Vegetables That Should Not Be Stored in the Refrigerator
Potatoes, taro, sweet potatoes, and yuca (cassava, manioc) should not be refrigerated.
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.
Avocado, apples, bananas, citrus fruits, berries, peaches, apricots, and nectarines should be stored out of the fridge. Refrigerating these fruits will result in loss of flavors and textures.
Refrigerate any unconsumed fully ripe tomatoes, but allow them to come to room temperature before serving them. (To speed up this process, slice them while still cold—slices will warm up much more quickly than an intact fruit.) One study we've read suggests that refrigerating for no longer than three days is optimal.
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.
They are sensitive to ethylene, so store away from high ethylene-releasing produce for longest shelf life. Cucumbers – Cucumbers do best stored at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator. They are also highly sensitive to ethylene and should be kept away from bananas, melons, and tomatoes.
Do Fresh Eggs Need to Be Refrigerated? Freshly laid eggs need to be refrigerated immediately. 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.
Once cut or peeled, fresh produce should be refrigerated within 2 hours. If it is left at room temperature for more than 2 hours, throw it away. Remember: To prevent foodborne illness, buy good-quality fruits and vegetables, store them properly and wash them thoroughly.
"Hearty fruits like citrus, apples, pears, and tomatoes can all be stored on the counter and are foods that don't need to be refrigerated," says healthy cooking expert Pamela Salzman. Ditto goes for vegetables like onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and basil.
Stash the broccoli in a cold part of your refrigerator — like the crisper drawer — preferably away from fruits and that produce excessive ethylene gas like apples. If there's no room in the crisper, store it on a shelf near the back of the fridge.
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.
Broccoli can keep on the counter for up to two days, but the vegetable will keep better in the cold. Wrap broccoli in a producer bag upon purchase and refrigerate as soon as you can.
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.
You should store summer squash (like zucchini) in the fridge, but thick-skinned squash like acorn, butternut, or kabocha should stay at room temperature.
Ripen fruit at room temperature. Once they are ripe, refrigerate. Apples, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, oranges, pineapples, strawberries, tangerines and watermelon are received ripe and should be refrigerated.
It is all due to storage lifetime. Lettuce is particularly perishable, compared to many other vegetables. You will get a considerably longer storage lifetime if it is refrigerated, rather than kept at room temperature.
Take apples for example. A fresh, whole apple is safe to store at room temperature for about one week, but once you cut it, it must be refrigerated, unless it is cooked into a pie. Then you can store it at room temperature for up to two days.
For that reason, she says that the vegetable should always be stored in the refrigerator. "Bell peppers stored on the counter last about five days, but in the fridge they can stay fresh for up to two weeks," she explains.
You should store grapes in the refrigerator though, since grapes do best in the cold. As the experts from the California Table Grape Commission explain, the optimal storage conditions for grapes is 30-32°F with high humidity, about 90-95 percent.
Lemons, limes, and oranges all do best in the fridge because the cooler temperature prevents them from drying out. They'll keep for up to two weeks when chilled and about one week at room temperature.