Fruits That Should Not Be Stored in the Refrigerator Apricots, Asian pears, avocado, bananas, guava, kiwis, mangoes, melons, nectarines, papayas, passion fruit, pawpaw, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapples, plantain, plums, starfruit, soursop, and quince will continue to ripen if left out on the counter.
1. Many fruits and vegetables should only be stored at room temperatures. Refrigeration can cause cold damage or prevent them from ripening to good flavor and texture. For example, pink tomatoes ripen to a better taste and red color if they are left at room temperature.
Apples, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, oranges, pineapples, strawberries, tangerines and watermelon are received ripe and should be refrigerated.
Apples should be stored unrefrigerated for about 7 days after purchase. Apples refrigerated too soon lose flavor and sweetness. Store apples away from other fruits and vegetables which may have gases that will cause decay.
Because strawberries and other fresh berries tend to have mold spores on their surfaces, they spoil faster when left out at room temperature. Keeping them in the fridge slows down this process so you have more time to use them. It's the best option when you need to keep your strawberries for more than a day or so.
Go ahead and refrigerate ripe tomatoes.
Put both cut and whole ripe tomatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator to prolong their shelf life.
And here's the other thing to know: The refrigerator is not great for tomatoes—it can degrade their texture and dampen their flavor—but it's far more harmful to lower-quality and underripe tomatoes than it is to truly ripe, delicious ones.
Fresh eggs purchased from a farmers market need to be refrigerated as soon as you get home. Per USDA guidelines, eggs should be stored at 40 degrees F or below to help minimize the risk of Salmonella. Eggs should be stored in their carton and placed in the coldest part of the refrigerator, not in the door.
Vegetables That Should Not Be Stored in the Refrigerator
Potatoes, taro, sweet potatoes, and yuca (cassava, manioc) should not be refrigerated.
Storing lemons in the fridge is a great way to extend their shelf life. And if you want to keep lemons fresh for longer than a week, you'll definitely want to refrigerate them.
Don't store potatoes in the fridge.
Raw potatoes have lots of starches, and the cold temperatures can turn the starches into sugars. This can make your potatoes turn sweeter and darker during cooking.
Storage. Store unripe and ripened kiwifruit at 32–35 degrees Fahrenheit. To ripen, hold fruit at room temperature in a loosely closed paper bag, for two to three days and avoid unusual heat and direct sunlight. Once kiwifruit is ripe and yields to the touch, it should be refrigerated until ready for use.
Your refrigerator is the best place to keep fresh grapes. They thrive at about 30-32 degrees Fahrenheit with 90-95% humidity, so go ahead and throw them in the back of your crisper drawer (it's usually the coldest place in the fridge).
Fresh, Ready-to-eat Blueberries
It's important to refrigerate fresh berries after a grocery delivery, trip to the store or visit to the u-pick farm. You can keep them in the original plastic clamshell or in a covered bowl or container.
STORE. They may be stored in a cool, dark spot for a few days, but ideally should be refrigerated to extend shelf life up to 2 weeks.
The ideal place to store bananas is on the countertop, where they can ripen naturally. You can refrigerate bananas once they've achieved your ideal level of ripeness; however, refrigerating bananas too soon or for too long can have detrimental effects on your bunch.
Storing: Oranges and other citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, and grapefruits can be stored short-term (up to one week) at room temperature. To prolong the shelf life (up to 3-4 weeks) of citrus fruits, keep them in a bag in the refrigerator.
Once an onion has been peeled, it is best stored in the fridge to avoid contamination. Halved, sliced, or chopped raw onions should also be refrigerated, in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag.
You'll have to store your carrots in the refrigerator, but how you store them can actually make a difference. Raw carrots, when properly stored will usually stay fresh for around 3 to 4 weeks in the fridge. If your carrots are sliced or chopped, you can store them in the fridge and they'll last for about 2 to 3 weeks.
Even though cucumbers are prone to chilling injury, the fridge is still the best place to store them. At room temperature, cucumbers will only last for about two days. So, what's the solution? Store cucumbers in the warmest part of the fridge — towards the front, furthest from the cooling elements.
Blueberries are the longest lasting of the berry family; if they're allowed to ripen at room temperature and then stored in the fridge, they will keep for up to two weeks. Skip washing them until just before eating, and skip the crisper drawer, too — blueberries stay best in their container on a refrigerator shelf.