the Home, U. S. Department of Agriculture): Keep meat and poultry in the 
coldest part of the ice box or your coldest storage place—45° F. or lower is best. 
Fresh meat. —Cover fresh meat loosely. Wipe with damp cloth just before 
cooking. If ground, store in extra cool place and cook soon. 
Meat broth. —Cool meat broth rapidly, keep cold, use soon. 
Cooked meat. —Keep cooked meat covered. Chopped and sliced cooked 
meats spoil more quickly than meat in the piece. Cut or chop just before using. 
Keep meat sandwiches and salads cold right up to serving time. 
Cured meat. —Keep uncooked, well-cured meat in a dark, cool, dry, airy 
place. Leave wrapping on ham, bacon, and other cured meat until ready to 
cook. Keep mildly cured meats like fi%sh meats. 
Poultry. —Wash poultry thoroughly inside and out, pat dry, and store very 
cold until time to cook. 
Sea food. —Fish and all other sea food spoils in a few hours at room tempera¬ 
ture. Cook at once, or wrap in wax paper to keep odor from other food, and 
store very cold. 
Milk. —Don’t let milk stand out. Keep it in the colder part of the refrigerator. 
When cooking, take out only milk and cream needed and let the rest stay cold. 
Don’t pour left-over milk back in the main supply. Put away milk the first 
thing after each meal. Keep odorous foods—fish, onion, cabbage, melons—away 
from milk. Use suds and sun on all milk containers. Scald often. 
Milk and egg dishes. —Milk and eggs are good combinations, but spoil easily. 
If custards, cream pies and puddings, and cream puffs are not to be eaten at once, 
cool them quickly, cover, and keep very cold. 
Cheese. —Cold and covered, are the watchwords for cheese too. Use cottage 
and other soft cheese quickly, for they soon spoil. Hard, cured cheese, well 
wrapped, may be kept longer. 
Eggs. —Wipe off soiled spots on eggs with a dry, rough cloth. But don’t wash 
eggs before storing. Water destroys the protective film that keeps out air and 
odors. Store eggs in open bowl or wire basket in a cool place. 
Vegetables. —The fresher a vegetable when it is used, the better the taste, 
the less the waste, and the more vitamins retained. 
“Wilt not, waste not,” is a golden rule for garden stuff. For household storage 
of fresh vegetables, use refrigerator or other cold place. 
Salad greens. —To crisp up lettuce, radishes, celery—all raw vegetables headed 
for the salad bowl—wash, drain, store in covered vegetable pan. Keep cold. 
Cooking greens. —Pile cooking greens loosely to prevent bruising. Store in 
covered vegetable pan, or waterproof bag, preferably after washing and draining. 
Keep them cold. 
Snap beans, lima beans, peas, corn. —To hold the sweet in corn, peas, and 
lima beans and to keep snap beans fresh, keep them cold. Let them stay in the 
pod or husk unless you can store them tightly covered in refrigerator. 
The cabbage family. —Cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and broccoli lose fresh¬ 
ness faster than cabbage. Leave them uncut; keep cold and not too dry. 
Root vegetables. —Put beets, turnips, rutabagas, carrots in a cool ventilated 
place. Cut tops to 2 inches to save space. (Don’t throw away edible turnip and 
beet tops. Save as shown under “salad greens” above—or can, dry, brine, or 
freeze them.) 
Potatoes, onions. —A dry, cool blackout suits them both, but avoid freezing. 
Sweetpotatoes, squash. —For sweetpotatoes and squash, dry cool storage. 
Berries, cherries, grapes. —To keep berries, cherries, and grapes tip top, 
store in a shallow tray in a cold place. Wash just before using. 
Peaches, pears, plums. —Spread to keep from bruising. Keep the ripe fruit 
cool. Let under-ripe fruits ripen at room temperature. 
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