Question
Susie Songe
Is it best to keep potatoes, onions and lemons in the fridge or out of the fridge?
Answer
So, uh, my general rule on this is I've worked in grocery stores for a long time. Um, think about the way you buy it in the grocery store and that's the way you should keep it at home, right? So potatoes and onions, you're, you know, traditionally kept in cool dark environments to be able to let them stay as long as possible. So like your root cellar, right? So potatoes, uh, and onions I keep in a pantry, um, that keeps cool as well. So you don't want it next to, you know, like a hot refrigerator or anything like that, like a motor or something like that. Um, if your pantry's right next to your fridge, but try to keep it in a dark cool place. Lemons, I usually just keep on my countertop in a fruit basket. Um, you know, with the other items just don't keep apples in your fruit basket because apples tend to give off a gas that ripens other fruit very quickly. So, um, if you're ever in a jam and you have some avocados that are really hard, you can always put them into a paper bag with an apple and you'll see in 24 hours they'll be very soft. So potatoes and onions in the pantry, dark pantry, typically lemons on the countertop and I usually do the same with my avocados. Uh, don't refrigerate them until they, um, you know, are starting to get soft and then to slow that process up, put them in the fridge. But tomatoes always stay on the counter as well. Same with, um, most peppers as well. I usually keep them, um, on the counter, jalapenos, poblanos, um, even red peppers and some mixed mini peppers. Sometimes those need to go in the fridge a little quicker than the other ones, so.
