During the Mid-Autumn Festival, households often encounter the situation of leftover mooncakes. Faced with these mooncakes that are too precious to discard but difficult to consume immediately, people often choose to store them in the refrigerator, believing that as long as they haven’t expired, they can be enjoyed at any time. However, in reality, the refrigerator is not an ideal storage environment for mooncakes.
Most types of mooncakes undergo changes in their starch content at low temperatures, causing moisture to be released, which affects the taste of the mooncakes. Additionally, different flavors of mooncakes, due to their varying ingredients, have significantly different suitable storage times.
For example, five-nut mooncakes, which are rich in nuts and dried fruits, are relatively durable and can remain fresh for 15 to 20 days even at room temperature of 25°C. In contrast, lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes, due to the high moisture content in the red bean paste and lotus seed paste leading to potential spoilage, are recommended to be consumed within a week after opening, and should not exceed 10 days.
The storage duration mentioned here is based on mooncakes that have already been opened and are kept at room temperature. For unopened and sealed mooncakes, the consumption time should be arranged according to the shelf life indicated by the manufacturer.
As for mooncakes containing meat, due to their special nature, they should not be left at room temperature for long periods. The best consumption strategy is to eat them immediately after purchase, and the storage period should not exceed 5 days to ensure food safety and flavor.
