If you’ve been struggling to keep your pasta sauce fresh after opening the jar, a simple trick has been circulating that might just do the trick. Once you unscrew the lid and let air in, your tasty sauce is vulnerable to everything in your kitchen environment.
But by simply flipping the jar over and storing it upside-down, you could extend its shelf life. This method doesn’t technically make the food ‘fresher’, but it does slow down the development of mould, meaning your sauce won’t go bad as soon.
While the concept sounds almost too simple, Tracey Rutherford, the Food Editor at taste.com.au, said: “I have done this with tomato paste. I tip the jar upside down and tap it gently on a cutting board to make the paste fall to the top as it isn’t really runny.”
The upside-down storage tip originally sprang from a Facebook page that’s no longer operational, yet it still remains a hot topic among culinary enthusiasts. Taste Foodie Alison Adams also subscribed to the idea: “I always store my tomato paste upside down. Not only does it prevent mould but it also means that at the end of the jar, you’re not reaching in to scrape the bottom.”
It seems particularly useful for sauces, tomato pastes, and salsas, reports the Express. Although turning jars on their heads won’t stop mould growth entirely, it’s a nifty way to tackle food waste.
Cathy Moir, a Senior Food Microbiology Consultant with CSIRO Agriculture and Food, debunked the myth that turning jars upside down preserves food freshness. Speaking to the Daily Mail, she clarified that while the technique may slow bacterial growth temporarily, it won’t save the food from ruin.
She explained: “By turning the jar upside down, that surface where a mould may have landed when you opened the jar is now squashed against the lid without much air and it will find it more difficult to grow.”
However, she warned that this trick doesn’t affect yeast and some bacteria which can flourish with or without air. Moir added: “Commercially processed (usually cooked) foods in jars or cans are stable at room temperature until opening because they are sealed so microorganisms can’t get in. When we open them we are exposing the contents to the environment and all of the microbes that are on or around us.”
She suggested minimizing the time jars are open and using a clean spoon each time as better practices to keep sauces and similar foods microbe-free.