Use A Wine Fridge To Keep Your Extra Produce Fresh
We all want to know how to keep our produce fresh for as long as possible — after all, there's nothing more frustrating than having your fruits or veggies go bad before you're ready to use them, especially if it's just days after you buy them. There are plenty of things you can buy to keep produce fresh longer, including specific tupperware and vacuum-sealed bags, but you may already have the perfect product for what you're looking for: a wine refrigerator.
If you happen to be a wine lover and own a fridge for your wine storing needs, then you can also use it for your produce. For example, potatoes are the perfect candidate for occupying some space in your wine fridge. While it's not recommended to keep potatoes in a regular refrigerator, the average temperature of a wine fridge — about 55 degrees Fahrenheit — is similar to that of a root cellar for potatoes. To compare, the typical fridge will be set to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course, the wine cellar trick works for way more produce items than just potatoes — as well as some other things beyond fruit and veggies.
The wine fridge is a good host for more things than you would expect
Almost any fresh fruit can be stored in the wine fridge, including apples, peaches, grapes and bananas. On the veggie side of things, leafy greens are the most suitable candidate for storage. However, you likely won't be able to keep them all at once, as different produce items require different temperatures. For example, kale would best be stored between around 32 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas something like a cucumber would require a higher temperature of around 44 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Beyond fruit and veggies, there are plenty of other practical things you can store. Other food products such as cheese or chocolate — the latter of which is usually one of the foods that is recommended to not to store in a regular fridge — would fit perfectly in the wine fridge's temperatures. Olive oil is meant to be stored at around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, which is easily within the temperature range.
Aside from food, you can store certain medicines in there if there's space. Common medications that require refrigeration include insulins and liquid antibiotics, among others. Perhaps the most straightforward product that could be kept in the wine fridge is other drinks. Even if you happen to be a non-wine drinker, this appliance can keep many things fresh if you somehow end up owning one.