What you should – and should never – keep in your fridge

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To fridge or not to fridge?

Bread: Keeping bread in the fridge makes the starch molecules crystallise, so the bread toughens and dries out – OK for toast at a pinch, lousy for sandwiches. If you don’t eat much bread, you’re better off keeping your sliced loaf in the freezer and toasting from there.

Eggs: Keep eggs in the fridge to extend their life, from around two weeks to two months. But cold eggs are useless for baking (they’ll curdle a cake batter) and chilling breaks down the natural seal on the shell, so once they’ve been in the fridge you can’t change your mind and leave them out instead.

Jam: Traditional jam keeps in the cupboard perfectly well, provided you use a clean spoon to dollop it on your plate - toast crumbs from your knife are prone to turning mouldy. That said, modern preserves with lower sugar contents will need keeping in the fridge, unless you are planning to finish the jar within three or four days.

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Pet food: A controversial one – dried food definitely doesn’t need to be in the fridge, but open tins (properly covered) will last longer and smell less if kept cold.

Potatoes: Fridges spell disaster for potatoes, as the cold turns the starches to sugars, making for soggy, dark roasties and cloying, gloopy mash. Store them instead in a dark, well ventilated, cool spot. 8-10C is ideal, but at least make sure they aren’t next to the radiator.

Coffee: Never keep coffee in the fridge: it’s too damp, and may result in “off” flavours. The freezer can extend the life of whole beans, though.