It is often believed that putting our foods into the fridge is considered to be safe and the best way to maintain freshness and longevity. We always like to treat our fridge as a protective place for all food and drinks. While there are several common food items that are better to be kept out of the fridge because keeping this food can cause trouble for your appetite as the texture and flavor gets ruined. The cold temperatures actually help to accelerate the decomposition process in some of the foods and can cause the foods to lose their nutritional value and important enzymes. Keeping this food may not cause any serious harm to your body, but you should always prefer to be in a safer side, so taking some small precautions on food storage can help you to have a great, tasty and nutritional food. Here are some of the foods that you should never keep in your refrigerator.
1. Tomatoes
Storing tomatoes in the refrigerator prevents them from ripening and also ruins the taste. Because of the cold temperature inside the fridge, it changes the chemical structure and reduces the amount of nutritional value. This, in turn, affects the flavor of the tomato and it appears to be soft with a mealy texture. Tomato may be good for cooking but not the best to eat fresh. You can store tomatoes on the kitchen counter at room temperature and can enjoy the real taste of it.
2. Potatoes
Due to cool temperature the potatoes stored in the fridge starts to break down the starch within the potatoes into sugar, this affects their texture and taste sweet and gritty when cooked. So it should be stored in a cool and dry place. It is also important to store them unwashed and ventilated as the moisture content will make the potatoes decay.
3. Onions
Similar to tomatoes and potatoes even the onions tend to become musty and sloppy if stored in the fridge for a long time. Onions need to be kept in a dry environment and require good air flow to keep it fresh and stay longer. You can keep the onions in the fridge only when they are peeled or bought pre-cut. The onions that have been cut can be packed in a sealed container and kept in the fridge up to 7 days. The chopped or cut onions makes the other thing or the container in which it is stored to smell like it. This is the reason why a knife or a wooden cutting board makes the other things to taste like an onion because of its strong smell.
4. Oils
The best way to keep the oil is a dark place, storing the oil in the fridge makes it to condense giving it a consistency of butter. This makes the oil lumpy and changes its texture as well as the flavor of it. This is most common with coconut and olive oil, if you tend to commit any mistake by storing these oils in the fridge, then you can get the consistency of the oil back by just heating it on a low flame or keeping it into the microwave for a quick burst.
5. Honey
Honey is a naturally preserved food and it will stay fresh until it is adulterated with any additives. Pure honey should always be stored in a tightly closed container in a dry place at room temperature. Refrigeration of honey increases the speed of the sugar crystallization and makes it hard to spread. Honey in pure form can be stored in your kitchen cupboard making it to stay fresh for decades.
5. Garlic
The best way to keep garlic stay fresh is to keep them in a dry place and at room temperature to avoid sprouting on top of it. Keeping garlic in the fridge will make it spoil quickly. The texture and color of the garlic also changes but it is not properly visible due to the outer skin of the garlic. It is visible when you have peeled off the skin or while chopping it.
6. Banana
The cold temperature in the fridge slows down the ripening process of the fruit. So whenever you feel that the ripeness of the banana is best suited for your taste then it should be eaten and needs to be avoided storing it into the fridge. The cool condition has a reverse effect on the banana making it turn black quicker.
7. Coffee
Coffee should be never be stored in the fridge in its grounded or beam form. When you keep the coffee inside the refrigerator then it quickly absorbs the smell and aromas around it. The change in the temperature inside the fridge also causes the moisture to leak out of the coffee, this makes the coffee to lose its original and natural flavor. So to retain the aroma and the freshness of the beans it should be kept in a dry place.
8. Avocados
Avocados are strong and almost hard, so it takes a considerable amount of time to ripen properly. Similar to the banana fruit, storing avocados in the fridge can stop it from ripening and freezes it.
9. Bread
The cold temperature speeds up the staling process of the bread and makes it look older. The chilled condition makes the bread tough and changes the taste of it.
10. Tropical Fruits
Tropical fruits like mangoes, pineapples, papaya, jack fruit, java apple, java plum, etc. are grown in hot climates. Storing these fruits in cold temperature weakens their tissue and restricts them to mature, also damages it and lose their flavor. So it is advised not to keep them in the fridge instead they can be kept on the kitchen counter top to stay fresh with all their nutrients in it.
