10 Tips I Learned in Culinary School to Reduce Food Waste

Video: Step by step recipe on how to make French Fish Fumet (Fish stock)

…Or Make Chicken Stock From Leftover Chicken Bones!

It’s also super easy to make chicken stock from any leftover chicken bones you may have (rotisserie chicken bones are great for this, too). In culinary school we learned that it is much cheaper to buy a whole chicken instead of parts. Break down the chicken by cutting out the spine and neck and cutting it apart at the joints. Reserve the neck and back, run them under cold running water and place in the freezer for making stock later (don’t forget to save the leftover bones from dinner too). When you’ve accumulated a couple pounds worth of bones, make chicken stock. It’s easy! Just combine the bones, two roughly chopped carrots, chopped leeks, chopped celery ribs, garlic cloves and one chopped onion. Add a bouquet garni, and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about an hour, skimming off any scum that comes to the surface. Strain and cool before refrigerating or freezing.

Video: How to make fresh chicken stock

5. Save Your Bacon Grease and Render Fat From Leftover Duck Skin

The French loooove their butter and fat — and a good chef knows that they make absolutely everything taste better. Next time you fry up some bacon, pour the fat into a little jar and keep in the fridge. If you ever roast a duck, you can also reserve the raw leftover skin that’s removed from the bird before cooking and simmer it in a little bit of water to render out a whole bunch of amazing delicious fat (see video below). Both are great for frying eggs and pan-crisping vegetables to get extra flavor and nutrients (and save money on butter!).

Video: How to render duck fat

6. Make Breadcrumbs or Croutons From Old Bread

One thing we learned is that restaurants always make their own breadcrumbs and croutons from stale leftover bread. It’s really simple and easy to do at home as well. For breadcrumbs, just cut stale bread into small pieces and pulverize them in a food processor. For croutons, lightly mist the bread to soften, cut the bread into one-inch cubes, toss with olive oil, salt and herbs, and then place on a baking tray in a single layer. Bake in a 300-degree oven until golden brown, stirring occasionally, for the best-ever croutons.

Homemade Croutons by Ashe via Flickr

7. Save Your Vanilla Bean Pods

Next time a desert recipe calls for fresh vanilla beans, keep the pod, rinse it, dry it well and stick it into a small jar of sugar sealed with an airtight lid. As it sits, the vanilla will slowly infuse the sugar with flavor. Remove the pod after a few weeks, and use the vanilla-flavored sugar as you would any regular sugar: for baking, dusting over cookies and in coffee. Adding a leftover vanilla pod to alcohol like vodka and bourbon will infuse it with an amazing flavor as well.

Vanilla sugar by Dobrin Isabela via Flickr

8. First In, First Out

In culinary school, we were taught to not only use lots of plastic wrap to keep foods fresher longer, but also to label all our items so we knew exactly what it was and when it was made. Chefs do this because restaurant kitchens run using the “first in, first out,” principle, which requires that the oldest products get used first, ensuring that ingredients get used before they expire. Applying this system at home can really help reduce food waste. Once your food goes in the fridge, take care to consume the older products — or those with a fast-approaching expiration — as soon as possible.

9. Rearrange Your Fridge for Optimum Freshness

You can also rearrange your refrigerator like a professional to help extend the shelf life of your ingredients. In school we learned the higher you place an item on the shelf, the warmer it will be, so it’s best to keep super perishable items that are more likely to grow bacteria — like raw meat and seafood — on the lowest shelf. On the middle rack, store items that are less likely to spoil, like eggs, milk, cheese and deli meats. The top shelf of the fridge is a great place to keep leftovers that have already been cooked or are shelf-stable, like beverages. This also helps you remember to eat leftovers because they will be the first thing you see when you open the fridge.

10. If All Else Fails, You Can Always Compost Your Food Scraps and Leftovers

Composting instead of throwing away food waste and other organics reduces your environmental impact and transforms trash into a useful resource. Nutrient-rich compost is a cheap fertilizer free of pollutants and chemicals. For more information and tips on composting at home, check out our comprehensive composting resource page.