Did you know that an infant should receive breast milk as the main food until 6 months of age? After 6 months they can begin to incorporate other types of food, such as baby food. Besides, babies require attention, especially in preserving their food. So, learn the 3 ways on how to preserve homemade porridge.
You can keep them at room temperature for no more than 12 hours. For their part, they are kept in the fridge for 48 hours. For long-term storage, you should freeze the porridge, where the maximum consumption period is set at 2 months, depending on the content of the porridge.
Feeding a baby is extremely important, remember that they are in a stage of development and growth. Therefore, the food they eat has to be in perfect condition. Know the 3 ways to preserve the porridges for your baby.
How to keep baby food at room temperature?
The baby food is an important source of nutrients when the baby begins to consume other foods than breast milk. Remember, that at this stage the properties of breast milk are no longer sufficient to meet the nutritional demands of the infant.
It is for this reason that porridges become the nutritional ally of parents. It is essential that you learn to preserve the porridges so that they do not lose their nutrients.
It should be mentioned that the preservation of the porridge at room temperature is actually in specific thermos. These baby thermoses are the ones that you can leave outdoors. Find out how you can preserve baby food in thermos by reading the following instructions.
- Select a thermos to store the porridge
This step is one of the easiest, in general, you can buy special thermos, since it maintains the temperature of the porridge for longer than a traditional thermos.
The downside is that these thermoses can be more expensive. However, you can use any container without problem, as long as it is sterilized.
- Pour the porridge into the thermos
Once you have the homemade baby porridge ready , you have to pour it into the thermos. Then you can keep the container at room temperature, the porridge will keep for more than 12 hours, but not more than 24 hours.
- Sterilize the containers
Every time you use a container to store baby food, you have to wash it automatically. This prevents the colonization of microorganisms.
The utility of these special thermoses is that the porridge stays warm, so you can leave the house and carry several full thermoses.
However, the disadvantage of this method of preserving porridge is time, since after 12 hours you run the risk that the porridge is damaged.
How to store homemade porridge in the fridge?
How to store baby food in fridge safely is one of the most used modalities, mainly because it is a comfortable and useful technique for mothers , since they can have a small store of porridge for several days.
A porridge can be made from fruits, proteins, among others. So, it is important that you can preserve them properly because they are foods that are easily spoiled.
Learn the steps to keep baby food in the fridge.
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Cook the porridge
Make the homemade porridge with the ingredient of your choice and wait for it to cool for at least 3 hours.
It is recommended that you wait this time because if you keep them warm in the fridge you can damage the porridge due to the sudden change in temperature. -
Select a container
The container is essential, it is advisable that it be made of glass with a hermetic lid or, failing that, a plastic container with a hermetic lid. If the container is airtight, the porridge maintains its nutritional properties intact.
Remember that the container has to be sterilized, for this you can do it with a baby container sterilizer or by placing the containers in boiling water. -
Place the porridge in the container
When the porridge is warm or has already cooled, you should proceed to pour it into the container. Cover very well and store the container in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
With this modality you can keep baby food for 48 hours . Of course, this is the case, if the porridge only contains fruits or vegetables, but if it is meat or chicken porridge, they keep for 24 hours.
Another very different story is the preservation of the porridge in the freezer . If you want to know how long it is kept, read on.
How to freeze porridges?
Is it possible to freeze porridges Of course, it is the best way when you need to have a large supply of porridge for the future, since it is the long-term storage that you should choose.
To freeze the porridges, we have 2 methods, in thermos and in ice buckets , which we will see below.
Freezing baby food in thermos
Yes! As you read it, you can keep porridge in the freezer. Like the previous method, you have to wait an hour for the porridge to cool down after cooking.
Keep in mind that this method of preserving porridge can be useful if you have a hectic lifestyle, which does not allow you to make porridge every day. In addition, it will always be preferable that the baby consumes the porridge the same day that you cook it.
In this sense, follow the following instructions to have porridge stored in the freezer in thermos.
- Select suitable packaging
Once again, the container is the main element for storing the porridges. Likewise, the containers should preferably be made of glass with a hermetic lid , but the most important thing to freeze the porridge is the size of the container.
When you freeze any food, you should try to keep it in small containers, because if you freeze a very large portion and do not use it all, then you cannot freeze it again.
In relation to the above, you run the risk that the food is damaged . At the same time, if you choose airtight containers, you can put the production date on them, so you are aware of the time they have stored in the freezer.
- Store in the freezer
Pour the porridge and take to the freezer. In this cold environment, the porridges can be kept for up to 2 months . However, try not to wait all this time.
In the first place, if the porridge is made from fruit and it spends all that time frozen, it can lose the vitamins it contains. The same happens if you cook vegetable porridge.
Another additional fact is that not all fruits are recommended that you freeze them , for the same reasons, they lose their properties. These foods are carrots and potatoes. It is best for the baby to consume these porridges at the time of preparation.
Freezing baby food in ice buckets
This is just another version so you can freeze the baby porridge and keep it. It is a more practical way, since you do not have to use glass containers, but rather the buckets where you put the water to cool to make ice.
- Cleans ice buckets very well
Ideally, you should use glass containers, which are safer for storing baby food. However, you can sterilize the ice trays very well and thus save the excess porridge.
- Pour the porridge into the coolers
Before checking that the puree is not too thick, otherwise, it will be very uncomfortable to place it in the bucket. The best thing is that you can dilute it with a little drinking water.
- Take the buckets with the porridge to the freezer
You just have to wait a few hours until the porridge takes a solid state, approximately, you should wait 48 hours. The porridges that you can freeze in this way are made from fruit .
- Store in airtight containers
To ensure a good quality of the porridges, we must store them in hermetic containers suitable for freezing. In this case, ziplock bags are the best option in my opinion.
- Label the container.
Frozen porridges do not last forever, that is why it is extremely important to label the container with the date on which this process is carried out so that you can have control over its expiration.
- Save the cubes of porridge
Lastly, store the container in the freezer.
This does not mean that you cannot freeze protein or vegetable porridges, but it is more advisable to freeze those made with fruit in the form of ice cubes. Likewise, this presentation can last in the freezer up to a maximum of 2 months .
How to defrost the porridges?
As you have already learned, a porridge is best preserved in individual portions , especially if you are going to store it in the freezer.
Therefore, you have to learn how to defrost fruit or vegetable porridges . This is a very easy task, but you must follow some instructions so that the porridges do not spoil. The instructions for defrosting a porridge are.
- Put the porridges in the fridge
You have to do this step the night before. Basically, what you have to do is move the containers from the freezer to the bottom of the fridge.
With this action what you are achieving is that the porridge is thawing without a noticeable change in temperature.
- Heat the containers
Most likely, the porridge has already thawed by being in the fridge overnight. However, a cold porridge can be unpleasant for the baby.
For this reason, you should take the porridge out of the fridge and wait 30 minutes for it to lose its cold a bit. Next, you are going to finish defrosting and acclimatize the porridge to the bain-marie.
If you cannot heat the container in a bain-marie, you have the alternative of using the microwave. Just try not to overheat, it is better to place 30 seconds and stir the porridge.
It is important to mention that once you have defrosted the porridge you cannot refreeze the porridge for any reason.
Why is freezing porridges in special thermos better?
In the market there are special thermoses to store baby food . What’s more, you can find those that are used for solid and liquid. Fortunately, they are useful so that you can keep the excess porridge that the baby does not eat.
In the same way, it is one of the most expensive options to reserve the porridge , mainly due to the characteristics of the thermos. In addition, there are many brands, but generally they have the following descriptions.
- The price of the product is high.
- You have several models and colors available.
- The capacity of the thermos is 500 ml , although you can find others of greater capacity.
- The materials in which they are manufactured are of excellent quality because they are made of special steel. This type of material preserves the temperature of the porridge. At the same time, it supports low temperatures.
- They have a very easy to handle pouring system .
- There are thermoses for all age ranges, there are those with a recommended age of 0+ months, among others.
Commercial porridges
A homemade porridge is very different from a commercial porridge, both in composition, nutritional value and, of course, storage time.
While a homemade porridge you cannot keep for more than 24 hours at room temperature , a commercial porridge can last up to a month at room temperature, of course if you have not opened it yet.
In addition to this, commercial porridges have an expiration date that you can observe on their packaging, so this allows you to know how long you can store it.
A negative aspect of commercial porridges compared to homemade porridges is that the former have preservatives or any other type of additive that can be harmful if consumption is excessive.
On the other hand, the homemade porridges are made with natural foods and you are supervising the process.
How to know that the porridges are damaged?
It is vital that parents or caregivers are able to identify the signs that a porridge is coming or damaged. Of course, they should discard it and, for no reason, give that food to the baby.
In this sense, whether it is a commercial porridge or you have prepared it at home, you should know that, if this food has any of the following characteristics, it is indeed damaged.
- If the porridge has fungus . You can identify them as small irregular masses of dark colors.
- The color of the porridge is opaque.
- As for the taste of a damaged porridge, it is bitter or sour . Automatically, you will know that it is expired.
- The porridge smells different, that is, it does not smell like fruits, chicken, among others. This depends on what the porridge is.
How long do the porridges last?
The porridges can last between a period of 24 hours up to 2 months , it all depends on the method you use for its conservation.
In addition to this, the texture of the porridge changes, it may be that they are lumpy, of course when freezing the food some nutritional properties may be lost.
Again, it is always better that the porridge is consumed the same day it is made, but if this is not possible, learn the conservation time according to each method with the help of the following table.
| Product | Conservation time |
| Vegetable and fruit porridges at room temperature | 24 hours |
| Protein porridge at room temperature | 12 hours |
| Vegetable and fruit porridge in the fridge | 48 hours |
| Protein porridge in the fridge | 24 hours |
| Porridge in the freezer | 2 months |
What is the best way to preserve porridge?
The beginning of the complementary feeding of an infant, after 6 months of age is a slow process, but satisfactory, since as parents they have to gradually introduce food into the baby’s diet.
The porridges are one of the best options for this dietary transition from breast milk to different foods.
In short, the best way for the baby to consume baby food is at room temperature , you just finish preparing them and wait for them to cool down a bit.
It should be noted that this diet must be monitored by a pediatrician, since he is the person empowered to guide parents throughout this process.
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