An Easy Trick For Transporting Food In The Car Without Causing A Mess
Picture this: You get invited to a potluck or dinner party and are asked to prepare some kind of dish for the big event. Maybe it's beef stroganoff, or perhaps it's your famous chicken pho with rice noodles. Either way, you place the said dish in your vehicle, drive over to the party, and look over at your pot of effort to find it spilled and splattered all over the car seat. Talk about a heap of rain on the parade.
As America's Test Kitchen explains, sharp turns and hard stops, as well as an excessive amount of movement for the dish in question, are all grounds for possible spillage. Now, sure, you can divide the soup, stew, etc., into various Tupperware containers (assuming the food isn't too hot) with fitted lids and call it a day. But that sounds time-consuming, and some people don't have that many containers lying around. Instead, try this useful hack that may decrease the chances of your dish spilling in the car.
Found within cabinets and shelves
Drawer liners are a blessing for cabinets as they hold plates, bowls, and cups in place within their respective shelves. But they're also useful for transporting food in a car since the food in question is less likely to move around. America's Test Kitchen recommends placing the non-adhesive drawer liners with a non-slip grip on the floor of your vehicle (or in a cardboard box), then placing your dish right on the liner(s). But even the best drawer liners can't prevent liquids like bone broth from moving around and possibly spilling out of the pot. To that, Lifeway Women suggests using an extra large pot or container so the liquids are less likely to reach the rim and spill through.
If you're worried about your dish becoming ice cold by the time you arrive at the big event, Caffe Baci offers several suggestions. First, it might help to crank the heat up in your car to provide a toasty environment for the food. Using an insulated container and/or hot packs will also maintain such warm temperatures. You can also opt for the "preheat" method, where you fill a container with hot water, then dump it out to add the soup or stew in.
Driving with food in the car doesn't have to induce anxiety. Just use some non-slip drawer liners as well as a large pot or container to reduce the chances of your dish sliding around and spilling everywhere.