Many people choose to buy and store herbs like garlic and onions in bulk, but if you don’t use them up fairly quickly, you can end up wasting significant amounts of food to decay and rot.
Fortunately, this simple and cheap technique can help extend the life of onions, garlic and even shallots for months.
What You’ll Need
- Onions, garlic, and shallots that are fresh and free of blemishes. Be sure to cut off any spots that have a soft or rotten texture and use that herb right away to prevent it from contaminating others.
- Brown paper bags, easily purchased at most grocery stores.
- A single hole-punch tool.
What To Do
1. Fold the paper bag in half lengthwise, and punch holes along one edge, then the other. There should be about 1 inch between the punches.
2. When you unfold the bag, you should have multiple rows of holes perforating the bag. Fill the bag with produce, keeping onions, garlic and shallots in separate bags.
3. Fold the bag over at the top, and use a marker to label it – you can hold the bag closed with a simple clothespin.
Store the bags in a cool, dry place like a pantry or cellar, but be careful not to crowd them – onions in particular need air circulation to stay fresh. Lack of air movement can significantly reduce an onion’s storage life, according to the National Onion Association.
The paper bags allow for proper air circulation while protecting onions from exposure to sun and gasses from other herbs and vegetables that may cause sprouting and rot.
Keep in mind that onions and potatoes should always be stored separately, as gasses from onions can cause sprouting in potatoes, even when they’re stored in paper bags.
Special thanks to TheYummyLife for this awesome tutorial!
sources:
- https://www.onions-usa.org/faqs
- https://consumerist.com/2014/04/05/keep-your-onions-garlic-separated-and-other-tips-for-storing-fruits-vegetables/
- https://www.theyummylife.com/store_onions_garlic_shallots#EmbedRecipe_309