked rice is no longer strange for most of people, you can store it at room temperature and also a refrigerator or freezer to keep it last longer. Stir-frying or reheating leftover rice to use later is not a bad idea but how will it be if the leftover rice turns bad? Moreover, how can you recognize and avoid a bowl of spoiled cooked rice and how long can you eat rice after cooking? But before I give you some tips, there is some information about storage methods that I think you should know.

If you use a fridge to store cooked rice, the precise number is 6 days and can reach up to 6 months in a freezer to lengthen the leftover shelf life. However, without cooling appliances, your leftover cooked rice can last for only 2 hours for the best quality in taste and texture. It is also the perfect time for spores inside cannot transform into bacteria and cause food poisoning.

An airtight container, aluminum foil or reusable plastic bag are some good things which can guarantee a longer storage lifetime and better food quality.

Though even you store the leftover in the right way, it still gets spoil in some way, so how to recognize it easily? How to tell if cooked rice is bad? Here are some tips that will answer your question.

#1 The leftover turns super hard and dry in texture

This visual sign illustrates that leftover rice will dry out more day by day even you leave it at room temperature or cooling equipment. When it reaches its limit of hardness or dryness and you feel even it is reheated, the moisture might be not restored again, so instead of keeping eating, the only thing you need to do is throw it away. I think your house should keep some airtight containers indoors because they will reduce the ability of super hard and dry leftover rice.

#2 The cooked rice is left unrefrigerated for too long

Many science articles show if you cool down food and then thaw them at room temperature or in cold water, especially from 40 to 140 degrees F in a very long time, food spoilage seems to happen more easily. The word “too long” here means it is not longer than 2 hours – the perfect time for storing at room temperature as I’ve said above.

#3 The cooked rice is cooled and then heated many times

I know you want to maximize the shelf life of the leftover rice as long as possible but could you imagine the quality of it will be worse when it’s storage environment is changed continuously? Leftover cooked rice has to face up with the transformation from a low temperature in a fridge to a higher one that contributes to the faster expansion of bacteria.

#4 The cooked rice has an unpleasant smell

If there is an unpleasant smell such as moldy or musty, it must be the best sign to toss it right away. Leftover rice is stored in a wrong way or over time, this ability obviously cannot keep the original taste of your food, moreover, you can also get food poisoning. Therefore, the proper storage method is so important that decide the shelf life of any leftover food, do not forget. For more proper storage methods, you can go and check here.