1. BreadBread dries out and goes stale much more quickly in the fridge, which isn’t what you want when you bite into your lunchtime sandwich.
Try storing it in a cool, dry place. A bread bin or bread bags would be a good start.
2. MelonsThere’s nothing like biting into cold melon to cool you down on a hot summer’s day, but Good Housekeeping recommends you store yours elsewhere – but only before you cut it.
Once you’ve cut into the melon, wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge.
3. Bananas
Just bought a bunch of bananas? You might be tempted to stick them straight in the fridge – but wait a few days.
Bananas hail from tropical climates and their cells have no natural defence against the cold,
Once they’re yellow, putting them in the fridge is not as bad
If they’re green and you refrigerate them straight away, they won’t ripen at all. Instead, they’ll turn mushy and black as their enzymes break down nutrients.
Apparently if they’re already ripe, it’s safer to pop them in the fridge.
4. Tomatoes
Whether you like a cherry, plum or salad tomato, you probably put them in the fridge to keep them nice and cold. Surely a cool, crisp tomato in a salad is the best way to go?
Apparently not. As Harold McGee explains in his book On Food and Cooking, refrigerating tomatoes actually damages the membrane inside the fruit, altering the taste and texture.
The tomato will lose flavour and will probably taste a bit watery and unripe. Leave it on the counter and it will develop more flavour over a few days.
5. Potatoes
potatoes are the one food you should never, ever store in the fridge – because it could be harmful.
The FSA website explains: “The most important food not to keep in the fridge are potatoes.
When these are stored in the fridge, the starch in the potato is converted to sugar. When baked or fried, these sugars combine with the amino acid asparagine and produce the chemical acrylamide, which is thought to be harmful.