tomatoes

Some oils will thicken up in the fridge. I don't think it hurts them, but makes it harder to use, say, your olive oil.

Coffee!! Only buy all the coffee you need for a week, and never put it in the fridge/freezer!

A lot of fruits will lose their flavor, adopt other weird fridge odors/flavors, and become rubbery after some time in the fridge.. I never store apples, pears or stone fruit in the fridge.

Never store coffee in the freezer? Really? I don't drink coffee at home, but this is the first time I've EVER heard anyone say "don't." Why shouldn't we? Just curious!

Tomatoes??? Really!!

Onions and potatoes should be stored at room temp.

Canned tomatoes should be fine in the fridge. Fresh tomatoes would be ruined. Sad tomatoes.....

America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated just busted the "don't put coffee in the freezer" myth last month. If it's whole bean, let it come up to room temp before grinding, if it's ground, let it come up to room temp before brewing. Their tests showed that even after a couple of days, the frozen coffee was superior to that stored at room temperature!

Downtowncook, your coffee will absorb all the smells from your fridge.

Tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, bananas, honey

Wow...I store fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic in the fridge all the time, without adverse effects. I can understand why onions and garlic could do/should do without a fridge, but why tomatoes?

Hate to be a downer here, but if there's little room to store food in a kitchen once it's filled with "gadgets" does it strike you that maybe there are too many gadgets in the equation? Or that there's a better place to store them than where they are? I'll admit I'm blessed with a small (3x3) island in my kitchen where I can store the crockpot, juicer, food processor...but if I didn't have it, I don't think I'd take up too much food storage place with them.

Pssh to tomatoes. Yes, it will make them less flavorful and possibly a little mealy, but they also last infinitely longer than the counter. I always store potatoes, onions, garlic and tomatoes in the fridge because I like the convenience of having them last longer and not spoil, but its a personal decision. They'll do fine in the fridge though.

The big no no I was always taught was bread. It stales much faster in the fridge but I keep mine in there too- it may stale faster, but it molds faster on a counter. Depending on how long you plan to have these things, decide.

I keep all my condiments in the fridge. Which can be kinda scary next time oyu go out to eat and notice that ketchup, mustard, even mayo are most of the time stored out at room temp even though they recommend keeping them cool.

Downtowncook, another reason is that the cold will cause moisture to condense when you take it out of the fridge/freezer, and moist coffee (before you're drinking it anyway) loses flavor pretty quick.

JMorri, that's the point: Why do you want to keep them longer if they're flavorless and mealy?

Fridge, yes. I'm wondering about the freezer ...

Sorry hit submit too quickly! But if coffee is in a sealed package or water tight container, will it really be affected by condensation THAT badly? Thanks for all the responses =)

Coffee in an airtight container and potatoes are fine in the fridge! Garlic and onions are also fine if they aren't peeled or chopped, otherwise your other stuff will taste like garlic and onion (even that works in airtight containers). Bananas also permeate everything with their aroma, but I haven't tried them in an airtight container. It might work.

chocolate, me thinks.

Don't store fresh tomatoes in the fridge if you can help it.

They won't taste gross or anything, but the texture really does go "off". I would encourage all those questioning this to try a little experiment when heirloom tomato season hits next summer: try keeping one on the counter, the other in the fridge, for just one day. Do a blind taste test and I think you'll be amazed!

I thought the reason for not storing tomatoes and onions was because of the off-gassing, which causes other veggies to ripen and spoil more quickly.

How-to-store resources (with charts!):
SparkPeople chart
Vegetarian Times

Tomatoes never go in the fridge.

But if you're getting tomatoes in the northern hemisphere this time of year, they've probably already been refrigerated.

Potatoes, onions, garlic - PERFECT for cold storage. They're "root cellar" vegetables; I've kept potatoes for months in the bottom of the fridge without any quality loss.

I usually don't put potatoes, onions, or bananas in the fridge, but I have to admit, I'd never heard about tomatoes and garlic. Interesting. Though now that I think about it, if I keep my onions out, garlic makes sense too.

I wouldn't trust America's Test Kitchen re: coffee in fridge or freezer. Professional baristas and coffee aficionados know that the oils in the coffee (which gives it body) are compromised when chilled. Condensation is also an issue. Freezing coffee is a LAST RESORT option and you should only remove the coffee ONCE- so no storing it there, taking it out, grinding some, putting the coffee back in and so forth each day.

@jbuesch:
Professional baristas and aficionados might trade on tradition and superstition, but ATK uses SCIENCE. If they're publishing it, they've tested it a thousand different times in a thousand different ways. I'd trust those geniuses with almost anything.

I like cold fruit though, and I live in Houston - land of the humid. There is zero percent chance that I would store fruit (other than bananas and citrus) on my counter in the summertime. Tomatoes included. It would smoosh out in a couple of days.

I disagree with onions. I keep onions in the fridge because it will help later with the tears when you cut into them. It works, but I don’t know the science behind it or have a reference.

jenawithonen,
Because to say putting them in the fridge makes them "flavorless" is just silly. It still tastes like a tomato, and for weeknights when I'm scrambling to get dinner on the table, I'm just happy to have not spoiled fresh tomatoes to use in my food. Like I said, you pick your priorities with this stuff and for me, thats mine.

Besides, as caseoftornadoes pointed out, the tomatoes at my grocery store (when I can't grow them myself) I usually grab for generic cooking have been so irradiated and flash chilled and forced to ripen that I'm not really talking about gorgeous heirlooms here, just a few romas to chop up here and there.

I put my bananas in the fridge when they're perfectly ripe and they keep much better than on the counter. The skins turn black faster but the bananas are still great inside.

If you put onions in the fridge, it will help keep your from your eyes watering when you cut them.

The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Cookbook, available on amazon, is an amazing resource. It goes through seasonal foods and details proper storage and a few recipes

I never put fresh tomatoes in the refrigerator. Its a quick way to spoil an in-season, perfectly ripe tomato. As for bananas-once they go in the fridge they will stop ripening so if they are at your level of texture/taste then throw them in the fridge. Yes, the skin will turn black but who eats the skin?? Same with avocados-once they are ripe and you don't think you'll use them quickly, the fridge will keep them from going bad.

But, no please-save your tomatoes; no on the fridge.

I also would never put a good tomato in the refrigerator but I'll qualify that I pretty much only eat tomatoes when they're in season. A beautiful fat heirloom tomato fresh off the vine should never ever go in the fridge. Refrigerating one would definitely be a mistake.

But I don't think throwing some basic supermarket roma or hydroponic tomato in there is going to "ruin" them. Taste and texture are already compromised in those tomatoes so a few days in the fridge doesn't make much of a difference in that department but it does, however, completely extend its shelf-life which can be really important for budgets and busy schedules.

Tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes, bananas . . .

Tomatoes get mealy and lose their flavor when stored in the fridge. I forget why the others shouldn't go in the fridge either.

I second (seventh?) the tomato thing. Unless they're hard grocery store tomatoes, they are going to get mealy and squishy in the fridge. Not delicious. Good garden-grown tomatoes should never be wasted that way.

The only fruits I store in the fridge are citrus, apples, and occasionally pears or plums if I'm not going to eat them right away. Oh, and berries. Bananas, peaches, apricots, all stay on the counter. I find that apples stay crisp a lot longer in the fridge (they tend to get mealy if left out) and for many varieties cold storage actually makes them sweeter as they age.

Other than that, I think just about anything can go in the fridge. I don't think it's necessary to refrigerate most things like sugar or white flour, but whole grain flours and ground nuts often benefit from being refrigerated or frozen to prevent them from going rancid.

Ladies and gents,
I feel that this post has highlighted some problems with our cooking. Buy things fresh with the intent of using them quickly and within their lifespan. Fruits and veggies, specifically, are meant to be enjoyed promptly. We are not supposed to be able to go to the grocery store once every two weeks for "fresh" food. Respect your foods' limits and give them the benefit of being enjoyed at peak season.

If you think that tomatoes only lose a "little bit" of flavor when you refrigerate them, you've obviously never tasted good tomatoes -- my husband thought he didn't like tomatoes at all until I introduced him to ripe ones. Try reading the book "Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit" for more information.

Now, if you buy fresh tomatoes at a local farmer's market when they're in season, or grow them yourself, you'll never want to put them in the fridge, because that will ruin their flavor. If you already have those generic storebought tomatoes, you might as well store them in the fridge, it's not going to make them much worse than they already are.

Only put stone fruit in the fridge after it ripens to your liking, it will never ripen in the fridge, only age.
I think the asker is looking for advice more along the lines of pantry goods, but I have no idea, sorry!

So, if you live in an area prone to critter visitors (mice in my case), you can't leave food out on the counter. Everything is in the fridge, freezer or tupperware. What's a girl in the city to do?

I share a tiny fridge with my flatmate and she puts all her fruit in the drawer. People, please don't put oranges or apples in the fridge for weeks.

I keep most fruit in the fridge, along with onions and potatoes -- I read somewhere that keeping potatoes with apples will keep the potatoes fresh longer, so I throw the potatoes into my fruit crisper bin). Apples definitely last longer when kept cool, and I don't have a cold cellar/pantry. I also keep chocolate in my freezer, and after a moth issue (yuck!), have kept rice and flours/grains in the fridge as well with no noticeable problems. I do agree with the others that I wouldn't put good summer tomatoes in the fridge.

An alternative to putting ... Tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, bananas ... in the refrigerator is to make a Zeer pot, and leave it on the floor|counter|back-porch. It's not as cold as the frig, protects against bugs, and really preserves freshness even in hot, humid climates.

so it seems everyone is just debating between tomatoes, onions and coffee, huh? that seems like a waste of a perfectly good advice post.

to expand a little on this, i keep potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, garlic, etc in a bottom cupboard, as they're meant to be stored in a cool, dry place.

fresh fruits, for the most part, stay on the counter or in our hanging fruit basket.

once a vegetable or fruit has been cut into, however, i store it in the fridge in a storage container to avoid it spoiling.

some of the best storage advice i received about random foods to keep them fresh for longer:

wrap asparagus bottoms in a wet paper towel, then wrap that with a rubber band and place in a ziploc bag

lettuce can go in a ziploc bag with a small amount of water in the bag

snip ends of fresh herbs, then place them in a cup or jar with water (like they were fresh flowers) and most can be stored on the counters (except cilantro, mainly)

from an AT/Kitchn post a few months ago, there was a girl that would cover the top of a fresh cut avocado with mayo, then put it in a storage container to keep it from browning. i've also heard you can spritz it with lemon juice to get the same effect

you can freeze just about any shredded cheese (just don't freeze the chunks of cheese), and if you run out of space for fresh veggies and don't mind freezing them...just google different methods of blanching/freezing them. i've been doing this for months and it's a fantastic way to make sure i'm not wasting money by buying things that sound great but i forgot to eat them in the small window of time necessary before they went bad.

OK! Thinking about this the other day. I have never stored an open jar of peanut butter in the frig. I always keep it in the cabinet. What say AT folks???

bread, potatoes, onions, garlic

@ Susan in Austin --

I do the same thing! Peanut butter is goopy and thick enough without adding the cold of the fridge into the equation. I've never had a problem. However, I generally eat Skippy Super-Chunk (go on, judge me) so if you were eating a fancy natural peanut butter, the kind where the oil separates from the peanut butter, you might want to consider refrigerating that. (Although my mum eats that kind and she doesn't refrigerate it.)

The point is, peanut butter doesn't stick around long enough to go bad, in my pantry! :)

Wrap bananas in a plastic grocery bag and put them in the fridge--their skin will take on a slight dark-ish hue, but in the plastic it won't go completely black. And even if the skins do go black in the fridge, the inside of the bananas is still fine. On the counter they can go from perfectly ripe to rotten mush in 3.4 seconds! Storing them in the fridge buys you at least a week or more before they are past their prime and relegated to smoothies or banana bread.

I like keeping onions in the fridge. It makes chopping them less painful.

Caramel shouldn't be kept in the fridge. It attracts moisture and becomes sticky and will absorb odors.

I've heard all of these other things... The only think I refuse to store in the fridge is bananas. If they get close to freezing, they turn to mush, but if you separate them (pull them apart at the stems) I have no problems using up 5-6 bananas in a week without any of them getting over ripe. They ripen much faster if they're attached at the stems.