Things we refrigerate

[Fat Guy]

I'm always surprised to see what various cultures and individuals do and don't refrigerate. Where do you all stand on common kitchen staples like olive oil? What about eggs and butter?

[Suzanne F]

Olive oil: never. We go through it very fast, and besides, I've read that it shouldn't be refrigerated. Besides, then you have to let it un-glom.

Truffle oil: the tasty white stuff, yes; the tasteless black t.o, no -- why bother?

Butter: always. I don't buy great stuff, and don't use that much.

Egg: always. I trust no one, not even the best organic egg farmers.

TOMATOES: NEVER. What am I, crazy??

Onions, shallots: never. Yuck.

Potatoes: didn't, then did, now: never. I just buy what I need when I need them, so they don't sit around very long.

Coffee beans: FREEZE. we're too lazy to grind and brew coffee every day, so we keep what little we buy well-sealed in the freezer.

Nuts: ditto. Why ruin a beautiful bunch of fresh basil by using rancid nuts in the pesto?

If I had a bigger fridge, I'd probably also keep my flours in it.

[torakris]

Interesting question!

I don't refrigerate olive oil, but I do refrigerate the nut oils like walnut oil.

Butter is always refrigerated in my house and eggs go in the fridge as soon as I get home from the store. In Japan though the eggs are sold at room temperature, but they rcommend refrigeration at home.

All of the soy sauce I use says to refrigerate after opening, yet I don't and have never seen anyone in Japan who does.

I also refrigerate or freeze all nuts, seeds, dry fruits, chocolate and flours (except all purpose because it gets used up so fast and bread flour because it is in a 5 kg bag). This si mostly out of necessity becasue I tend to buy these in large quantities and because the Japanese summers are VERY hot and VERY humid. Since central air/heat is unheard of here the kitchen can get very hot (the toilet can feel like a steam bath!!)

[Suzanne F]

One more thing: when I started work at a food manufacturer (not the one I work with now) and did my first full inventory, I found:

-- a case of tinned anchovies in the freezer;

-- a case of Diamond Kosher Salt in the (very humid) walkin refrigerator;

-- all the nuts and sesame seeds sitting out in the heat of the kitchen;

-- ALL the canned goods in the walkin (including all the cooking/baking oils);

-- potatoes and onions in the walkin, so that when you took then out to use, they'd go all slick and disgustingly gooey;

and more. Now that I'm gone from there, I'll bet things are back the way I found then back then.

Sorry; just had to vent about that.

[Dana]

I am VERY lucky to have an extra fridge in the garage, and I keep all my flour, sugars, cornmeal, dried pasta, cokes and beer out there. Here in the Texas humidity, these items keep longer and don't get bugs. I don't keep ketchup in the fridge, although anyone who visits here always tries to put in in. Am I wrong? As for butter, I keep one stick in a covered butter keeper on the counter, and the rest in the fridge. EVOO, never. Paprika in, but other spices, no. Potatoes, never, and nuts go in the freezer.

[nightscotsman]

I'm constantly amazed how manic my co-workers are about putting stuff in the fridge and throwing away food that is just fine. For example:

All cakes and pies must be stored in the fridge. Even a cake that was frosted in non-dairy whipped topping (like dream whip). They were convinced it was real cream and that it would spoil. A horrible cake made even worse.

Yogurt is thrown away if it's even a day past the printed expiration date. Active cultures mean its pre-spoiled people. I say if it ain't moldy, eat it.

Condiments like ketchup and mustard are tossed after a few months.

On the other hand, lunch leftovers will be left for weeks until they mummify. go figure.

[=Mark]

I don't refrigerate butter. I hate hard, bread ripping butter, and actually like the flavor that sets up in room temp butter after a few days.

Don't refrigerate worcestershire sauce or soy sauce. Don't refrigerate oils.

Do not refrigerate peanut butter or honey.

Absolutely do not refrigerate laundry detergent, powdered or liquid.

[trillium]

Have you ever read Marcella Hazan on refrigeration? She thinks USians are nutty for sticking so much in the fridge and "ruining" it. She actually has recipes where she implores you not to go near the fridge (marinated sardines, and storing gorgonzola come to mind). In August in Italy I saw big jars of pomarola sitting on counters with a layer of olive oil over the top to keep it "sterile". They sat there until they got used up. I confess I can mine, but I like eating it in feb. When I was in Sweden and Denmark I was surprised to see that eggs weren't refrigerated...they aren't in Mexico either.

Soyas, oyster sauce, and all that jazz stay in the cupboard. Olive oil is the same, unless it's a big tin, then I used to store the extra in the fridge, but it was 100 F in the summer in Chicago, here in Portland, I doubt I'd do it. Eggs, yes, my mum brings me about 5 doz at a time from her chickens so they're around for a few months. Anchovies, yes...it bugs me that they don't refrigerate them here (they do in Canada!) because sometimes the turn over on a nice jar isn't very fast. Nuts go in the freezer because I hate rancid nuts.

I take a lunch to work every day and never refrigerate it, unless it's something I want to eat cold. I know it might gross some people out, but hey, if my food is going to go bad in 4 hours at room temp, I don't want to eat it in the first place.

regards,

trillium

[tommy]

i, and everyone i know, refrigerate ketchup. the entire restaurant industry, however, does not.

[Shiva]

There is no need to refrigerate Ketchup.

That doesn't stop me, though.

[stefanyb]

I refrigerate almost everything except for olive oil and vinegar and fruit that needs to ripen. It just seems neater, cleaner and less prone to develop mold, rot, flies and dust. I don't however take exception to or look down upon people who don't do as I do .

I once spent some time with a small group of other artists at a farmhouse on the Atlantic coast of France just above Biarritz. The owner was German but owned this old farm as a summer retreat. The butter was never refrigerated. The cheeses, of which there were many, were kept in a cheese keeper. I once went to put it in the refrigerator and everyone screamed. Meals were a community effort and were often big stewpots full of meat and vegetables. These were left on the stove for days on end and reheated to the boil before serving. I was terrified but nothing ever hurt anyone and actually developed flavor as the days passed. Eggs were kept on the counter with the fruit. We had an excellent time and consumed an inordinate amount of wine all the time telling stories in English, German and French. Ah, it was loverly.

[ngatti]

DO refreigerate onions of the Vidalia and Mauii variety. These are *fresh* onions and haven't been 'cured'. They will rot if you leave 'em on the shelf unrefrigerated.

I refrigerate canned tuna and mayonaise. Using this stuff already cold when making prepared salads (tuna, chicken), retards bacteria growth and gives me a little extra 'shelf life'.

Nick

[=Mark]

DO refreigerate onions of the Vidalia and Mauii variety.  These are *fresh* onions and haven't been 'cured'.  They will rot if you leave 'em on the shelf unrefrigerated.

Harr! Let 'Em rot! Pirate style...

As in the past I prefer onions to make me cry. If I want a piece of produce to mimic an apple, let it be an apple.

[tommy]

DO refreigerate onions of the Vidalia and Mauii variety.  These are *fresh* onions and haven't been 'cured'.  They will rot if you leave 'em on the shelf unrefrigerated.

whoa whoa. some onions are treated in some way? and doesn't refrigeration take the "bang" out of onions? not a good thing. i'll just keep buying them and keep em out of the fridge.

[mixmaster b]

In August in Italy I saw big jars of pomarola sitting on counters with a layer of olive oil over the top to keep it "sterile".  They sat there until they got used up.  I confess I can mine, but I like eating it in feb.  

trillium-

What is pomarola?

I have taken to keeping citrus fruit in the fridge. It seems to last forever. That way I an never without a lime slice for my gin & tonic or a bit of lemon juice for a collins...

[pjs]

In one of the many supermarkets I've worked in the eggs were never refrigerated until they hit the display case. We couldn't fit a pallet or two's worth in the walk-in anyway. We were never written-up on it. Always bothered me. We did turn them over fast though.

PJ

[nightscotsman]

and doesn't refrigeration take the "bang" out of onions? not a good thing. i'll just keep buying them and keep em out of the fridge.

I've never heard that refrigeration degrades the quality of onions. Can anyone point me to more info on this? I always 'fridge the onions not to keep them fresh, but to stop the tears from streaming down my face - and flow they do as I'm ridiculously sensitive to stuff like this. I've read that chilling them retards the outgassing that causes the eye irritation, but I didn't think the onions were actually damaged.

[ngatti]

Now you're gonna make me dig out the article

It's either Cook's or Fine Cooking. I always wondered why my 50# sacks of Spanish will store on the shelf unrefrigerated. Yet my 40# box of Vidalias would turn to absolute rotten slime before I could use them up.

I read this article and sure enough the 'Sweets' are a 'fresh onion' kinda like a scallion I guess. No shelf life. Once i started keeping them in th fridge, the problems ceased.

They don't rot overnight. Just much faster than a storage onion.

Nick

[Saffy]

I never refrigerate eggs - that spoils them for a number of things and makes the whites watery if you are beating them for pavlova - eggs always at room temperature.

Never refrigerate - olive oil

Never ever ever refrigerate tomatos it spoils the flavour

Butter - some out at room temperature for spreading , some in the fridge

Onions - never in the fridge, they go softer quicker

carrots - always in the fridge helps them keep

condiments - depends on the condiment, on the whole I look on the jar to see what is required if it is purchased, if it's homemade I always refrigerate.

[tommy]

i've read that certain oils from nuts (walnut specifically), and possibly sesame oils, should be refrigerated to keep them from going rancid.

[Marlene]

Perhaps I shouldn't mention that I have 3 fridges (ok, we use 2 of them for "beverages" most of the time). I refridgerate eggs, soy sauce, maple syrup, mayonaise, tomatos and salsa after opening. Mustards, relishes, ketchup, and salad dressings after opening as well.

[Suzanne F]

What I found with regular spanish onions was that if we kept them in the fridge, then brought the bin into the kitchen to weigh out the 25# we needed, then put the bin back in the fridge: -- by the time someone remembered to re-refrigerate the bin, the condensation that collected on the onions just sat there and caused all kind of icky sticky gooey problems. The problem didn't come from refrigeration; it came from cold-to-hot-to-cold-to-hot etc. environments. We never used fancy onions.

Potatoes shouldn't be refrigerated because the starch starts to convert to sugar.

And then there's the whole thing about don't keep apples near carrots in the fridge because one of them gives off a gas that turns the other bitter -- but at this time of night I can't remember which is which. (See the Are you a Dipsomaniac thread)

[Chefrat]

No onions in the refrigerator they make everything else smell and taste like onions.

Butter i only refrigerate what i dont use. i leave a stick out and the rest in the cold box till i get low outside...yup i keep a par sheet and req from the frige when i need it...j/k!

Eggs..always

Some cheeses i coldify.

Dont you hate finding rotten smelly mystery vegtable in the crisper of your fridge! lol

[Fat Guy]

Tommy, several key crops -- most importantly potatoes and onions -- are cured post-harvest in order to increase their shelf lives. There are several ways to do it, and while it is technically a form of treatment there aren't any additives used or anything like that. It's pretty much just a question of heat. It can be done in the field or with special equipment in a plant. With an onion (or garlic) what happens is that the curing creates dry outer layers of skin that protect the inside of the onion from losing moisture during storage. An uncured onion won't last through the winter, whereas a cured one will. I believe the vernacular is "fresh" versus "storage" onions. This exhausts my knowledge of curing onions.

[Bouland]

I store items in the frig more for convenience rather than preservation. That's usually where there is shelf space in my house. those things that always go in the refrigerator are

- beer

- milk

- water (I like it chilled for drinking. I don't use ice.)

- miso

- coffee (I go though about a pound a week)

- nut oils

- eggs (because there's a convenient place to put them)