The biggest challenge in the scorching summer season is to protect the tiffin taken to office or school from getting spoiled. Due to sunlight and humidity, food gets oxidized quickly, due to which it starts smelling and the taste also gets spoiled. As ‘Live Hindustan’ reports, here are 5 easy tips that will keep your food fresh for hours:
1. Pack the food only after it has cooled completely.
Often we pack hot food or freshly made rotis in a tiffin in a hurry. The steam emanating from hot food creates moisture (condensation) inside the tiffin, due to which the food becomes sticky and starts spoiling quickly.
Tip: Let the roti, paratha or vegetable come to room temperature, only then close the lid.
2. Use of insulated tiffin and cooling bag
For summers, insulated tiffin boxes are best instead of ordinary plastic or steel tiffins. These do not allow outside heat to come inside.
Tip: If you travel in extreme sunlight, keep your tiffin box in an ‘insulated bag’. You can also place a small ‘ice pack’ inside the bag to keep the temperature regulated.
3. Keep moist and dry things separate
Vegetable gravy or dal often softens other dry items like roti or salad, causing the food to spoil quickly.
Tip: Always use multi-container tiffin. Use air-tight small containers for curd, raita or gravy based vegetables so that there is no leakage and odor does not spread.
4. Use of natural things to absorb odor
The smell of spices often settles in plastic tiffins. To prevent this, you can use some natural things in a corner of the tiffin.
Tip: Keep a slice of lemon or a few mint leaves in a small part of the tiffin. These not only provide a feeling of freshness but also retain the aroma of the food.
5. The right way to pack salads and fruits
Do not pack salad (cucumber, tomato) by adding salt, because salt releases water which can spoil the salad and the rest of the tiffin food.
Tip: Always keep salad in a separate container and give salt or chaat masala separately in a small packet. Put it on salad at meal time.
Bonus Tip: After cleaning the tiffin, always dry it in the sun for some time or wash it with vinegar water, so that the smell of old food gets completely eliminated.
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