Corn on the cob
Corn on the cob gets 1 to 2 days in the fridge, not a week. Here are the extension figures, the husk question, the blanching times, and the difference between a starchy ear and a spoiled one.
Ingredients
Ingredient guides
One page per ingredient: how to store it, how long it keeps, how to tell when it has gone bad, and what to use instead. New pages are added one ingredient at a time.
Fruit and vegetables
Mint
Mint keeps about a week in the fridge, standing in a glass of water or wrapped in a damp towel. Here are the extension figures, the two ways to dry it, and the one stage that means throw it out.
Orange juice
Fresh-squeezed orange juice keeps up to five days in the fridge, while an unopened shelf-stable carton keeps 6 to 12 months in the cupboard. Freezing, the Navel problem, and the signs it has turned.
Pomegranate juice
Pomegranate juice keeps about five days in the fridge and a year in the freezer. Chilled bottles against shelf-stable ones, opened against unopened, and the fizz that ends a bottle.
Lemon juice
Fresh-squeezed lemon juice keeps about five days in the fridge, while a sealed shelf-stable bottle keeps 12 to 18 months in the pantry. Freezing, canning and the signs it has turned.
Beets
Cut the greens off, leave a short stem, and bag the roots in the fridge for one to two weeks. A cold, damp cellar holds them for months, and cooked beets freeze well.
Green beans
A home fridge is colder than snap beans tolerate, which is why they get 3 to 5 days and why the brown spots appear after you take them out. The bag, the blanch, the slime.
Pumpkin
A cured whole pumpkin keeps for months at 50 to 55°F, but it breaks down fast in the fridge. Curing, the cool room, cut pieces, puree, seeds, an opened can and soft spots.
Asparagus
Asparagus goes woody before it goes bad, and most of that fiber forms in the first 24 hours. Cold and wet butts are the whole trick. Jar, towel, freezing and the tips.
Parsley
Parsley is the hardiest of the soft herbs, not the most fragile: the trade keeps it for two months. Jar or towel, why it yellows, freezing, drying and when to bin it.
Cucumbers
Store cucumbers wrapped in the warmest part of the fridge, away from apples and tomatoes, and eat them within a week. Chilling injury, slime, bitterness and pickling.
Basil
Basil belongs on the counter with its stems in water, not in the fridge, because cold is what turns the leaves black. How long it really lasts, freezing it, the four-day rule for basil in oil, and how to tell cold damage from disease.
Grapes
Keep grapes unwashed and on the stem in a vented bag in the coldest part of the fridge. Why the white bloom is not mold, how to freeze them, and when one moldy grape ends the bunch.
Celery
Keep the bunch whole and wrapped in the crisper, and plan for one to two weeks rather than the four you see elsewhere. Foil or bag, cut celery in water, reviving limp stalks, freezing, and when to throw it out.
Cilantro
Stand cilantro stems in an inch of water, bag the leaves loosely, and plan on a week. Jar versus damp towel, washing, freezing without blanching, and when to bin a bunch.
Green onions
Green onions are one of the few crops that genuinely want to be wet and ice-cold, which is why the jar of water works. Yellow tips, slime, freezing raw, and the naming.
Zucchini
Your fridge is colder than zucchini can take, which is why it pits. The 41°F floor, the bag, the slimy patch, the bitter one, and how to freeze it grated or sliced.
Lemons
A plastic bag in the fridge roughly triples how long lemons last, even though cold is not what the postharvest textbooks want. Pitting, mold, cut lemons, and freezing juice and zest.
Cabbage
Keep cabbage whole and unwashed in the crisper with its outer leaves on, and it will outlast every other vegetable in the drawer. Black specks, slimy leaves, freezing and when to toss.
Blueberries
Blueberries keep for a week or two unwashed in the fridge, and rinsing the punnet is what ruins them. Cold, humidity, the vinegar rinse, freezing, and when to throw them out.
Broccoli
Keep broccoli unwashed in a loose perforated bag on the coldest shelf, and plan on 3 to 5 days. Fridge figures compared, yellow florets, blanching to freeze, and when to toss a head.
Sweet potatoes
Keep sweet potatoes in a cool, dark, dry spot near 55 to 60F, not the fridge, where cold gives them hard cores. Shelf life, sprouts, freezing and when to toss.
Carrots
Carrots want cold and damp, not the cupboard. Tops off, closed bag, about two weeks in the fridge. Bendy carrots, the white film, slime, freezing and cellar storage.
Lettuce
Keep lettuce cold, dry and whole in the crisper drawer. How long iceberg and romaine last, what to do with an opened bag, what brown edges mean, and when slime means the bin.
Tomatoes
Keep tomatoes on the counter until ripe, then eat them or refrigerate them for a few days. Fridge or counter, green tomatoes before frost, freezing, and when to toss.
Mushrooms
Fresh mushrooms keep about 3 to 7 days in the fridge in a paper bag. How to store them, why plastic makes them slimy, how to freeze them, and when to toss.
Apples
Apples keep 2 to 4 weeks on the counter and a month or more in the fridge. How to store and freeze them, why one bad apple matters, and when to toss one.
Bananas
Bananas keep up to a week on the counter and 5 to 7 more days in the fridge once ripe. How to store and freeze them, why the peel turns black, and when to toss.
Spinach
Fresh spinach keeps 3 to 7 days in the fridge, and an opened bag about 2. How to store it, freeze it, and when slimy leaves mean the bag goes.
Peppers
Whole peppers keep 4 to 14 days in the fridge and 6 to 8 months frozen. Why green outlasts red, how to store cut and hot peppers, and when mold means cut or bin.
Potatoes
Potatoes keep up to a month in a cool, dark cupboard, not the fridge. How to store and freeze them, and when to cut away sprouts and green or throw them out.
Strawberries
Strawberries keep 1 to 3 days in the fridge, unwashed, and 8 to 12 months frozen. How to store, wash and freeze them, and what to do with a moldy berry.
Garlic
Whole garlic keeps up to 8 weeks in a cool, dark place, not the fridge. How to store and freeze it, when garlic in oil is unsafe, and how to spot bad garlic.
Onions
Whole onions keep up to 4 weeks on the counter and cut onions up to 7 days in the fridge. How to store, freeze and judge sprouted or moldy onions.
Avocados
Ripe avocados keep 2–5 days in the fridge. How to ripen them, store a cut half, freeze purée, and tell browning from spoilage.
Ginger
Ginger keeps 4–6 weeks in the fridge, whole and unpeeled. How to store it, freeze it, and tell a dried-out root from one that has gone bad.
Dairy and eggs
Tofu
Opened tofu keeps 3 days to a week in fresh water in the fridge, and the extension services disagree about which end you get. Water changes, silken tofu, freezing, and the five signs.
Milk
Milk keeps 5 days to 2 weeks in the fridge below 40F, and the published figures genuinely disagree. Where it belongs in the fridge, what the date means, whether to freeze it, and the five signs.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk keeps 1 to 2 weeks in the fridge and a few days past its date. It can separate without spoiling, and the experts disagree about freezing it. Here is what to do with each.
Yogurt
An opened tub keeps one to two weeks on a cold fridge shelf, and the whey on top is meant to be there. Fridge temperatures, the date, freezing, mold and the swollen lid.
Butter
Keep butter wrapped in the fridge, on a shelf rather than in the door, and leave out only a day or two of salted butter. Counter versus fridge, how long a block keeps, freezing, and telling rancid butter from mold.
Cream cheese
Opened cream cheese keeps about 2 weeks in the fridge. How to store it, whether freezing is worth it, and why mold means the whole tub goes.
Cheese
Hard cheese keeps 3 to 4 weeks in the fridge once opened and soft cheese 1 to 2 weeks. How to wrap it, freeze it, and when mold means cut or bin.
Eggs
Raw eggs keep 3 to 5 weeks in the fridge, in the carton on an inside shelf, and up to a year frozen out of the shell. How to store, freeze and check old eggs.
Grains and bread
Muffins
Muffins keep 3 to 7 days on the counter once they have cooled, and the fridge only makes them stale. For longer, freeze them. Here is how to store muffins after baking, and when to throw them out.
Sourdough bread
A crusty sourdough loaf wants air for its first day and a bag after that. The fridge splits the experts, the freezer does not, and a sticky, fruity-smelling crumb means rope.
Pasta
Dry pasta keeps a year or two and mostly fears beetles. Cooked pasta carries a spore that survives boiling, so it gets two hours and then four days. Fresh pasta, honestly.
Cinnamon rolls
Plain and glazed cinnamon rolls keep on the counter for 2 to 3 days, but cream cheese frosting sends them to the fridge. Counter, fridge, freezer, canned dough and mold.
Tortillas
The fridge buys weeks against mold and costs you texture, because tortillas stiffen fastest at fridge-door temperatures. Pantry, fridge, freezer, mold and reviving them.
Flour
Keep flour sealed, cool, dry and dark, and refrigerate anything whole grain. How long white and whole wheat flour really keep, what the best-by date means, what to do about bugs, and why raw flour is never a taste test.
Rice
Dry white rice keeps for years, brown rice for about six months, and cooked rice for three or four days. Cupboard, fridge, freezer, weevils and the overnight rule.
Bread
Homemade bread keeps 3 to 5 days wrapped on the counter and about 3 months frozen. How to store soft, crusty and sourdough loaves, and why the fridge stales them.
Bagels
Fresh bagels keep 1 to 2 days on the counter and about 3 months in the freezer. Why the fridge makes them stale, and how to freeze and reheat them.
Spices and pantry
Vegetable shortening
Does Crisco go bad? Yes, slowly: vegetable shortening keeps 1 to 2 years sealed and 6 to 12 months once opened, then turns rancid. Here is how to store it and how to tell when it has gone.
Almond butter
Almond butter is too dry for bacteria, so fat is the part that fails. Natural against stabilized, the pantry against the fridge, what the oil on top means, and the five stages from fresh to rancid.
Lemon extract
A pure lemon extract is oil of lemon in 83 percent alcohol, so it fades and evaporates rather than spoiling. How long a bottle keeps, where it belongs, and the five stages from fresh to leaking.
Roasted pumpkin seeds
Homemade roasted pumpkin seeds keep about 2 weeks in an airtight container, and up to 3 months frozen. Left warm or out too long, they go soft or rancid. Here is how to store roasted pumpkin seeds, and how to tell when they have turned.
Matcha powder
Opened matcha keeps 6 to 12 months airtight in a dark cupboard, but it fades long before it spoils. The experts also disagree about the freezer. Here is how to store matcha powder so it stays green.
Coffee beans
Roasted coffee beans stay at their best for 1 to 3 weeks in an airtight, opaque container, and 3 to 4 months frozen. The fridge is the one place to avoid. Here is how to store coffee beans, and when they have gone.
Bacon grease
Strain it, cool it, and keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 6 months, or freeze it for a year. The USDA gives bacon grease no time on the counter at all.
Honey
Honey does not really spoil, but it can ferment if water gets in. Crystals are fine and foam is not, and the three published shelf lives run from 1 year to forever.
Allspice
Allspice is one berry, not a blend, and whole berries outlast the ground jar by years. The airtight jar, the crush test, clumping, pumpkin spice blends and pantry pests.
Nutmeg
Whole nutmeg outlasts a ground jar by years, and old nutmeg loses flavor rather than turning unsafe. The airtight jar, the smell test, clumping, pumpkin spice blends and pantry pests.
Caramel sauce
Refrigerate any caramel sauce made with cream or butter, and keep it airtight. Fridge and freezer times, grainy versus spoiled, and caramel apple safety at Halloween.
Condiments and ferments
Cocktail sauce
Does cocktail sauce go bad? Yes, slowly: a sealed jar keeps about a year, and an opened jar about 6 months in the fridge. Here is how to store it and how to tell when it has turned.
Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce keeps about a year in a cool, dark cupboard, and K-State asks you to refrigerate it once the bottle is open. Sediment, dates, and the signs a bottle is finished.
Apple cider
Apple cider gets five to seven days in the fridge, sealed or opened, and two hours on the counter. The unpasteurized question, mulled leftovers, freezing, and when to pour a jug away.
Food safety
Food left out overnight
Food left out overnight: which foods you can keep and which to throw out, the 2-hour rule, and why reheating doesn't make perishable food safe again.
Food after a power outage
Food after a power outage: how long the fridge and freezer keep food safe, and what to keep or throw out, food by food, including eggs and cheese.
Meat
Bacon
Opened bacon keeps about 7 days in the fridge, and cooked bacon 4 to 5. Freezing works, though the USDA's own pages disagree on how long. Here is how to keep it, and when it has gone.
Steak
Raw steak keeps 3 to 5 days in the fridge and months in the freezer. Brown or purple is usually just chemistry, while a tacky surface and an off smell are the real warning.
Ground beef
Raw ground beef gets 1 to 2 days in the fridge, so it is the shortest clock in the meat drawer. Grey inside the pack is normal, but grey all through, sticky or sour means it has gone.
How a guide gets made
Sources first, then the kitchen
Ingredients are chosen by what people actually ask about storing them.
Storage times are checked against university extension and food safety sources, and cited.
Each guide links to the sources behind its storage times.
Every spoilage stage comes with a plain verdict: use it, trim it or throw it out.
The Sunday Shelf
Written for people who cook from what they already have.
New ingredient guides when they go up, plus one storage tip worth knowing. Anything sponsored is labelled.