Fridge Logic (Not a Media Thread)

[Haruki-kun]

Fridge Logic for me, when not browsing TV Tropes, is basically this: If you put stuff in the fridge, it shouldn't spoil.

Well, I've learned the hard way that this is not always the case, first with a pack of flour tortillas which was SUPPOSED to stay good 10 days after opening, but they grew mold and I had to throw like half of them out...

Bread, on the other hand, hasn't spoiled. I was told that keeping it in the fridge makes it last longer, and it did. Problem is now it's cold, hard, and moist. And of coure, there's no way to heat it, soften it, or unmoist it quickly without toasting it, or burning it, or short circuiting my toaster... (true story)

Anyone know any tips and tricks relating to keeping stuff edible? Or of course, stuff regarding personal experiences is cool too. :smallwink:

[13_CBS]

Anyone know any tips and tricks relating to keeping stuff edible? Or of course, stuff regarding personal experiences is cool too. :smallwink:

Eh...bread is pretty much guaranteed to spoil rather quickly, especially the nice, fluffy white bread from bakeries and stores. The only solution is to eat it fast and wrap it up nice and tight while removing as much air as you can from the bag.

As for cold bread...have you tried microwaving it? And if you wrap up the bag correctly, the bread shouldn't be moist from staying in the fridge.

[Occasional Sage]

I recommend making more small shopping trips. Buy local and/or organic food (for the most part, there are certainly exceptions). The flavor is better and the health value is higher. Local/organic food doesn't keep as well, but that's a reasonable trade-off imo.

ETA: Oh, and baking your own bread is simple, and cheaper than buying it.

[Haruki-kun]

And if you wrap up the bag correctly, the bread shouldn't be moist from staying in the fridge.

It was still packed. :smallsigh:
I'll try the microwave thing, though, thanks.

[Vaynor]

When reheating bread just make sure not to heat it too long, or it'll get hard. But otherwise I don't see the problem, just pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds or so and (depending on your microwave's strength) it should do the trick.

[RTGoodman]

For fresh fruit and vegetables, they'll keep longer if you don't keep them in a drawer, cabinet, or bag. If it's something that can stay out on the counter, try that. There's some chemical or gas or something that fruits and veggies release that makes them ripen, and if you keep them closed up in something they get too ripe too fast. Conversely, if you buy some fruit that isn't ripe enough (especially green bananas and stuff like that) you can toss it all in brown paper bag and it'll ripen much faster than normal.

For bread, I always make sure to get as much air out of the bag as possible. Out of habit I also keep bread darker places (in a cabinet as opposed to out on a counter), but I don't know if that helps.

I'm terribly about putting food in the fridge and leaving it for much too long, though. We ended up with some nasty stuff in our fridge in college when we forgot to throw out old milk, sour cream, and other stuff that goes bad quickly.

[Occasional Sage]

For fresh fruit and vegetables, they'll keep longer if you don't keep them in a drawer, cabinet, or bag. If it's something that can stay out on the counter, try that. There's some chemical or gas or something that fruits and veggies release that makes them ripen, and if you keep them closed up in something they get too ripe too fast. Conversely, if you buy some fruit that isn't ripe enough (especially green bananas and stuff like that) you can toss it all in brown paper bag and it'll ripen much faster than normal.


That works with some fruits and veggies, but not all. Onions, for instance, want to be on the counter. Asparagus wants to be in the fridge. The ripening-chemical (I forget the name offhand) isn't an issue in an area as large as a fridge, but it is in a bag.

[Collin152]

It was still packed. :smallsigh:


Doesn't that merit a refund?

[TeeEl]

Yeah, I usually keep bread in the fridge and don't have a problem with it getting noticeably moist. I find that it tends to get soggy when microwaved (I don't mind refrigerated bread, but sometimes I like my sandwiches with melted cheese), but popping it in the toaster briefly is a good fix.

[paladin_carvin]

Well, here is what happens with bread in our house. We get more than one loaf a trip, but we freeze all but one at a time. When the time comes to get a new loaf we take it out and let it thaw in the open. It works nicely. I've never found too much use of keeping it in the fridge.

My tips?

Don't put bread in the dark. That is how it molds. Most mold dies when exposed to any light, especially natural light. Putting it in a bread bin is not a good idea.

Never microwave it unless you can eat it in the next 10 minutes. Given the way microwaves work, the bread will end up very dry.

[Bitzeralisis]

Bananas. Every time I see bananas lying around on a table or counter, I'd think to myself, "I'm gonna eat a banana... right after I get x done." Of course, I forget to eat the banana after doing x, so the cycle goes on indefinitely until the bananas start to get overripe, which is when my brother puts them in the fridge to make them spoil slower. And putting the bananas in the fridge makes them even more obscure, which causes the end situation to be a bunch of black bananas sitting in the fridge.

Hm... speaking of bananas, I should get one to eat. Buuut I want to finish working on my musical composition first, so I'll consume one later. Hopefully, I won't forget. :smallwink: :smalltongue:

Edit: Sorry, but I don't know anything about bread. My family's bread is usually lying around in a breadbox, on a table, or within the fridge. It's turned into buttered toast and consumed too quickly to go bad, usually. Mmm... toast.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Haruki, the microwave should work.

[Haruki-kun]

I stopped buying Bananas when I realized the same thing happened to me, Bitz.... :smallsigh:

Maybe I should try putting them in the fridge from the beginning

[WalkingTarget]

For fresh fruit and vegetables [...]There's some chemical or gas or something that fruits and veggies release that makes them ripen, and if you keep them closed up in something they get too ripe too fast.

Ethylene? At least, I think that's what it is.

[Haruki-kun]

Ethylene? At least, I think that's what it is.

A while ago I saw an infomercial advertising something called Green Bags. Supposedly they let that chemical out and kept the vegetables fresh, which is a good thing. I thought, "gee, if only more people knew about it."

Couple of weeks later, my mom takes a veggie bag from me and makes a hole in the (regular) plastic bag. "Why'd you do that?" I asked.

"So they won't spoil," she said.

Isn't TV shopping amazing? :smallbiggrin:

[Lord Tataraus]

Well, here is what happens with bread in our house. We get more than one loaf a trip, but we freeze all but one at a time. When the time comes to get a new loaf we take it out and let it thaw in the open. It works nicely. I've never found too much use of keeping it in the fridge.

My tips?

Don't put bread in the dark. That is how it molds. Most mold dies when exposed to any light, especially natural light. Putting it in a bread bin is not a good idea.

Never microwave it unless you can eat it in the next 10 minutes. Given the way microwaves work, the bread will end up very dry.

Yep, that's what we do. Just let it sit for a bit and its as good as new.

[paladin_carvin]

Yep, that's what we do. Just let it sit for a bit and its as good as new.

It's important to note that while this works perfectly for bread it is horrible for hamburger and hot dog buns. The outside of the buns get all cracked and the buns break up and it's just... bad. I've never found a good solution for buns.

[DraPrime]

I keep my bread in the freezer, and if I need some I either toss it in a toaster or the microwave over. It's good as new.

[TRM]

With fruit, try purchasing it slightly under-ripe so that it can sit (before you're ready to eat it) and ripen; with this method, by the time you're ready to eat it, it will be ready to be eaten. Win-win.

[Pwenet]

What I do for bread is have one loaf in the freezer and the other in the fridge. I don't have any problems with it being moist afterwards, but then again I usually make a sandwich first thing in the morning for work and then I have it for lunch so even being in a lunch bag in the fridge it has warmed up to a comfortable temperature.

For bananas I buy either 4 or 5 (depending on if it's a 4 or 5 day workweek) and I bring on to work each day.

In addition I do smaller trips like many posters suggest.

[Haruki-kun]

With fruit, try purchasing it slightly under-ripe so that it can sit (before you're ready to eat it) and ripen; with this method, by the time you're ready to eat it, it will be ready to be eaten. Win-win.

Cool. But how do you know if the fruit is Under-ripe?

[Inhuman Bot]

It depends on the fruit. What fruit did you have in mind?

[DraPrime]

Usually it's slightly harder than a ripe fruit. If it's a banana then it's gonna be a bit greener too. But generally you can tell simply be feeling the fruit. If it's kind of hard, then it's going to be ripe soon, but isn't yet.

[TRM]

Cool. But how do you know if the fruit is Under-ripe?
What the other people said.

Bananas will be greener; peaches, pears, and plums will all be hard. It'll be very difficult to tell with melons, but pineapples will smell... less pineappley (that makes no sense, I know). You should probably eat berries as soon as possible since those go bad very quickly no matter what you do.

What other fruits do you usually eat?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

My family bakes bread every few days.

For optimum freshness: Do as the French do! One day after the bread has been baked, oh no! It's stale! Now it's only good for french toast!

mm... french toast...

[Hairb]

Tortillas should be frozen, not refridgerated.

[Haruki-kun]

What the other people said.

Bananas will be greener; peaches, pears, and plums will all be hard. It'll be very difficult to tell with melons, but pineapples will smell... less pineappley (that makes no sense, I know). You should probably eat berries as soon as possible since those go bad very quickly no matter what you do.

What other fruits do you usually eat?

Not many, that's pretty much it. Berries are imported, so they're way too expensive here... Bananas and apples are pretty much all I'll get.


Tortillas should be frozen, not refridgerated.

That.... would explain it.

[paladin_carvin]

The trick with fruits and veggies is to figure out what is in the area at the time of the year. It's actually best to eat fruit that is harvested in the time of the year that you are in, since our bodies have learned over centuries what it will get and when and work best as such.

[Pyro]

I've baked bread once...It turned out to be okay, but a little on the heavy side. It might be easy for people who bake often, but from my experience bread is a tricky substance that requires a lot of kneading. But if that's your thang...

We freeze bread to make it last longer. When we want a new loaf, someone just takes it from the freezer and thaws it on the counter. Bam! Good as new.

[Zakama]

Well, here is what happens with bread in our house. We get more than one loaf a trip, but we freeze all but one at a time. When the time comes to get a new loaf we take it out and let it thaw in the open. It works nicely. I've never found too much use of keeping it in the fridge.

My tips?

Don't put bread in the dark. That is how it molds. Most mold dies when exposed to any light, especially natural light. Putting it in a bread bin is not a good idea.

Never microwave it unless you can eat it in the next 10 minutes. Given the way microwaves work, the bread will end up very dry.

That's just about what we do here. I was wondering why everyone's bread was getting moldy, thinking "gee, we almost never have moldy bread problems" Until you mentioned the light thing. Our bread is under a counter light which is on all day (maybe all night too... not sure). Anyway, light and freezing work wonderfully.

[paladin_carvin]

The 4 ways (to varying success) to naturally fight bacteria and molds on food:

Keep it cold
Make it hot
Put salt on it
Keep it in the light

You could also include using water, but that is more effective on things you use to eat food with (plates, forks... hands) than the food itself. Still works on some stuff.