To cool or not to cool is the question. It is clear that perishable foods and foods with a short shelf life, such as fresh meat and milk, cottage cheese and yoghurts, eggs and seafood, need to be sent to the refrigerator right away, but what to do with vegetables, fruits, honey and, for example, bread? For your convenience, we have made a list of products that need to be quickly removed from the refrigerator (if they are now there).
Bread
Keeping bread in the refrigerator is pointless. What you end up saving is unlikely to whet your appetite: the bread crumb will become moist and tough. If you plan to finish off the loaf in the next four days, leave it in the bread bin or on the table, covered with a napkin. For longer periods, wrap the bread in a soft paper towel and place it in the freezer.
Coffee
It seems logical that he doesn't belong there, but many people put open packs or cans of coffee in the refrigerator. This cannot be done (of course, if your goal is not to neutralize the unpleasant smell from other products with it). Grains from cold and moisture will immediately lose their aroma and absorb all foreign odors. The best place for coffee is just a dark, dry place. In the end, if there is no good, tight-fitting jar at hand, and there are a lot of coffee beans that need to be saved until better times, put them in the freezer ─ there will be more chances to keep them "alive".
Bow
Moisture in the refrigerator is not a good friend for keeping bulbs fresh (especially when halved). It makes even whole unpeeled onions soft and quickly deteriorate. In addition, excessive moisture contributes to the growth of harmful bacteria and rapid mold growth. It is best to store onions in a dry and cool place, just do not put them next to potatoes: an interesting fact ─ when stored together, the shelf life of both is shortened twice.
Olive oil
The first and most important rule in storing olive oil is keeping the temperature. The optimum temperature for him is + 12-16 degrees. In the refrigerator, the oil may begin to stratify, the appearance of a precipitate is permissible, it is also possible to change the consistency of the product from liquid to a denser one (not without loss of taste and aroma properties, of course).
Basil
In the refrigerator, basil leaves quickly wither, lose their aroma, and also ─ perfectly absorb all extraneous odors, as a result of which your salad or sandwich will acquire a wonderful aroma of yesterday's pasta or morning omelet. Basil is primarily a plant, and it is better to store it in a jar of water, dropping the stems there. In general, these rules are true for any lettuce.
Honey
When stored properly, honey has practically no shelf life. You need to keep it at home in a jar (preferably glass) tightly covered with a lid in a dark place and at room temperature. A cold environment encourages the crystallization of honey and changes in its taste - we don't need that.
Chocolate
At low temperatures, it becomes covered with an unpleasant white coating. This happens due to the fact that the cold freezes moisture and sucrose crystals begin to appear on the surface of the chocolate. Strictly speaking, because of this, chocolate does not deteriorate, but it loses its presentation, and even more importantly, its taste.
Garlic
Garlic, which seems to be in the cold, has similar problems with onion storage in the refrigerator! ─ begins to sprout at an unprecedented rate. Moisture will also help make the garlic soft and inedible. The main recommendation is to store the heads and even more so the cloves of garlic in a dry and inaccessible place for moisture (together with onions).
Avocado
There is an opinion that avocados ripen faster and become tastier in the refrigerator, and this is one of the most common misconceptions. An unripe avocado, of course, will become softer after lying in the refrigerator for a certain amount, but the point will not be in its ripening, but in the moisture that is absorbed into the fruit through the peel. A refrigerator for storage is permissible only if the avocado is already ripe, but you need to keep it safe and sound for 1-2 days. One of the lower drawers of the refrigerator is suitable for this. But leaving the avocado to ripen is better in the open air.
Potatoes
The refrigerator is not the best place to store potatoes either. Cold converts starch into sugar, which changes not only the taste of the tubers, but also the structure: be prepared for the fact that soon the potatoes will become sweet and crumbly. The ideal way to store potatoes is to put them in a paper bag and place them somewhere cool but not frosty.
Tomatoes
In the refrigerator, tomatoes lose all their taste and soften, since the cold air preserves the process of ripening and pouring the tomato juice. A stringy, mealy flavor is hardly what we expect from ripe tomatoes, so we just store them in a cool (but not cold) testable place.
Apples
They also do not have to be sent to the refrigerator immediately after purchase. In fact, the story here is optional: apples can be stored for about a week at room temperature, and only then ─ in the refrigerator. Some types of apples can be stored at an average temperature (17-18C) for about a month, provided they are individually packed.
Bananas
Like apples, bananas can be refrigerated ─ if desired. If you bought unripe bananas, it is better to leave them to ripen in a cool, but not cold place in a paper bag (you can, by the way, with apples). Ripe bananas in the refrigerator quickly darken and turn brown, but until a certain point this does not affect their taste in any way.
Photo: Getty Images
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