Storing your kitchen essentials correctly makes a lot of difference: Avoid these mistakes

Your kitchen essentials may not last as long as they should if you're making these storage mistakes.

We spend so much time choosing good ingredients, the best oils, the purest ghee, the finest honey, and so little time thinking about what happens to them once they get home. It's not the quality of what you buy that determines how it tastes six months later. It's how you store it. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Namrita Malhotra, founder and managing director of gourmet food and wellness expert, Savore, shares how to keep your essentials fresh for longer.

Storing oil near gas

“The most common mistake I see is keeping oils and ghee near the stove for convenience,” said Namrita. She highlighted that heat and light are the biggest enemies of freshness. Cold-pressed oils, in particular, are more delicate than refined oils; they oxidise and lose their aroma when left in a warm, sunlit corner. A cool, dark cabinet is one of the simplest and most effective ways to extend their freshness. The same goes for windowsills, which look lovely with rows of glass jars catching the light, but are quietly the worst place for them to sit.

Cold-pressed oils, in particular, are more delicate than refined oils; they oxidise and lose their aroma when left in a warm, sunlit corner.

Loose jars

Namrita highlighted that people often refrigerate things that don't need it, like ghee and honey, which can dull flavour and, in honey's case, cause premature crystallisation. Both are happiest at cool room temperature. If your honey has already crystallised, by the way, it isn't spoiled; a gentle warm water bath will bring it right back.

Using wet spoons

Using wet spoons is a habit almost everyone is guilty of. Even a small amount of moisture introduced into ghee or honey can reduce its quality over time, so a dry spoon, every single time, is a simple rule worth keeping.

A tightly sealed glass jar is honey's best friend, and it's worth wiping the rim clean before closing it each time.

Using unclean containers

Decanting into unclean or plastic containers is an easy trap. Natural, minimally processed ingredients react to their environment, so glass, airtight, and completely dry containers always win. It's also worth transferring only what you'll use in a reasonable stretch of time, rather than exposing an entire large batch to air repeatedly.

“None of this requires effort, only intention. Small shifts, a shaded shelf, a proper lid, a dry spoon, the right container- make the difference between an ingredient that fades and one that stays as good as the day it was made,” said Namrita.