Keep These 8 Fruits and Vegetables Out of the Fridge (3 of 5)

Stone Fruits

When summer arrives, that can only mean one thing: it’s stone fruit season! (Okay, summer can mean many things, but we digress). When you return home from the local farmer’s market with your bags of peaches, plums, and cherries, remind yourself that they should not go into the fridge. Much like the other fruits and vegetables on this list, the cold air prevents them from fully ripening, it gives them a mealy texture, and they lose a lot of their flavor. For overripe peaches and cherries, they’re just what you need to make cobbler and pies.

Bananas

Sure, placing bananas in an elegant fruit bowl on the counter is visually pleasing, but it is also practical. The problem with storing them in the fridge is that the cold temperatures prematurely stop the ripening process in addition to turning the skin black. By contrast, keeping them at room temperature allows them to ripen properly. Of course, even on the counter they will turn into mush pretty quickly if you let them sit around for more than a few days. But, hey, if that happens, remember that а banana in this state is the key component of banana bread!