THE GREAT DEBATE: Should bread go in the fridge or the pantry?

I have a friend, let’s call her Lea – which is her actual name by the way, because she deserves to be named and shamed for this – who pours milk into her bowl before the cereal. I discovered this about her after sleeping over at her house when we were in high school, and it was the first time I asked myself if I really wanted to be friends with this person.

“It’s so the cereal doesn’t go soggy,” she explained to me, like there could ever be an explanation for this type of behaviour.

“Lea, there’s, like, a two-second difference between when your cereal goes in and when your milk goes in!” I told her.

The second time I questioned our friendship was when I learnt she separates the meat sauce from the pasta when she eats spaghetti bolognese. That’s right, she’ll eat the pasta separately to the sauce, which kind of defeats the purpose of spaghetti bolognese.

But enough about Lea’s weird eating habits, we want to hear about yours, specifically whether you keep certain produce in the fridge or the pantry, or, what the hell, let’s go nuts – the freezer! Because here’s the thing, even though it may seem as obvious as eating the meat sauce with your pasta, we discovered everyone has a different way of doing things.

To kickstart the conversation, we asked around the office to see what other people do, and their answers proved we could never live in a share house with any of them. Ever.

Jam

Keryn: "Cupboard."

Demeter: "I keep my jam in the pantry until it's been opened, and then it's promoted to the fridge."

Saengtip: "Fridge, because ants are rampant in this country."

Polly: "Jam goes in the cupboard."

Jessica C.: "Cupboard, although I don't think it's a big deal if this one goes in the fridge."

Camila: "Fridge after opening."

Meghna: "Jam goes in the fridge."

Bread

Adam: "I'mma be controversial and say I put my bread in the freezer. It keeps gluten-free bread for longer, and I just toast it immediately and it's fresh."

Keryn: "Bread goes in the fridge."

Saengtip: "My bread goes in the pantry. There's no rhyme or reason."

Camila: "In summer, fridge. In winter, cupboard."

Demeter: "I shop like a doomsday prepper. I usually end up with so much bread and so many bagels that I need to store them in the freezer, otherwise they'll go stale before I have a chance to get to them. But I move them to the fridge right before I eat them."

Polly: "Bread is in the cupboard."

Jessica C.: "Bread box or cupboard or freezer."

Meghna: "Cupboard, but I only get enough bread to last us a couple of days."

Chocolate

Keryn: "Fridge."

Saengtip: "In the pantry."

Jessica C.: "Cupboard - chocolate actually doesn't taste as nice from the fridge. #science"

Demeter: "It depends on how hot it is... In summer, definitely in the fridge, but pantry is okay in winter. I also have a stash of chocolate in my bedroom, because in my mind, I'm still a kid."

Meghna: "Chocolate goes in the fridge."

Butter

Saengtip: "Fridge, because, again, this country - so dang hot!"

Keryn: "Fridge. Obviously.""

Peta: "If anyone here tells me they keep butter in the cupboard, I need to come and speak to you about food safety and the danger zone."

Camila: "Fridge, always. Peta, my mum keeps real butter in a decorative dish on the bench. She's a friggen animal."

Jessica C.: "Fridge if it's the spreadable kind. If it's not, take a small amount out and put it in a butter dish near the bread box so you always have soft butter."

Demeter: "Fridge, mainly because I've been hospitalised with food poisoning once, and I don't want to go back there."

Eggs

Demeter: "Fridge. I didn't realise this was optional?"

Keryn: "Eggs go in the fridge."

Saengtip: "Fridge, because I've always done so. Unless I'm baking, then I take it out a few hours before use."

Polly: "Eggs are in the fridge."

Peta: "Fridge. Please store below four degrees Celsius!"

Vegemite

Keryn: "Vegemite is disgusting."

Saengtip: "Pantry."

Jessica C.: "Cupboard. Why would you put this in the fridge???"

Demeter: "I don't really eat it, but growing up, my mum always stored it in the fridge, so that's what I'd do..."

Camila: "Vegemite is gross."

Meghna: "In the cupboard."

Tomato sauce

Keryn: "Sauce should go in the cupboard."

Demeter: "I don't care if it goes in the cupboard or the pantry, I have a bigger issue with people who don't wipe down the nozzle before putting it away."

Peta: "Sauces should go in the fridge. It has it on the bottle to do so!"

Adam: "I agree with Peta."

Faith: "Sauce goes in the cupboard."

Camila: "'Refrigerate after opening, anyone?"

Not everyone is as Gluten Free as they say they are. Post continues below.

Red wine

Peta: "Wine doesn't go in the fridge."

Demeter: "I agree, but my grandparents keep their red wine in the fridge, which I think is sacrilegious."

Faith: "Wine should be in the cupboard."

Saengtip: "I'm pretty sure that in Asia there's red wine made specifically to be refrigerated..."

Yee: "I was told red wine needs to be refrigerated at 16 degrees, but I wouldn't know the difference, as I don't really drink wine."

Strawberries

Faith: "Strawberries go in the fridge."

Adam: "Strawberries taste way too tart if they're not cold."

Demeter: "They go off too quickly if they're not refrigerated!"

Belinda: "Fridge. I just presumed that because they're stored in the fridge at the supermarket, that's where they should go?"

So, there you have it. Answers to questions you never even knew needed asking.

Let us know what you do! We'd love to hear your thoughts on this, too.