Sometimes,we store our food automatically because of how we’ve been taughtand force of habit, but sometimes, storing your food in the wrongspot can affect how long your ingredients last, and how good theytaste.
1.Coffee Beans
Stoprefrigerating your coffee – it kills flavor and brings moisture,both of which can ruin a good cup of coffee. Instead, keep them onthe counter in a bag, can, or sealed jar. Long term, you can freezebeans if you want.
2.Apples
It’stempting to showcase a rosy bowl of apples on your kitchen counterfor guests, but keeping them in the fridge can extend shelf life.Make sure to put them in a plastic bag as they produce a ripening gaswhich can cause other veggies to go bad faster.
3.Herbs and spices
Manypeople keep their dried spices and herbs over the stove orrefrigerator, but moisture, heat, and light can break down flavorfuloils. Avoid the heat (your fridge has a warm motor) and keep it in aseparate drawer instead.
4.Nuts
Sorry,but that trail mix can’t stay at room temp for more than a coupleof weeks. Due to the oils in walnuts, pecans and almonds, they needto go to the fridge after that time frame, where they will last up tonine months.
5.Maple syrup
Manypeople think that storing pure maple syrup and artificial varietiescall for the same storage methods. However, it’s important to storepure maple syrup in the fridge, where it has an expiration date ofsix months. The fake stuff can stay in the cupboards.
6.Brown Sugar
Doyou normally keep your brown sugar in the fridge thinking that itwill preserve the moisture? And do you still find issues with ithardening? That’s because the trick to moist brown sugar is anairtight container stores at room temp.
7.Hot sauce
Worriedthat keeping your hot sauce at room temperature will make it go bad?Don’t stress – hot sauce is safe at room temp for up to threeyears, so you can save some much needed space in that condiment areaof the fridge.
8.Tomatoes
Itmight seem like common sense to put your tomatoes in the fridge, butit can really sacrifice flavor and give it an unsavory, mealytexture. Keep them juicy and meaty by placing them on the counter,but not in a bowl – one rotting will cause a domino effect with theothers.
9.Raw Meat
Don’tkeep raw megaton the top shelf – even though it spoils quickly andyou want it to be visible, raw meat can contaminate other foods withleaks, so it’s better to place it on the fridge’s lowest shelf.
10.Olive Oil
Themost common place that people store their olive oil is in a clear,glass bottle next to the stove, keeping it handy for cooking.However, heat and sunlight oxidize oil fast, diminishing flavor andgiving a bit of a rancid taste. Keep it in the pantry away fromextreme temperatures.
11.Avocado
Puttingan unripe avocado in the fridge, even if its well on its way toripening, can stop this fruit from its full ripening cycle. Keep itin room temperature and if you want to speed up the process, place iton the windowsill in a brown paper bag. Store cut avocado by coveringit in a bit of lemon or lime juice to stop browning.
12.Onions and garlics
A mesh basket in the pantry is theist way to store these pungent ingredients. You might have remembered your mom throwing them in the fridge to extend shelf life, but they need air circulation to stop them from getting soggy, so take them out of the crisper drawer!
