Ditch Countertop Produce Bowls And Try This Clever Storage Solution Instead
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When you get home from the grocery store or the farmers market, there's almost nothing better than unloading all of your gorgeous produce: ruby red tomatoes, paper-skinned onions, vibrant apples, bountiful sprigs of fresh herbs, and so on. In addition to being beauts, these items all have another thing in common — they shouldn't be stored in the fridge. So when you bring such a haul home, you know it's time to pull out some bowls and get your fruits and veggies sorted.
However, this comes with some major pitfalls. Perhaps the biggest one is that each bowl of fresh produce takes up a ton of countertop space, which makes prepping, cooking, and dining more difficult. It also leaves your produce open to issues such as gnats, or you may find that a lone onion has ruined a nearby avocado in what feels like a matter of hours. The best way to avoid this is simple: store your produce inside a drawer.
Of course, you don't want to just lump all of your room-temperature produce in a drawer, which is a great way to get mold and bugs. But by using separate containers or drawer dividers, you can organize all of your produce so you never have to lose fruits and veggies to spoiling again. Here's how to create extra counter space in your kitchen, easily sort your produce, and get the most out of your kitchen storage.
Sorting your produce drawer
To begin this DIY, empty out one or more of the deepest drawers in your kitchen. You will need to find a new home for these items or switch your kitchen cabinet organization layout, but you won't have bowls of produce taking up countertop real estate, so this could be worth the hassle. Next, measure the drawer(s) and decide if you'd rather buy removable bins or drawer dividers. Removable bins are great if you have deep drawers, while drawer dividers (available at The Container Store) are better suited to shallow sets, similar to what you might use to sort large kitchen utensils. The dividers also have the added bonus of being easy to reconfigure as your produce inventory ebbs and flows.
Airflow is also key to preventing spoilage, and there are a couple ways to achieve this. You could attach a small piece of wood at the top edge of the drawer to prevent it from closing entirely or add wire mesh to the front and bottom of your drawers. Once your preferred organization system is installed, place similar fruits and vegetables next to each other to prevent scent and flavor transfer. Lemons, limes, and oranges can even share a compartment, as citrus fruit isn't likely to leech flavor or strong aromas onto each other. On the other hand, separate tubers such as potatoes from other produce — especially onions, which can cause them to ripen faster.
The drawbacks of a produce drawer
The biggest challenge to this storage solution by far is deciding which currently-occupied drawer is getting a makeover. Kitchen drawers are home to many things like utensils, knives, spices, linens, pots, pans, and so on, and each is essential to cooking in the kitchen. So try to think of which drawers have items that could be transferred elsewhere. For instance, could your dishcloths and tablecloths be placed in your towel and bed linen closet? For pots and pans, is there a way to stack them strategically in a cupboard and free up some room in a drawer? With a little creativity and thoughtful planning, you should be able to free up a drawer or two, even if you can't store the entirety of your produce stock. But if you're completely cramped for space, you can always get a standalone produce drawer system like the Miyawell Fruit Vegetable Storage Basket Rack on Amazon.
The other drawback is that even with every precaution in the world in place, it's likely you will have a piece of fruit or vegetable go bad at some point. The decay can result in mold as well as slimey ickiness. That's easier to deal with in a countertop bowl, which you just put in the dishwasher or scrub down with some soap. To avoid disaster, be sure to select easy-to-clean removable containers or place a high-quality drawer liner underneath the dividers for easier cleanup.