Conference turris::cooks

  We find that fruits and vegetables ripen (and sometimes mold) faster
  on the counter and wilt faster in the fridge. The useful life seems to
  vary quite a bit, regardless of where it's stored. We prefer the taste
  of room-temperature fruits and vegetables (the fridge seems to affect
  the flavor, and not just because of picking up odors), so we keep most
  items on the counter. The main exceptions are celery, broccoli and a
  few others, which will last a few days in the fridge, but only a few
  hours on the counter.

  Basically, our rule is: anything that will last a couple of days on
  the counter goes on the counter, where it's also more likely to be
  used than forgotten. That especially goes for cheese and butter, too.
  Refrigerated cheese is the pits! The result is that our counters and
  table are cluttered with food, our fridge has mostly drinks, meats,
  preserves, mustard, etc. (more room for white wine and champagne!),
  and we shop more frequently than we might otherwise.

  One last note: apples are refrigerated to store them from the harvest
  season until they're sold later in the year (such as now). I don't
  know what conditions are best, though.

    Peaches doesn't ripen after they are picked, so I usually leave them in
    the fridge.
    
    I think onions and potatoes sprouts less if you leave them in the fridge.
    Supposingly onions tears less if you refrigerate them.
    
    Bananas turn black on the outside once you refrigerate it.  However,
    frozen bananas taste great!
    
    Avocadoes I usually leave out to ripen, because it's tough to get ripe 
    avocadoes at the supermarket.  
    
    -Stella 

  Onions in the fridge may not sprout as fast, but they do a heck of a
  number on everything else in the fridge and freezer, even inside two
  layers of plastic wrap and zip-lock bags!

  Sure, cheese ripens faster at room temperature, but it tastes so much
  better! Also, it doesn't pick up or contribute to any refrigerator
  odors. Anyway, many cheeses will last more than a week on the counter
  with no effect other than their flavor getting stronger. I think the
  only "cheese" we refrigerate is cream cheese, because we don't go
  through it fast enough to leave it out ('cause it's nice to have it
  around for recipes). Whenever you walk into our kitchen, you'll always
  see a couple of cheeses on the counter, along with a bottle of red
  wine (nothing fancy), always ready for a light snack. There's also
  always a bowl of fruits and a package of dried figs or dates or
  something if you feel like a sweet snack. It's gotta be better for you
  than Oreos.

  You tend to eat foods faster when they're on the counter than when
  they're in the fridge, both because you're reminded to, and because
  you want to eat them before they spoil. Is that a disadvantage? We
  don't think so. For one thing, it usually means we're eating them when
  they're fresher. It also means that we eat more fresh foods than
  frozen, packaged or canned. This can't be bad for you! If you're
  trying to lose weight and find it very hard to resist food when you're
  staring at it, then I agree it might be easier on your willpower to
  keep it out of sight, but that's the only real disadvantage I can see
  to leaving food on the counter (unless, maybe, you have a cat :-).

  Even single people can get away with leaving more food on the counter
  than they probably do, though a big family makes it much easier. Ever
  been in the kitchen of a large Italian family? Food everywhere, all
  the time, including cooking on the stove. I can't imagine many things
  as close to heaven.

  One last small advantage of keeping things on the counter: you get to
  know which things can tolerate being left out for a couple of days,
  which is real handy information for camping trips and power failures.

    Thanks for all the replies.  I think I'm gonna get anice bowl or basket
    and start keeping some fruits on the counter, such as apples, pears,
    oranges and grapes.  (I also like the way it brightens up a kitchen!)
    
    About the cheeses, I don't think I'm ready to leave them on the counter
    'cause we eat it faster than we can buy it.  Everyone knows where to
    get the cheese in the fridge!
    
    Keep 'em coming ... this is great!
    
    Thanks again,
    
    Susan

    I've heard that apples give off a gas that causes other foods they're 
    stored with to spoil faster.  Don't know if there's any truth to that
    rumor, but I store them bagged and in a separate bin in the fridge 
    just in case.  Most other fruits go in the cabinet and get eaten fairly
    quickly.  I'd like to see them out on the counter, but the cats would
    sample each and every piece!
    
    When I visited a friend in Great Britain I was surprised to see cheese
    stored in a pantry.  It was basically a closet kept slightly cooler
    than the kitchen.  Seems like there was some opening to the outside,
    but now I can't figure how this worked, since it was summer.  Maybe one
    of you across the pond can explain this.  Anyway, some of the stronger
    cheeses had a slightly funkier taste, but then again I kind of like
    funky-tasting food.  (Bring on the brie!)
    
    Don't see much of a health risk in most room temp foods.  Like anything
    in excess, too much chilled foods and beverages probably aren't good 
    for you.
    
    Nancy

    I usually have a good size basket or bowl of fruit on my counter.
     It is pretty and helps ripen those fruits that need it.  At this
    time of the year, I have apples, pears, grapes and bananas.  I also
    have a smaller basket in the fridge and there I keep my citrus fruits
    and any of the counter fruit that needs to stop ripening or needs
    crispness.   
    
    I find a problem in the summer when the fruit ripens and attracts
    or manufactures (not sure which) gnat type bugs.  So I just watch
    it a little more carefully then and will refrigerate if needed.
    
    I never put tomatoes or bananas in the fridge, but my cheese is
    there in my meat drawer.  Probably would be better if I had a cheese
    section - next time.
    
    Flo

    There is a book, "Keeping Foods Fresh," that is all about how to store
    foods; room temp, fridge, freezer, raw ingredients, doughs, batters,
    finished products, best wrapping, etc.  One thing I recall is that
    you're not supposed to store onions and potatoes together as some type
    of gas is emitted that I think causes each to ripen faster.  Anyway,
    you might check the library for it - maybe someone else can remember
    the author??
    
    TW
    

    should i take my tomatoes out of the frig?  just wondering.. they are
    on sale this week and i would like to stock up.  this 4.00 a pound is
    killing me!
    

         Cheese survivability may have something to do with the type of
    cheese one is discussing.  American cheese in the individually-wrapped
    packages may decompose at room temperature.  However, many european
    cheeses are kept at room temperature for years (hanging in cool,dark
    corners of the store, and wrapped in wax).  Cheddar wheels may outlast
    Michelins at room temperature (sealed in wax).
    
         I keep my fruit in a triple-basket, hanging from the kitchen ceiling.
    It makes interesting aromas (especially when there is garlic in the
    smaller top basket).  I have to watch it, though.  I have slipped-up
    and let some apples go soft.  Usually, though, I keep the produce
    moving when it is in view. 
         
         Ripening fruit certainly puts off a nice scent.  It almost reminded 
    me of the kitchens I walked by during my younger years in Europe.
    
                                       Greg

    {  Excuse me while I finish eating this piece of cheddar I just got out
    of the frige . . . }
    
    Why keep citrus chilled while other fruit is out?  I find that oranges
    keep at least as well as many apples.
    
    Apples in long-term commercial storage are kept cool, but this isn't
    the real trick.  They need a special atomosphere - I think it is
    nitrogen, though I may have that wrong.  And I seem to recollect that
    ripe apples give off ethylene gas, but I haven't heard of that doing
    anything any harm.  Isn't one supposed to put a ripe apple in a bag
    with green tomatoes to get them to ripen?
    
    Apart from produce, I have a number of packaged items in never
    refrigerate, though some people do.  Several even say "Refrigerate 
    After Opening" on them, which I have found to be pretty meaningless.
    Jelly, peanut butter, ketchup . . .  On the other hand, I do keep bread
    in the refrigerator, though I don't know why.

RE: .6

You're thinking of ethylene.  Ripe fruits of the rose family (such as apples and
pears) give off small amounts of ethylene and when other apples or pears detect
this, they accelerate their own ripening process.  This is the cause of the
"one bad apple spoils the whole bunch" phenomenon.  The one bad (overripe)
apple is giving of ethylene and that in turn causes the remaining fruit to go
ripe and then overripe much faster than it otherwise would.

--PSW

    Oh, PSW, what would we do without you?  (I'm *not* being sarcastic!)  I
    find out the most interesting tidbits from your replies to notes!
    
    Talk about some conflicting information, though!  I tend to keep
    certain fruits and vegetables in the fridge, depending on when I'll use
    them.  But I usually keep apples in the fridge because of the big sign
    they have up that the apple orchard where I get them:  Be sure to
    refrigerate your apples as soon as you get home."  I figured they knew
    what they were talking about!  I let them warm up before I eat them,
    though.  I prefer them cool, not cold or room temp.  Pears I only like
    at room temp.
    
    I, too, would be interested in the reasoning behind storing citrus
    fruits in the fridge as opposed to on the counter.  Those are the
    fruits I usually keep out (along with tomatoes and bananas, which
    shouldn't be refrigerated at all).
    
    Interesting discussion,
    
    Susan
    refrigerated

    Citrus fruit tends to "pucker" especially oranges.  It's as though
    the fruit itself shrinks when the oranges begin to age.  Refrigerating
    seems to slow this process down and they last a long time.  I've
    had grapefruit for perhaps a month and possibly even longer with
    very little spoilage - perhaps a little drying only.
    
    Could it be, just as we refrigerate orange juice and find it in
    the refrigerated section in the markets, its that fruit that has
    an abundance of juice that needs the refrigeration.
    
    I really don't know if my refrigerating citrus is right or wrong,
    just something I've always done except for the few times when I'm
    trying to add color to my fruit basket and leave a couple of oranges
    out for color for awhile.
    
    Flo

One extra wrinkle to this discussion:

If you have a nice modern frost-free refrigerator, any fruit or veggie
NOT stored in the vegetable drawer (entirely inadequate for storing
my weekly supply) will become shrivled and old real fast.  These
friges remove moisture from the air - thereby "drying" the food not
properly protected.  An older, non-frost-free frige will hold your
food in usable condition long - but, you will have to defrost it...
I simply keep less fruit around, always keep it sealed in zip lock
bags...and eat it fast.  I can't stand oranges that are ice cold,
no flavor in my opinion, so I always have 1 or 2 out on the counter.
When I eat one, I move one out of the frige.