I live in a humid climate (especially in the summer), and if we don't refrigerate our bread and tortillas, or any baked goods, they get moldy in like 4 days.
Bread outside the fridge spoils fast. Bread in the fridge lasts longer but is less fluffy. In this household we refrigerate our bread and then toast it lightly if we're going to eat it straight. Most of the sandwiches I make are toasted anyway.
Putting boiling water in the freezer is so useful, like you can cook it once and freeze it, then get it out when you need it and just reheat it a little.
I basically just go by whether or not it was refrigerated in the supermarket. However, once it's opened I mostly throw everything in there except for dry stuff.
I have an slightly odd one that I do myself: Carrots in a water filled container (in the fridge). That way they last really long and you don't get that limpy half-dried version after a while that is hard to remove the peel off. They basically stay as if fresh from the store or garden.
My mother, for years, has frozen bread and then defrosted it two pieces at a time in the microwave.
If you've ever seen the Albert Brooks movie Mother, that's her. She even said it was her when she saw it. She's even started writing novels in her old age after wanting to be a writer when she was a kid.
I refrigerate bread. It's much better and more effective than a bread box. My parents did not refrigerate bread because they live in a different part of the country where it would not mold over as quickly.
I’m more annoyed my mom keeps the oat milk out of the fridge for most of the day and wonders why it goes bad so quick. I usually bring my own when I visit.
My parents (and grandparents, I think) used to put batteries in the fridge. I did too, until I learned that it’s not a good thing to do. Something about the humidity.
I do freeze bread. Mainly because the bread I can eat (gluten free) is expensive and not easy to get in the size I like (there are sizes!), so I buy multiple and freeze the excess. I also freeze my ground coffee (I really should start grinding my own; with the horror stories I’ve heard about pre ground…). I do refrigerate butter, jelly, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and hot sauce.
How long does it take you to eat the bread that mold starts to appear ??? In my house bread is pretty much gone in two days, most times less than that.
I put my bread in the microwave as I never use it. I might as well call my microwave a bread box. However, if it gets really humid I may put the bread in the fridge for a day or two.
I love cold condiments and fruit. My dad put Pepto Bismol and eye drops in the fridge.
I just wait the 20 seconds for it to become spreadable. Though, you do have to only get a little bit at a time. You can pull out a hunk and expect it heat up that quickly.
I've had roommates where we just ended up buying our own ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, fish sauce, Sriracha, and probably other things I can't remember because they were weirdos that refrigerated those things. I kept mine in the cupboard, they kept theirs in the fridge.