10 Foods you should not refrigerate

10 Foods you should not refrigerate

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Véronique Pouw

Written by Véronique

Published at 2014-09-02.

Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.

Updated at: 2025-11-12

10 Foods you should not refrigerate
The refrigerator is one of those kitchen appliances most people can’t live without anymore. Ever since it’s invention, the fridge has drastically improved shelf life of most of the ingredients and dishes. Items like milk, yoghurt and meat will perish quickly when not refrigerated. Nevertheless, you should not refrigerate everything that usually goes into the refrigerator in order to stay fresh. There are a certain type of foods (and produce) that should better be stored into cabinets than in the refrigerator. There is absolutely no need to refrigerate the items below:
  1. Olive oil. Will solidify.
  2. Tomatoes. Don’t keep well, taste and texture will be affected.
  3. Onions will get mushy and possibly moldy!
  4. Potatoes. These get gritty and flavor will also be affected.
  5. Melons. Will loose anti oxidants.
  6. Honey crystallizes and will flow much easier in room temperature.
  7. Hot sauce, keeps well in room temperate for about 3 (!) years.
  8. Bread will dry out.
  9. Garlic will sprout in the cold environment.
  10. Coffee looses flavor and absorbs other flavors from within the fridge.
One good ‘lifehack’ you can apply is putting coffee into your fridge to absorb odors. While it’s better to clean your refrigerator once in a while, this can take care of smells quickly. Be sure do throw out the coffee afterwards. Please let us know what kind of food you don't refrigerate to keep it fresh longer by using the comment form below!

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1 comment on "10 Foods you should not refrigerate"
Lisca meijer says on 2021-07-05
I have lived in Italy for most of my adult life and there everybody keeps the coffee in the fridge. I mean the ground coffee in the bag. Not the brewed coffee.

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