Indeed, fall is fleeting enough as it is, and we’d rather not waste a single piece of that precious fruit that you just hauled back from your apple picking adventure. You have far too many apple pies, crumbles, cider cocktails, and other apple recipes to tackle. The secret? Your refrigerator’s crisper drawer. Remember that step one in wasting less fruit is avoiding storing certain types of produce too closely together. This is a very common mistake that can lead to food going bad prematurely, especially apples. Buildup of the chemical compound ethylene gas can cause them to ripen faster, so storing your apples separate from bananas, melons, apricots, tomatoes, avocados, peaches, pears, nectarines, plums, and figs will help prevent them from sharing ethylene gas and therefore ripening one another. The cool temperature of the fridge will also help slow the emission of ethylene. Bottom line? There’s nothing worse than a rotten apple. The good news is that when stored properly, you shouldn’t ever have to toss—or worse, bite into—a mushy apple ever again. Follow these simple tips about selecting and storing the fruit, and your apples will always be as delicious as they are good for you.
