Helpful Lesson 4: How to Store CERTAIN Produce (Outside the Fridge)

Alex Delaney of Bon Appetit has identified eight kinds of produce that should not be stored in the refrigerator. In some cases, refrigerating them would change the texture and flavor. Others just make common sense.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes do best on the counter, in the warm light of the sun, where they can ripen to absolute perfection. Putting a tomato in the fridge does weird things to its texture, making the flesh mealy and unpleasant. Once ripened, though, eat them quickly.

Garlic, Onions, and Shallots

With the exception of spring onions and scallions, alliums shouldn’t be stored in the fridge. These bulbs benefit from being kept in a cool, dry, dark place. Avoid wrapping them in plastic bags.

Hard Squashes

Store summer squash (like zucchini and yellow squash) in the fridge, but thick-skinned squash like acorn, butternut, or kabocha should stay at room temperature. This is partially to preserve their texture, but it’s mostly because squash tend to take up a lot of real estate in the drawers and on the shelves of your fridge.

Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

Store these starchy vegetables in a cool, dry, dark place. This keeps potatoes from sprouting, which is facilitated by sunlight and moisture. Sprouting your potatoes won’t result in more potatoes, just the added chore of trimming off the sprouts (which taste terrible and have some potentially harmful compounds in them).

Corn

Corn doesn’t really belong in the fridge but that doesn’t mean that you can’t put it in the fridge. Putting corn in the fridge isn't going to hurt it per se, and it may keep it fresher longer, but if you're going to use it within a day or two you might as well leave it out and free up some fridge space.

Stone Fruit

Like tomatoes, putting stone fruits—think plums, peaches, and cherries—in the fridge can make their flesh go mealy. If you want that incredible, silky, juice-dripping-down-your-chin bite, leave them out on the counter.

Pineapple

Once you pick a pineapple, it doesn't get any riper, so you should try to buy a perfectly ripe pineapple with the intention of eating it sooner rather than later. That also means that you should just leave it at room temperature—keeping it in the fridge isn't going to have an effect on its ripeness.

Melons

You could put melons in the fridge if you really wanted to. Alex, though, prefers to eat melons at room temperature, so the flesh is as soft as possible. Changing the temperature of the melon will tense up the interior, possibly making it a tad less succulent.

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/fruits-and-vegetables-you-shouldnt-be-refrigerating