Stale Snacks? Try An Easy Storage Trick To Keep Them Fresh Longer

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If you're the type who loves to snack but hates seeing them go stale, there's an easy trick to help them stay fresh longer. The biggest threat to any treat is air exposure, which pulls out what little moisture they have left and leaves you with a less-than-ideal texture. Simply putting them in a zip-top bag and squeezing the air out is the best way to keep them fresh.

You won't need anything heavy-duty like a freezer bag either. A simple, thin sandwich bag works perfectly well. The goal isn't to protect your snacks from getting jostled around or exposed to extreme temperatures, but rather to keep excess air out of the vessel. This method helps everything from baked rosemary and chili chickpeas to pretzels to candy resist staleness, but it works especially well for snacks that need to maintain a crispy, crunchy texture. Though there's always debate about when to decant pantry staples, you don't even need to pour your snacks into another container. Just stick the whole package in a zip-top bag of the right size, squeeze out the air, and seal.

For extra credit, you can even buy desiccant packets — we like these ones by Dry & Dry — and add one to the bag with your snacks. Just be sure to store any unused packets in their own sealed bag to keep them effective. Even if you skip the zip-top bag method, there are plenty of other tricks to preserve freshness and keep snacks from going stale.

Not sealing dried foods is only one of the food storage mistakes you should stop making. Whether it's a treat you'll finish within a week or something you'll keep in your pantry for months, maintaining the right environment is almost as important as preventing excess air and moisture from creeping in.

Keeping snacks in a cool environment is critical, especially those with fat or oil like homemade roasted nuts or potato chips. When exposed to heat or temperature fluctuations, oils can turn rancid and ruin the taste. To keep snacks fresh, store them in a dark part of your home with stable temperatures rather than in spots that heat up, like above the stove or in a closet with a water heater. Even the most shelf-stable staples benefit from this, which is why people historically stored food in cellars, pantries, and butteries built slightly underground.

Including dates on anything you decant into a new storage vessel is also a smart way to make sure you eat the oldest items first. Write the date on tape rather than on the bag itself, since ink can bleed through and come into contact with food. You can also note details like how the snack was made and by whom to keep track of what might spoil sooner than others.