Perhaps the weekend will bring a stop at a farm stand or farmers market and you’ll come home with an armload of produce. Where to put it to keep it fresh longest?
Fruits and vegetables do breathe — anyone who’s ever put peaches in a paper bag to ripen them has seen the effect — and some breathe more slowly than others. We want to enable them to keep breathing in storage. For that reason, produce stored in sealed plastic bags will remain fresh longer if we make a few random, small holes in the bag before refrigerating them. Some produce is best stored out of a bag and out of the fridge. Tomatoes, for example, will deteriorate quickly if refrigerated.
Experts say not all produce should go into the crisper drawer; some should be stored in a warmer, less humid spot in the fridge, such as the top shelf near the front. The rear area is colder, with the rear right often recommended as the spot for storing poultry. Produce stored at room temperature should be used within a day or so of ripening.
With fresh herbs, I like to refrigerate them in a bag with a damp paper towel or, with parsley and other “bunches”, I’ll pop the whole thing into a jar with some water, just like a bouquet.
Here are some common guidelines:
| Crisper | Top Shelf | Room Temp |
| Broccoli | Cukes | Avocado |
| Cauliflower | Peppers | Eggplant |
| Celery | Squash | Tomatoes |
| Corn | ||
| Green beans | ||
| Radishes | ||
| Scallions |
Related: Storing and Keeping Food
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I recently discovered that some vegetables can walk. A few months ago I put a cucumber on the top shelf and now it is in bottom of the fridge (in kind of a liquidy form). Perhaps it needed a perforated plastic bag to keep it from roaming.
LOL! Maybe it’s just my fridge, but I’ve had stuff in bags roam too!