So, I bring lunch to work every day. An iced tea, fiber brownie, fruit and an entree. I’d like to buy some kind of fruit in bulk and leave it in the fridge to have through the week so that I can’t forget to pack it, and I always have fruit. I know a lot of fruit suffer bruises from being in the fridge as opposed to hanging in a bag. Any recommendations for something that will keep nicely?
If you want a variety of fruits included fridge unfriendly ones:
Could you keep a bunch of fruit at work instead of bringing one each day?
Or keep a picture of fruit in the fridge with your lunch and trade it for the fruit when you pack your bag so you don’t forget it?
Apples stay nice in the refrigerator, figs do, berries, grapes, citrus.
But I think what you need more is a checklist? So that it doesn’t matter if your fruit this week is in the fridge or on the counter.
Any particular reason it has to be in the fridge?
The thing is, it is actually not recommended to store tropical fruit in the fridge. So mangos, bananas, kiwis… The other thing is that most fruit doesn’t need to be refrigerated and will still stay fresh at room temperature (assuming room temp is between 20-25°C).
You can buy a bunch of green-yellow bananas and they will ripen throughout the week without going bad and leave them outside. Apples will last a long time outside of the fridge too - even in warmer/moister climates. So do citric fruit. Berries and grapes are probably the only thing I would refrigerate, as well as cut fruit. (Tbh I wouldn’t refrigerate berries either because that makes them lose their taste, so I’d just eat them right away. They are a fleeting breeze of summer that should be enjoyed within the blink of an eye.)
Why do you need to limit yourself to one type of fruit? Idk your fruit portions, we eat so much fruit at home that I am shocked we haven’t died of fructose induced liver cirrhosis yet. So get some greener bananas (store outside) for Tuesday and Wednesday, grapes in the fridge for Thursday and Friday, and bring something fresh like a mango for Monday? And just have a sack of apples as an emergency. They, like, really don’t go bad. If you buy fruit that is not fully ripe yet, then as well, leave it outside, next to the apples ideally, and they will ripen by the middle/end of the week.
Also, veggies?
Left field answer: Any dried or dessicated fruit, e.g. sultanas, raisins, currants, cranberries, candied peel, etc.
… I did not intend those to be in reverse alphabetical order, but that’s how they came out.
Wasteful consumer answer: Tinned (in juice) or those fruit cup things.
There are quite some fruits you better leave in the fridge until they go bad and you can bin them…
Apples.
This yes! Apples last for several weeks if you keep them cold.
Mandarins or clementines last for ages in the fridge, don’t bruise, and taste amazing when cold.
All of them.
I might be weird, but in my opinion, there is not a single fruit that does not last longer or taste better when it is stored in the fridge.
Also keeps away those pesky fruit flies.
I, as well, store fruit in the fridge because of fruit flies.
But man I hate cold fruit :(
Generally correct, however there are exceptions. Bananas are absolutely wrecked in the fridge
Edit… unripened pineapple too in my experience. In both cases they don’t ripen properly. Bananas end up hard and bullet like, and pineapple stays more tart and ends up with almost a woody texture
Fun fact, pineapples do not ripen after they have been picked. They will begin to rot which is why they start to soften up on the counter:
https://eathealthy365.com/the-definitive-answer-on-ripening-pineapples-post-harvest/
Yeah, would be more interesting to list the outliers that aren’t better in the fridge.
Yeah I thought that too but it turns out only the outside turned shitty
Funny, I find Bananas benefit the most by being stored in the fridge.
Yes, the peel gets greyish eventually but the inside stays good to eat for much longer.
Oh well, to each their own I guess.
I mean yeah you can still eat the bananas, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have them under ripened as you do end up with a different range of nutrients. I just don’t think as general practice, most people are going to get the best experience if they refrigerate them. Maybe it’s just a bananas I get in my region but I’ve never been able to successfully refrigerate a banana and have it be as good as just left out to ripen naturally
I put it in the fridge to keep from overripening. Rarely buy underripe bananas.
I like melon in my fridge, you cut a portion out, put cling film over the “wound” and it stays good to eat quite nicely.
Grapes could also be an option IMO.
Bananas turn greyish which looks weird but still tastes fine.
But apples from the store have probably been in a fridge for a long time already before coming into the store, because most apples are harvested in autumn and then stored in a fridge, so that works.
Bananas in the fridge is not a good idea.
Berries will last 3x longer in the fridge than on the counter. Longer if you give them a citric acid or diluted vinegar bath after you bring them home.
Avocados
If and only if they’re ripe.
I put unripe in there. Just takes a while for them to ripen.
Interesting, they never seem to ripen for me, but maybe I’m too impatient
Mango, assert dominance over your colleagues. /j
