It is generally believe that refrigerators were produced to preserve veggies, fruits, and other food items from decaying, especially in summer, when the temperature is usually inimical to the survival of these items.
As good as that concept may sound, experts from the Good Housekeeping Institute, New York have picked a hole in that idea, stating that keeping of bread, tomatoes, and even cake in the fridge is a wrong concept.
The experts whose guide was published in the Mail Online recently, noted that not only does the fridge fail to make some foods last longer but can even ruin the taste of others such as coffee. Whereas some vegetables like onions, when stored there can affect the other items already in the fridge.
Below are the nine things that should not be kept in the fridge and explanations for being so:
- Bread: It dries and goes stale faster in an airless fridge than in the bread bin. To keep it fresher for longer, use a bread bag in a cool, dry, place.
- Onions: Ditch the salad draw and pick a dry, ventilated area and keep it dark to avoid them sprouting. In the fridge, their aroma can taint other foods.
- Garlic: Also needs to be kept in a dry, ventilated area to last longer. The fridge does nothing to help it stay fresh for longer.
- Avocados: Best kept in open brown bags if you don’t want them to ripen too quickly. If you do want to speed up the ripening process, put them in the fruit bowl next to a banana instead.
- Tomatoes: The colder they get, the more of their natural taste they tend to lose. The best tasting tomatoes are those kept at room temperature.
- Honey: Literally the only food that never goes off, so there is absolutely no need for it to go anywhere except in the food cupboard.
- Cake: With the exception of those made with real cream, almost all others will last for just as long in an airtight container.
- Melons: Uncut, the fruits, do not need to take up all that space on a fridge shelf. Once it’s been cut, wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge – but not before.
- Coffee: Although some foodies insist on having it stored cold, coffee actually absorbs the smells of other foods around it in the fridge. Best kept in an airtight container instead.
