Carrots and milk

knspol

I buy pre packed carrots via online delivery shop and agree they don't last very long but it's more convenient for me and means less heavier stuff to carry. Have also noticed cucumbers being reduced to mush very quickly and I do buy them separately when I go to the greengrocers. I still think the removal of sell by dates on fruit and vegetables has not been a good move for consumers.

They haven't removed the sell by date in some supermarkets. Packets have a capital letter for the month followed by a number for the date.

I can't say I've had a problem with milk or root veg. I do remove them from the plastic bags and rap in old tea towels. The only thing I have noticed that doesn't last the week is cucumbers. They do go soft and mushy quickly.

'Turned' milk (curds & wey) is nutritious and delicious with fruit - berries, oranges. etc., especially if it is full cream as it has vit D as well as the protein and is easy to digest.

The bottles keep best of course, (48+ hours) in a fridge but also can last for 24 - 48 hours in a bucket of cold water, in the shade of long grass / under a bush, with a cloth over the top to keep it all cool. Decant what you need only when you need it. This works for us as we have no fridge at the moment.

I wonder if the packers of the veg are using less water and more chemicals to wash the mud off. I find supermarket potatoes don't sprout at this time of year like the ones from the local farm, but they do go rubbery and develop slimy spots in the fridge. The farm ones in the sack in the shed and still wearing all their mud do not go soft or slimy but they do sprout if it's warm.

Supermarkets don't seem to sell half portions of cucumbers anymore. I can't use a whole one up before it goes mushy...which it does too quickly anyway.

cravendale or filtered milk lasts longer

I read that, if you put an apple in your potato bag it stops the potatoes from sprouting. Although I tried that and it didn’t work. I bought those green bags from Must Have Ideas that are supposed to keep things fresh but they didn’t work either.

I don't have independent stores near me so have no choice really except to buy from a supermarket. I live on my own and have to buy the quantities available in the shop but I recently bought a gadget for the fridge that emits some sort of signal and it has made a big difference to how long anything lasts. As for milk, Cravendale lasts a long time and I've never had to throw any away even after leaving open carton in the fridge whilst away on holiday. Also Lactose free milk seems to last a long time as well.

If you leave veg in a plastic bag of course it will deteriorate quickly!

I agree knspol, at least the dates enabled us to choose the freshest veg on display.

I’ve been having trouble with bagged carrots going slimy, and bagged potatoes growing huge eyes before I get round to using them. I also had one mysterious case of FLOPPY carrots in the veg bin in the fridge! Apparently if they get dehydrated they go floppy. I don’t really want to have to process all my fresh veg before I cook with them - I can’t stand up for very long before my back starts to ache.

I buy pre packed carrots via online delivery shop and agree they don't last very long but it's more convenient for me and means less heavier stuff to carry. Have also noticed cucumbers being reduced to mush very quickly and I do buy them separately when I go to the greengrocers. I still think the removal of sell by dates on fruit and vegetables has not been a good move for consumers.

The only vegetable I always buy organic are carrots after DH’s brothers oncologist told him to never eat carrots that weren’t organic. Always buy them from Tescos. Even kept in the plastic bag they come in they last for ages as long as there isn’t a rogue one in the bag.

Like 62granny and Georgesgran I buy filtered milk and it lasts for at least two weeks, though I've normally used it within the first week. It has a different taste, slightly like sterilised or UHT milk, but since I normally only use it in cooking, coffee or for the grandchildren's cereal that is not a problem.
I try to buy carrots loose as I don't use many, but also have used the Lakeland bags mentioned above which work well.
Also I have a new fridge which keeps the vegetable drawers only marginally above 0 degrees so fruit and veg keep well anyway.
My problem is always keeping tomatoes from going squashy, keeping them out of the fridge is recommended but they just don't keep well.

I do.

Just as a matter of interest, how many of gransnetters have a fridge thermometer?

Yes it may be a good idea to buy a fridge thermometer. My fridge freezer is only a few years old....I think! Maybe it's older than I thought

We have milk delivered in returnable glass bottles, 4 pints on Tuesday, 3 on Saturday. It’s local and lasts well.

In the olden days, polomint, we had a daily milk delivery. Some lucky people still do. Like you I buy my milk mostly from Morrisons and I have no problem at all. I think you should get a fridge thermometer - it’s easy to think the temperature is ok but a thermometer is a good investment.

I buy two x four pints of filtered ?milk in one go with my weekly shop , I have never found it goes off. I always put it straight back in the fridge after I use it. I find if I buy carrots and I put them loose in the salad draw of the fridge they are fine for well over a week but if I put them in my veg rack they tend to go limp and wrinkled.

I blame Brexit. I have bought fresh veg from a local greengrocer that comes in paper bags but all the veg tends to be soft, and then mushy when cooked. I've gone back to buying my veg at Tesco.

My fridge seems cold enough. Cans, butter etc are all chilled. I don't buy newspapers nowadays so can't wrap carrots up that way. Carrots are from aldi and morrisons as is the milk. I may try cavendale milk as another grandsnetter mentioned. I'm just curious as to why they don't last as long as they used to do. Years ago when I was younger we had no fridge and mum's veggies and milk seemed to last longer but she probably shopped often

I've stopped buying supermarket own brand milk because it always goes off .
I prefer Cravendale .
It has a pleasant taste and lasts for ages .
When I lived on a farm as a child we had nasty tasting sterilised milk .
It lasted a long time , but I'll never forget how vile it was .
If I buy carrots I take them out of the plastic bag and wrap them in newspaper as I do with all my vegetables .

A clamp that's a word I haven heard for years. When I was a child our next door neighbour's family had a farm and their carrots were kept in the clamp and maybe potatoes too. We bought a sack of potatoes each winter and they lasted and lasted. Mum kept them in the sack in an outside cupboard. Which was more than cool! I expect she bought carrots as well and maybe swedes too. This was in Kent where there were acres of vegetables growing.

Where do you all buy your carrots? Ours nearly always come from Asda and they keep very well - as long as they’re taken straight out of the plastic.

Is your fridge as cold as it should be, OP? Do you have a fridge thermometer to check it?