The Best Way to Serve Cold Food While Cooking
Grilled meats like burgers, hot dogs, and chicken tend to take center stage at picnics, as do many others happening this holiday weekend, but the side dishes are what make the food. And since most food preparation takes place in warmer summer weather, it can be difficult to keep dishes like potato salad and coleslaw cold.
Luckily, there is a TikTok hack for that. Here’s what you need to know.
How to Refrigerate Chilled Food When Eating Outdoors
This tip has been going around since it was posted on the @alifebetterorganized TikTok account, and it came out just in time for the July 4 holiday weekend. Instead of worrying about your mayonnaise-based salads sitting too long, make your own cooling tray.
First, take a few disposable aluminum pans and make sure one is large enough to hold at least one other pan. Then fill the largest pot with about an inch of water and place it in the freezer.
Meanwhile, place salads and any other cold starters in smaller aluminum pans. Once the water in the large saucepan turns to solid ice, remove it from the freezer and place the smaller saucepans in it. From there, you are ready to bring the food outside for serving.
But what if someone shows up with a salad on a plate? Don’t worry , Claire Lower at Lifehacker has a hack for this:
Just take a shower cap (a cheap plastic one works best), scoop some ice into it, and put a bowl of food inside. Raise the elastic on the sides of the bowl to create a cool environment for your famous potato, pasta or chicken salad.
So there you have it: two ways to keep your food cool and safe at picnics this weekend and through the rest of the summer.