Carrots and milk

Milk used to be scalded and the cream skimmed off for use (delicious)

That was before the days of pasteurising.

Gardeners used to keep their carrots potatoes etc in a clamp, which composed of the root veg being covered in straw or similar and the earth piled on top. My grandfather used to dig a drainage channel around it. They kept all winter like that.

carrots keep very well under water in a container in the fridge. Milk can be frozen in portions or will make scones if turned

If I have to buy bagged potatoes or carrots I take them out of the bag and leave them a couple of hours to dry on a sheet of newspaper and then store them in a wicker old fashioned shopping basket lined with newspaper and covered with a sheet of newspaper. They last well somewhere fairly cool. We use a lot of milk and the 4 pints seem to last well. From Waitrose as that is my closest store within walking distance. I occasionally use s/s litre of UHT milk if I run out. If only the 2 pinters were half the price of the 4 pinters it would be useful to buy smaller ones. But I am a cheap skate.

Milk turns off before sell by date even though I buy it with quite a few days in advance

I have kitchen roll in my vegetable drawer in fridge and it helps to keep other veggies dry but I think the carrots are not in good condition when I buy them. I try to peer through the film covering them but I still can pick horrible ones. Parsnips, turnips, mushrooms, leeks etc are fine

No problem with s/s milk from Tesco, we use about six pints per week, I buy loose carrots from them if I don’t get to the farm shop, they’re delivered a a brown paper bag.
I haven’t had any problems at all with milk or veg over the last, goodness knows, at least six years we’ve had Tesco, occasionally Asda, deliveries.

The only problem I've had with vegetables is when purchased from Aldi or Lidl. I find they can sometimes be just on the turn but I rarely shop in either. We're very fortunate to have a good local greengrocer which also sells an excellent selection of cheeses and West Country charcuterie.

Not had problems with milk but shop bought carrots seem to go really slimes. We grow as much fruit n veg ourselves and lasts longer and tastes better.

I find vegetables keep for ages in my fridge as I have special vegetable drawers.

Especially when wanting to keep carrot sticks (home cut) to nibble on over several days, I've found that they stay crisp longer if I put the ends of the sticks in a small container of water in the fridge. Presumably the carrot cells absorb water by osmosis or whatever and this keeps them crisp. Trimming the end off a whole carrot and standing it in water might work too.

BlueBelle

I think the whole point, is for me anyway, this hasn’t been happening until recently and i ve always used the same process
Yes of course straight out the plastic bags and into baskets or fridge if advised
I have no choice but to buy in the supermarkets we have no fresh veg / fruit shops in the whole town and no market either

I've found the same. I try to buy unbagged produce wherever possible, but the last couple of times I've bought carrots from Aldi, which were bagged (our store doesn't have unbagged ones), they've gone off very quickly, despite being taken out of the bag as soon as I'm home.

I think the whole point, is for me anyway, this hasn’t been happening until recently and i ve always used the same process
Yes of course straight out the plastic bags and into baskets or fridge if advised
I have no choice but to buy in the supermarkets we have no fresh veg / fruit shops in the whole town and no market either

It’s being encased in that plastic that makes veg go off IMO - they soon get wet. I take everything out of it asap.
The veg/salad drawer is also lined with an old tea towel - which I really ought to change more often.

I’ve not had milk tasting ‘off’ for ages. Ours comes from the milkman but now and then I have to buy some and always check the date.

Pammie1

I find kitchen roll in the bottom of the fridge vegetable crisper keeps things dry and they last longer.

An old towel or tea towel works well too.

I buy filtered milk and don’t have any problem with it going off/sour.
Years ago I bought special bags from QVC which considerably extend the life of fruit and vegetables - also available in Lakeland now. They really do work, although I make sure the vegetables are completely dry before they go into the bags.

I find kitchen roll in the bottom of the fridge vegetable crisper keeps things dry and they last longer.

I also removed carrots from plastic bags and wrap them in kitchen paper or an old tea towel before putting in the fridge, they do last so much longer. However, the carrots we buy from winter onwards are probably stored in the ground - tops removed and covered in straw - problem is, they lose all their flavour.

I avoid baggedveg and always decant it out of the bags and into some small wicker baskets I have and put them in the fridge.

Emptied

I always tempted fruit and vegetables from the packaging as soon as I get home. We don't have an independant grocer near me or a market either unfortunately or I would be buying from them. I have resorted to buying smaller cartons of milk as a previous gransnetter has said and I also freeze milk occasionally

gulligranny

Mary Berry recommended decanting mushrooms from plastic packaging to a paper bag, and I find that it also works with other veg. Even without that, my Tesco carrots bought a week ago are still nice and firm, as is a head of broccoli and a couple of peppers.

I decant mushrooms into an actual basket and don't refridgerate them.

I find carrots keep better in the fridge in a clean plastic bag particularly the green ones meant for that purpose.

bluebelle, its a shame you dont have a market. Rather frustrating, so if you only buy a small amount you have to shop more times, if you have a lot they go off. The only thing I have done sometimes is when a friend and I share a quantity of something, and that way we use them up.

Well I’ve not noticed them being any worse quality than usual, but I was appalled to see that the carrots DH brought home from our local greengrocer last week were Chinese, then the ones I had delivered today from Tesco are from Israel. I googled the UK carrot season and according to the Great British Carrots website (who knew that was a thing?) it’s 11 months of the year and we’re currently in the twelfth month. I always assumed they grew here all year round.