I saw this Good Question and couldn’t help but think how different we all are and who keeps certain things in the fridge and who doesn’t. I think this is partly learned behavior because most of the things I keep in the fridge are things that were in there while I was growing up. And what was kept in the cupboard, I now keep there too.
I did know people who didn’t keep their ketchup and in the fridge but we always did so I do now. I do have to say though, there are times I wish it weren’t cold, like on french fries because I think when you put something cold on something hot, it cools it way down and I love my hot food to be really hot but I also don’t like the taste of warm ketchup.
Let’s look at some of these things.
Tomatoes~Apples~Bread~Ketchup~Peanut Butter~Syrup~Where do you keep these things?
Like this article states, the refrigerator really alters the way some food tastes so then does it come down to how you like things to taste and not that keeping something in the fridge will keep “fresh” longer?
On the above list, I only keep one thing in the fridge and that’s the ketchup. What about you and why? Is there anything you keep in the fridge that most other people you know don’t or anything you keep in the cupboard that most people you know put in the fridge?
Us Girls..Our Views 
Out of that list we put tomatoes & apples in the fridge
Of that list, I keep tomatoes, bread, maple syrup, and occasionally peanut butter, in the fridge.
The tomatoes are ‘traditional’ – it’s where my folks keep them, so I always do, too. The bread is in there because Hobbes likes to chew on anything in a plastic bag. He LOVES the crackle of the bag, so he’ll eat a hole right thru it. The maple syrup is pure, and has “refrigerate after opening” on the label. I warm a portion of it up before we have pancakes tho. And my peanut butter is the natural/organic kind. It *says* to keep it in the fridge, I suspect to keep the oil from getting rancid since it separates easily, but I don’t always. We eat it fast enough that it’s never gone bad. Sometimes I throw it in there in the summer, if it gets too hot, but that usually makes it too hard to be spreadable.
Tomatoes~Fridge, unless they’ll be used very soon
Apples~Fridge. They last longer and taste fresher. My family keeps them out, so I’m the rebel on this one.
Bread~Out, until it is close to getting dry (especially those without preservatives, which only taste fresh for about half a week)
Ketchup~Fridge. It’s how my mom did it. (I don’t actually use ketchup, but sometimes we have it in the house for guests or something. I could see it getting really nasty in a cupboard.)
Peanut Butter~usually cupboard. However, I’ve bought some natural ones that get very watery at room temperature. So for them, I would keep them in the fridge most of the time, then take them out to get soft a while before I used them. Kinda like regular butter. I never keep butter out all day (especially since I don’t use it anyway).
Syrup~Fridge. Again, that’s how my mom did it. Besides, doesn’t your syrup always drip down the side? I would rather have that in my plastic fridge than in my wood cupboards.
I can’t think of anything I don’t put in the fridge that most people do. The only things I don’t put in the fridge are totally dry stuff (flour, coffee, cereal, pasta etc.), unopened canned goods, peanut butter, cooking oil, stuff like that. One thing in my fridge that some might not expect to see is raisins. I buy packages of oranic raisins and they get kind of gooey/oozey if I leave them at room temperature.
I can’t believe hot many these people got wrong!
Fridge: tomatoes, syrup, ketchup
Counter: honey, apples, bread
-.- I think you meant “how”
I would never put the tomatoes in the fridge. EVER. They don’t fully ripen and don’t fully develop the flavor. They also get very hard.
I know it’s technically a no-no. I don’t actually buy tomatoes and if someone here does, they aren’t good about using them up before they spoil. Sometimes they will even leave a cut-open half tomato, uncovered, wherever. I guess if I lived with normal people, my list would be different.
For me, anything that increases our risk of fruit flies goes in the fridge. And around here, that includes tomatoes. (I do leave the bananas out.)
I also HATE bread that’s been in the fridge. It’s so hard and tastes nothing like it’s supposed to.
After it’s been in the fridge, it’s only good for toast. I like toast!
Out of that list we only keep ketchup in the fridge.I never keep bread in the fridge,I read it dries it out.We either put it straight in the freezer to keep it fresh or counter if we know we will use it up in time.So ketchup doesnt have to be refrigerated?Would be one less thing in the fridge,Im always trying to find room in this new fridge.I hate how it has less door space!!
Grandma never used to keep her ketchup OR mustard in the fridge. But there’s just “something” about warm ketchup.
Do they keep it in the fridge at restaurants?
good question.I worked restaurants and I cant remember!
Just think of all the ketchup bottles on the tables at the restaurants. Those are out all day! And aren’t cold.
I worked at several restaurants and they put it in the fridge at night but Jenny’s right. They’re out all day. Most have a bottle at each table. I guess they say it’s okay because of the high content of vinegar in it.
I dont eat ketchup but Wes does.Wonder if he would like it warm.We buy the big bottles from Costco so it takes up so much room.BBQ sauce,mayo etc too.TOO big!I dont remember Gma doing that.Strange.Well it must be safe to do.
What I’d like to know is, why do I have to buy a big loaf of bread when I can’t eat that much in a week, let alone the time it takes for the “organic/all-natural” stuff to get stale? I can’t see putting part of a loaf in the freezer. So I just don’t buy bread unless I’m guaranteed to have someone help me eat it.
I’m starting to sound like I don’t eat anything, LOL.
Every once in a while if we get to our local store right when they bring the bread out, we can buy half loaves. It’s a shame that’s not always an option. Of course I cut mine all up and feed it to the critters outside. The blue jays LOVE bread.
I just thought of something else. My dad keeps his soy sauce in the fridge and I never have.
we have our soy sauce in the fridge…hmm never really thought about that
my soy is the fridge too!LOL!We went out for supper tonight and I looked at the ketchup bottle on the table,it does not say need to refrigerate.I hadnt looked while at home.Anyhow,my hubby says it goes bad if its left out.Okey dokey then,hes the only one eating it so he can stick it(in the fridge<LOL)
I have never put tomatoes in the fridge and never would. I was told a long time ago not to do that. I don’t put apples in the fridge either. Or syrup. I don’t put bread in the fridge either, because it gets hard. Once condiments are open, like ketchup, mustard, ect. they all go in the fridge. Soy sauce, that’s on whoever puts it away. Sometimes it ends up in the fridge, other times the cupboard. Peanut butter always gets put in the cupboard.
Paul has always bought the natural peanut butter but never once in all these years has he put that in the fridge. I can’t imagine having to stir up that oil if it was cold.
No kidding. I make 2 every day for Jason’s lunch, I can’t imagine it would spread nicely either.