Yes, you can preserve your produce by freezing it, canning it, cooking it, pickling it, or dehydrating it. But sometimes, you want to keep it around to use up for a few days, weeks, or even months. So let's talk about what you should cold store produce to ensure it lasts and stays fresh as long as possible.
People used to have a root cellar. One of the reasons it got that name is because root vegetables store well in a cool and dark space. So if you have a cool pantry or a dark, dry basement, you can keep things like potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and the likes there. Apples also store well in a place like that, as do cabbages.
Mostly leafy vegetables do best in the fridge. Bring them home, wash them, and dry them thoroughly. Then, wrap them in a paper towel and store them in a plastic bag in the fridge. If you donÃt have a dry, dark place for your cabbage and apples, they can also be stored in the refrigerator.
What you store next to each other also makes a big difference, especially in a tight space. Remember the old trick of sticking an apple or banana in a brown paper bag with some unripe fruit? The same happens if you keep all your fruit in a bowl on the counter or in a bag. Most fruit and things like tomatoes do better out of their container, spread on the kitchen counter.
Another important tip is to keep your onions and potatoes separate. While both benefit from dry, cool, and dark spaces with plenty of airflow, the onions give off a gas that makes potatoes sprout and rot much faster than stored away from onions.
While most produce will stay fresh and tasty the longest when stored in the fridge, some foods should not be refrigerated. They include:
- Tomatoes
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Kiwi
- pineapple
- Peaches
- Apricots
- Mangos
- Nectarines
These fruits (yes, tomatoes and avocados are technically fruits) tend to become mealy when stored at too low a temperature. So keep them on the counter instead.
Paying attention to what produce likes to be stored where you can not only extend how long it will keep without any major efforts to preserve the food, but it also preserves the flavor. And that is really the point.
To keep food fresh, flavorful, and packed with nutrients until you are ready to cook with it and eat it.
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