Despite popular belief, refrigerating certain foods can actually change their flavor and intensity (not in a good way). It can even reduce their nutritional quality, or accelerate the spoiling process.
What are shelf-stable foods?
Shelf-stable foods are items that can be stored on a pantry shelf or in a cabinet for up to one year or longer. Additionally, these items do not have to be cooked or refrigerated before eating.
Many of the examples below can be considered shelf-stable foods. Other examples include canned varieties of meats, fish, fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of grains like cereal, crackers and granola. Keeping shelf-stable foods like these in your kitchen is an effective way to maintain an organized and uncluttered fridge. Shelf-stable foods also come in handy if you don’t have a working fridge available and still need to store items.
How do I ensure proper food storage in my refrigerator?
It is important to store food in the right place to help ensure the right taste and texture. Arrange your refrigerator in such a way that it facilitates proper food storage and helps minimize potential spoilage.
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For optimal food storage, it is generally advised to keep the top shelves clear for prepared foods, leftovers, and other items that are ready to eat while lower shelves are generally cooler and reserved for raw ingredients such as meat.
Foods that Should Never Ever Be In Your Fridge
With that said, the refrigerator is not the go-to storage unit for all your produce.
Below are just some of the foods that do NOT belong in your fridge.
11. Garlic
Refrigeration reduces the flavor of garlic and affects its lifespan as well. Storing garlic in the fridge can make the bulbs rubbery. The refrigerated environment can actually cause mold to develop. Store garlic in a paper bag in a cool, dark spot.
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10. Tomatoes
If you’ve ever grown tomatoes, then you know that they love the heat and hate the cold.
Turns out even after they’re plucked from the vine, they still hold their aversion to cold. The fridge is not the ideal place to store tomatoes.
Store them there and your perfect tomatoes turn into a mealy disappointment. They’ll still be good for cooking, but not the best for eating fresh.
Instead, store them on your counter (not in direct sunlight) and enjoy them when they’re ripe.
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9. Melons
I know it’s tempting to just put fruit in the fridge, but you should keep whole melons like watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew on the counter for the best flavor.
USDA research found that storage at room temp might even help keep the antioxidants more intact. Once they’re cut, store them in the refrigerator for three to four days.
8. Potatoes
Potatoes like cool, but not cold temperatures.
They do best at around 45 degrees F, which is about 10 degrees warmer than the average refrigerator. Most of us don’t have a root cellar (a cool, dark place to store root vegetables like potatoes), so keeping them in a paper bag in a coolish spot (like a pantry) is best. Why paper? It’s more breathable than plastic so potatoes won’t succumb to rot as easily.
And why not the fridge? Storing potatoes at cold temperatures converts their starch to sugar more quickly, which can affect the flavor, texture, and the way they cook.
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7. Pickles
High on preservatives, pickles will stay fresh outside the fridge. Store it in an open space, so air can move around it.
6. Berries
To help ensure that berries stay fresh for longer, store outside of the refrigerator. Moisture buildup may damage the fruit, so it’s best to keep them out of the refrigerator and not wash them until you are ready to consume them.
5. Cucumber
Avoid storing cucumbers in the fridge, which may cause them to become watery and develop pits in their skin. Instead, opt to place them in an air-tight container in your pantry or on your countertop.
4. Hot sauce
Maintain the robust flavor and heat of the peppers by keeping hot sauce out of the fridge and in your pantry, unless instructed otherwise on the packaging.
3. Peanut butter
Peanut butter can be kept creamy and spreadable at room temperature for up to three months—then you can place it in the fridge.
2. Onions
Onions don’t come out of the ground with that protective papery skin.
To develop and keep that dry outer layer, they need to be “cured” and kept in a dry environment like a pantry, which is not as damp as the refrigerator. Also, lack of air circulation will cause onions to spoil, as will storing them near potatoes, which give off moisture and gas that can cause onions to spoil quickly.
Store onions in a cool, dry, dark, well-ventilated place. (Light can cause the onions to become bitter.) Scallions and chives, however, have a higher water content, bruise more easily, and have a shorter shelf life, so store these alliums in the fridge.
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1. Avocados
Avocados don’t start to ripen until after they’re picked from the tree.
If you’re buying a rock-hard avocado, don’t store it in your refrigerator, as it slows the ripening process. On the other hand, if you have a perfectly ripe avocado that you’re not ready to use, storing it in the refrigerator may work to your advantage by prolonging your window of opportunity to use it before it becomes overripe.
So the bottom line on storing avocados is to store hard, unripe avocados on your counter and store ripe avocados in your refrigerator if you’re not going to eat them right away.
