Why Every North Dakotan Should Keep Paper Towels In The Fridge

Some may find it hard to understand why somebody in North Dakota would ever think about putting paper towels in the fridge.

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Anyone could fall victim to such behavior and think it was just an accident. The narrator agrees with the concept and admits to doing the same careless things in  their own homes.

In retrospect, they confess to having a habit of putting things in the wrong place—like the fridge—which results in terrible discoveries like wasted, soon-to-be-spoiled perishables like fresh parmesan cheese.

Although some were skeptical at first, experts now recommend keeping paper towels in the fridge for their practicality.

Experts say keeping paper towels in the fridge can have a very practical and helpful function.

An article in Readers' Digest explains how North Dakotans might gain from this unusual strategy. At its core, this reasoning rests on the premise that, much to the delight of both serious home gardeners and market goers, chilled paper towels can play a pivotal role  in maintaining the freshness of produce.

According to the story, when you keep paper towels in your fridge, they can help keep your fresh fruits and veggies—well, fresh!

There's nothing sadder than spending time and money picking out the perfect eggplant or whatever at your local farmers' market and finding that when it's time to finally use it, it's already started to rot.

That would only be worse if you've painstakingly invested the time to cultivate your vegetables in a home garden.

How do we make this work? 

The story suggests lining produce drawers with paper towels before putting fruits and veggies inside to make this method work. Just swap out the paper towels when you get home from the garden or market to keep everything nice and fresh.

OK, but how does it work?

The capacity of the paper towels to soak up excess moisture is the key to this preservation strategy, which in turn prevents fruit from rotting too soon and extends its shelf life.