Food items you should avoid refrigerating

When it comes to fresh food, our first instinct is usually to refrigerate it so it stays fresh longer, but that isn't always the case. 

While milk may benefit from cooling temperatures, there are a number of items you should not refrigerate. Why? Because certain foods can lose their flavors, colors, or textures due to the cold temperature and are best stored outside of the fridge. 

Knowing which foods you should not store in the fridge and which need cooler temperatures to stay fresh will help you reduce food waste in your own home (not to mention your dinners will taste a lot better).

Here’s a list of food items you should avoid refrigerating. 

Olive Oil

Storing oils in the fridge will often cause them to become cloudy and grainy. Stocking them at room temperature maintains their colour and consistency. However, olive oil does have a tendency to deteriorate quickly when exposed to high temperatures or sunlight. 

Storage tip: Keeping it in a cool, dark place such as the kitchen cupboard  is better than leaving it out on the worktop.

Bread

If you're going to eat all your bread within a few days, don't put it in the fridge. Cold temperatures change the structure of bread making it taste stale.

Storage Tip: Optimal storage is on the counter. On the other hand, you can freeze bread if you want to use it over a few weeks. Popping frozen bread in the toaster or oven will refresh it.

Bananas

Warm temperatures, around 15-20°C (59-68°F), are needed for a banana to ripen correctly, and this process is halted when it's put in the fridge. The skin may also eventually turn black in the fridge because of the impact the temperature has on the fruit's cell walls.

Storage Tip:  Keep bananas on the counter for optimal consumption, or freeze to add to a smoothie later on. Peel the banana before freezing it to make your smoothie prep easier.

Hot sauce

Putting hot sauce in the fridge can cause it to lose that spiciness that makes it so hot. 

Storage Tip:It's usually full of vinegar which will prevent any bacterial growth. The heat of the chilli will also be much more potent if it's kept at room temperature. 

Carrots

Farm fresh carrots age quickly and go limp in the fridge because the green leafy bits draw moisture away from the roots. That said, the versatile carrot can be stored in a refrigerator but only under specific and decidedly pernickety conditions. In fact, they can keep in the refrigeration for up to three months if properly prepped.

Storage tip: To preserve crispy freshness and taste it’s important to minimise moisture loss. Chop off the green tops, tightly seal unwashed carrots in a plastic bag and stash in the coolest part of the fridge. Wash your carrots just before use only.

Honey

Honey is a versatile natural sweetener, with a seemingly never-ending shelf life. Unless you really want to wrestle with it, avoid leaving honey in the fridge. There's no real benefit and the low temperatures cause it to crystallise and solidify.

Storage tip: Simply keep it in a cool location away from direct sunlight and in a tightly sealed container. It's recommended that you use the original container the honey came in, though any glass jar or food-safe plastic container will work.

Nuts

While lower temperatures may help to preserve the natural oils in nuts, the cold can also impair their flavour. Shelled nuts can also absorb other scents that may be in the fridge. 

Storage tip: It's best to store nuts in an airtight container in the pantry, where it isn't too warm either. However, if you need them to last for longer than a month and up to six months, put them in the freezer.

Watermelon

Unripe and uncut melons can be kept in the cupboard. There's little impact when it comes to freshness, and leaving such a sizeable fruit out of the fridge is a real space-saver.

Storage Tip: Keep whole melons like watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew on the counter to maintain the best flavor. Research suggests that storage at room temperature may also help keep the antioxidants in melons more intact. Once you've cut a melon, cover it and store it in the refrigerator for three to four days.

Butter

To keep butter longer and at its best quality many of us keep our butter in the fridge. But butter is virtually unspreadable straight from the fridge. Air and light are what can spoil butter which is why some butter brands are in foil packaging to protect it even further ensuring its at its freshest when you buy it. 

Storage Tip: Most experts agree that salted butter is fine to leave out at room temperature anywhere from a few days to two weeks, taking into account factors such as the climate and container. Unsalted butter or whipped butter, however, should be stored in the back of the refrigerator to prevent them from going bad—although it's fine to take the butter out to soften an hour before using if needed. Homemade, raw milk, or any butter that is not pasteurized should also always be refrigerated. 

Incorrect food storage can impact flavour and nutritional value, and can become unnecessarily wasteful and expensive. 

Here is a rule of thumb about refrigerating food, if it's in a fridge when you buy it.. it should go in the fridge at home. If not then it doesn't.

Which food do you put in your fridge and why do you do it?