Fresh ginger is far superior in flavour to dried ginger, and I think to jarred ginger too. But that knobby gnarled root you bring home from the grocery store or market is usually more ginger than you need at any one time.

So, what do you do with the unused portion? What is the best way to store fresh ginger?

I’ve usually either peeled and grated the remaining piece of ginger, wrapped it in a little aluminum foil and frozen it for future use, or, alas, left the knob to languish in the fridge until it’s dried out and moldy.

That’s changed since reading this tip for freezing ginger in a log from Jaden Hair at Steamy Kitchen. What a great suggestion for keeping ginger at the ready for whenever you need it. Just grate the ginger over a piece of plastic wrap, form it into a log, roll it up in the plastic wrap, twist the ends of the plastic to form it into a log, then freeze. Break off a piece as needed to use in whatever you’re cooking.

Apparently the original idea came from Lunch in a Box. There are some other useful tips for storing and cooking with ginger on both blogs.