Martha Stewart warns: never put these products in the fridge
You come home from the supermarket feeling overstimulated, with sore muscles from the heavy grocery bags. The only thing you want now is to put all that food away as quickly as possible. What do you do? You open the fridge and throw everything in there. There, that’s done. Wait! Martha Stewart is tapping us on the fingers. Not everything should be stored in the fridge. The domestic queen gives us a list of things that really should stay out of the fridge.
We previously warned you about products that don’t exactly appreciate your fridge. There were quite a few surprises among them. Spoiler: you probably put these 7 things in the fridge out of habit too…
Bananas
Are your bananas still unripe? Green, in other words, and rock-hard? In the fridge, they’ll stay that way for the time being, because cold stops the natural ripening process. Strangely enough, it also makes the banana peel turn dark brown more quickly. You want neither of those things, so keep your unripe bananas well away from the fridge. On your fruit bowl, they can continue ripening at their leisure. Are they yellow and edible? Then move them to the fridge. They’ll stay ripe there longer than on the fruit bowl.
Bread
If you plan to eat your fresh bread quickly (read: today or tomorrow), it’s not a good idea to put it in the fridge. The cold causes bread to lose moisture and dry out more quickly. Do you want to keep your bread for a little longer? Then the fridge is a good place to store it. The cold helps prevent mould from forming on your bread. Outside the fridge, it’s best to keep your bread in a cool, dry place. Your pantry, for example, or the counter.
Melons
Note: we’re not talking about cut melon here. As soon as the melon has been stripped of its thick rind, you should put it in the fridge. We’re talking about a melon that still has its coat on. It’s best to leave that one out of the fridge. If you expose an uncut melon to cold for a prolonged period, it slows the increase of sweetness and antioxidants in the melon. The cold from the fridge also affects its texture. Your melon will become soft and grainy. Yuck. So keep it out of the fridge, in a dry, cool place away from sunlight.
Peanut butter
Who isn’t completely nuts about peanut butter? If you look purely at texture, you can divide peanut butter into 2 categories: smooth, ‘firmer’ peanut butter and oily, ‘softer’ peanut butter. The latter often consists solely of peanuts. Much healthier (but also incredibly annoying to spread). The former contains a lot of emulsifiers and preservatives to keep the peanut butter good for longer. Those emulsifiers and preservatives also ensure that the peanut butter stays good at room temperature for a long time. So it doesn’t need to go in the fridge. That oily, real peanut butter? It should go in the fridge. Otherwise, the oil separates and the rest of the peanut butter becomes terribly dry.
Avocados
Blink twice and your avocados will turn from a brick into soft, brown mush. And that after being a brick for a whole week. The struggle is real. If you want your avocados to ripen faster, it’s not smart to store them in the fridge. The cold slows down the ripening process. Is the opposite your goal—preventing your avocado from ripening too quickly? Then put them in the fridge. With this chill hack, you can also prevent your half avocado from turning brown quickly.
Pears
If pears are left outside the fridge, they’ll continue to ripen. Put them in the fridge while they’re unripe? Days later, you could still use one to smash a window. So leave unripe pears on the fruit bowl. Once they’re ripe, they can seek out the cold. That slows the ripening process and keeps them good for longer.
Sweet potatoes
When sweet potatoes go into the cold, their texture changes. The same applies to ‘regular’ potatoes, by the way. Sweet potatoes do best when stored in a cool, dark, well-ventilated space. Never put them in plastic bags. That causes moisture, which leads to mould.
Also read:
- How to make sure no more food spoils in your fridge
- 11 things that stay good in your fridge for at least 2 weeks
- Heinz finally tells us whether ketchup belongs in the fridge or not
Source: marthastewart.com
