Don't store your cucumbers in the fridge (2012)

https://www.rootsimple.com/2012/06/dont-store-your-cucumbers-in-the-fridge/

by mvelbaum • 2 years ago

107 89 2 years ago

rootsimple.com

bberenberg• 2 years ago

I am always amazed at how ignorant I am about simple things in my life like this.

ycombinete5• 2 years ago

Some basic things like this are counterintuitive.

For instance bread stored in the fridge will go stale; bread in the freezer will not.

justinclift9• 2 years ago

For instance bread stored in the fridge will go stale

Unless it's in an airtight container.

exe342• 2 years ago

But bread (and most things) in the freezer can get freezer burn! Discovered it when I was finally desperate enough to use the spare frozen bread. Now I simply keep them on rotation, use the oldest one at any time.

darknavi• 2 years ago

I love this for bread. I normally give a huge pack from Costco and remove two slices for my lunch every day. It acts a small ice-pack for the 20 minute trip to work for the rest of the sandwich bits and by the time I eat it for lunch it's perfectly thawed and not stale.

thekevan• 2 years ago

Also tomatoes, it makes them mushy. They last just as long on the counter

tcmb• 2 years ago

Peppers and eggplant as well, according to the article.

barrenko• 2 years ago

Round it up to most summer vegetables.

tommoor2• 2 years ago

As a rule of thumb – just store everything how the supermarket does, they want produce to last as long as possible too.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, oranges – you'll find them all unrefrigerated

ceejayoz4• 2 years ago

Those tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. were likely refridgerated all the way from the farm to the supermarket display, including in the supermarket's back rooms.

The supermarket is also simultaneously optimizing for other considerations like "do our consumers like bringing a sweater in the middle of summer to visit the produce section"?

asvitkine• 2 years ago

Don't supermarkets go through their produce really quickly so multi-day storage isn't what they're optimizing for?

prmoustache6• 2 years ago

As a rule of thumb: don't store them more than a couple of days. Easier.

pbhjpbhj• 2 years ago

You find them unrefrigerated on the shop floor, but the supermarket - if their JIT delivery is efficient - are probably having them on the shop floor for less than a day. Do they refrigerate in transport, in the back-of-house?

In the UK the whole supermarket might be temperature controlled (cooled) where the domestic environment isn't.

Seems like it's probably pretty complex to work out

There's probably a mean indoor temperature above which refrigeration makes sense, for example.

mrob2• 2 years ago

I've worked in the produce section of a supermarket. We had a refrigerated stock room that was used for everything except bananas. I don't know what temperature it was kept at, but I believe it was somewhat warmer than the usual 5C refrigerator temperature. It could well have been the 10C minimum recommended by the article.

jayknight• 2 years ago

Cucumbers are refrigerated in stores around here.

ceejayoz4• 2 years ago

Serious Eats did some digging and decided this is a myth.

https://www.seriouseats.com/why-you-should-refrigerate-tomat...

stuff4ben• 2 years ago

Like all things, it depends. It's not necessarily a myth, but rather it depends on a number of factors. I'll be storing my tomatoes on the counter (upside down) as well as my cukes. Just unfortunate that I'm the only one in my household that likes tomatoes so I end up with a lot of waste sometimes.

topaz04• 2 years ago

Worth pointing to OP's primary source, which is great: https://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/produce-facts-sheets

Edit because there seems to be some confusion about this: this is mainly constructed as a resource for farmers, grocers, etc, who are trying to bring produce to consumers in a state that it will arrive in their home at a good quality. Their requirements for length of time in storage/transport are very different from most consumers, and the resources they can devote to maintaining an optimal temperature, humidity, gas environment for a given type of produce are much more extensive. That said, there's plenty to learn from it as a consumer with the right eye, e.g. about how the tissue damage due to too cold storage may differ from too hot, or the ethylene interactions from storing various things together.

topaz04• 2 years ago

Submitted here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40704785

DavidPiper• 2 years ago

U.S. grades are Fancy, Extra 1, No. 1, No. 1 Small, No. 1 Large and No. 2.

Not sure why, but I feel happy that "Fancy Cucumber" is a formal definition.

mrob2• 2 years ago

All their examples of cucumber chilling damage are for cucumbers that were chilled and then warmed back to room temperature and held there for several days. This is an unusual thing to do; most people just leave them refrigerated until they eat them.

topaz04• 2 years ago

Keep in mind this is mostly a resource for farmers and grocers -- much less strange to imagine a cucumber that was stored at 5C for a day after picking, going to the farmers market, home with a shopper and then sitting on their counter for a few days. Interpreting it as direct advice for consumers can be a bit misleading, but there's still plenty to learn from it as a consumer.

n4r95• 2 years ago

In our house we store it in the fridge and cut off as much as needed, keeping the rest in the plastic wrap. This way I think they keep fine for up to a couple of weeks. At worst, the section nearest the cut will get a bit mushy and need to be sacrificed.

mason55• 2 years ago

Huh. I’m shocked at the storage temps for apples. I always heard they go mealy in the fridge. Also that you should store things at home like they are in the store, and apples are never refrigerated at the store.

Lots of stuff that says 50-55 F which is unfortunate because most people don’t have any kind of storage at that temp.

timeon• 2 years ago

apples are never refrigerated at the store

Maybe this is for untreated apples? But still those values for apples looks surprisingly low.

kqr• 2 years ago

Also that you should store things at home like they are in the store, and apples are never refrigerated at the store.

I would suppose the grocer's tradeoff is slightly different than yours. For them, it ought to be about trading shelf-life extension against refrigeration costs. For me, I'd rather extend the shelf-life of the apple even if it costs more to refrigerate it than it would to buy a new one, because I dislike throwing out food. I even freeze some produce that is about to go bad if I don't have an immediate plan for it.

topaz04• 2 years ago

I suspect that is for farmers or grocers that want to store a harvest for extended periods of time, even into the spring after fall harvest. I guess some amount of mealiness is hard to avoid in that case but it would be mitigated in a controlled humidity and gas environment as recommended. If you do all of those things you can bring them to room temp and expect them to last a few days on your customer's counter.

ceejayoz4• 2 years ago

Also that you should store things at home like they are in the store, and apples are never refrigerated at the store.

They are, it's just long before they're put out on display. That's how they manage to have fresh New York state apples in February.

They also pull out the oxygen: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/11/26/668256349/th...

The perfect combination of temperature and gases, which differs for each variety, allows apples to stay fresh for longer after harvest than if they were simply refrigerated. Commercially refrigerating apples only preserves the fruit for a few months before it gets soft and dehydrated. And just keeping them in your home refrigerator? They'll likely only stay fresh for a few weeks.

vjk8002• 2 years ago

I really disagree on potato. It goes soft fairly quickly in the room temperature but keeps for ages in the refrigerator. I eat a lot of potatoes and haven't noticed anything wrong with them after long periods of refrigerator storage.

account424• 2 years ago

Potaties are traditionally stored in a cool and dark cellar so yeah I doubt the kitchen countertop is optimal.

howlden• 2 years ago

Broken link PDF: Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Better Taste https://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk12711/fi...

threecheese• 2 years ago

Thank you!

justinclift9• 2 years ago

Except if you don't store them in the fridge, they seem to dehydrate pretty fast (couple of days).

So there's more to it than just temperature being the problem.

65102• 2 years ago

someone linked this in the comments

http://www.savefoodfromthefridge.com/p/humidity-of-fruit-veg...

justinclift9• 2 years ago

Seems like more of a hassle than just chucking them in the fridge, but it might appeal to some. :)

globular-toast• 2 years ago

Source says optimal temperature is 10-12.5°C. My fridge is 6°C. My kitchen is generally above 19°C and often well above that, like 25°C. Is storing it 4°C too cold worse than storing them 10+°C too hot? I doubt it...

prmoustache6• 2 years ago

yeah room temperature is very dependent on the location. For all but 2 months a year, mine is above 20°C and can raise up to the 30s during the day from late may/early june.

bregma• 2 years ago

If your fridge is above 4 C it's not preventing bacterial growth. You're living dangerously.

Semaphor• 2 years ago

So all of EU, where for the center area 5C is recommended, and higher temperatures can be common?

jajko2• 2 years ago

My fridge is always 5C (siemens), old model (bosch) was 6C since otherwise back of was creating some ice. No issue with bacteria whatsoever. But we don't keep meat after expiration date (or just freeze it), cheese/diary are usually more than fine well after that, veggies and fruits don't rot in any unexpected manner.

thih9• 2 years ago

What about cucumbers that have been cut open?

E.g. salad cucumbers[1] are long enough that it's not uncommon to use a half at a time.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucumber#/media/File:Organic_G...

prmoustache6• 2 years ago

You can leave them in the fridge. Just eat the rest the next day.

I don't think it is a good idea to keep vegetables for days anyway. I usually buy my vegetables the day I start eating them.

semi-extrinsic• 2 years ago

What? Unless vegetables are showing clear signs of decay (e.g. cucumber becomes yellow and soft) they are safe to eat for weeks after purchase. Many vegetables can be stored for many months if you manage temperature, light and humidity properly.

Back in the days, people would store vegetables in a cold basement for up to 1 year. Potatoes are stored dry and dark, carrots and cabbage are pulled straight out of the ground, not cleaned or divided roots/leaves, and are kept moist and dark (the old folks would stack up layers of wet moss and veggies), while garlic and onions are kept dry and dark and separate from the rest.

mvelbaum2• 2 years ago

cut veggies should go in the fridge

permo-w2• 2 years ago

is wateriness not a desired trait in cucumbers?

ceejayoz4• 2 years ago

No; that'll make them feel limp and taste bland. Most want a crunch and flavor out of theirs.

permo-w2• 2 years ago

wateriness is the wrong word then. cucumbers are a very watery fruit

delduca2• 2 years ago

Is the same for fruits?

mvelbaum2• 2 years ago

For some of them, yes. See the cheatsheet: https://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk12711/fi...

delduca2• 2 years ago

Thank you!

idlewords• 2 years ago

This site sometimes... Did none of you have a grandmother?

strken• 2 years ago

My grandmother put them in the fridge in hot weather, because she and I live in a place that routinely reaches over 40C in summer, easily hits human body temperature inside the house, and turns any watery vegetable into a Petri dish.

samastur• 2 years ago

No. One was not worth knowing and the other died when I was young.

awestroke• 2 years ago

“Cuces”…

elzbardico3• 2 years ago

refrigerators temperature is usually close to lower threshold those summer veggies can handle, but on the other side, if you live in a warmer climate they won't store much better at room temperature.

I don't have central A/C, I use split-wall units because I think it is way less wasteful to only cool the places that are actually being used.

Because of that, I always wondered if one those wine cooler refrigerators, which work around 13C would be a good compromise in terms of optimal storage of fresh vegetables and roots X power efficiency.

Has anyone tested this? I'd eventually buy one and try it, but if someone else is doing this, I would love to hear about their experience.

nogridbag• 2 years ago

My MIL has commandeered our wine cooler and there's nothing but assorted vegetables in there now. I can't comment on whether this is a good practice or not.

elzbardico3• 2 years ago

Well, if she is doing it for some time by now, I would assume it is working :-)

khaki54• 2 years ago

Here is the cheatsheet UC Davis made: https://ucdavis.app.box.com/s/sjpm10a24scbvwfm005epgab00i8f5...

Was referenced but unavailable at the original link.

bitshiftfaced2• 2 years ago

Maybe if you're getting your citrus fresh near UC Davis it makes sense to keep them on the counter. For those of us who have to buy shipped from out of state, they're going to go skunky much faster. Most citrus will keep for a long time in the fridge, granted you may have some acid degradation.

vjk8002• 2 years ago

Cucumbers also seem to last surprisingly long time just in the room temperature on the kitchen counter. I always buy about half a week's worth of cucumber (we eat a lot of cucumber so this is usually 3-4 large ones) in one go and just leave them on the kitchen counter. After cutting one open, the open end dries a bit in a few hours, but then you can just cut a small slice off before using it again.

bitshiftfaced2• 2 years ago

You can put them in a paper towel and put that in a ziplock bag. Place that in the fridge, and they'll stay crisp much much longer than had they stayed on the counter.

WhackyIdeas• 2 years ago

I did not know this, but I knew that tomatoes taste superior when left out of the fridge. The strange thing is when the packaging on tomatoes says to store in the fridge.

Don't store your cucumbers in the fridge (2012)

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