10 Food Facts That Will Make You Question Everything You Believe In

A common kitchen debate is whether or not you should refrigerate butter, and it's understandable to be confused. It's true that butter is dairy, but it doesn't expire as quickly as other products because it's mostly fat. And salted butter is less susceptible to bacteria than unsalted butter because of its sodium content. You can leave salted butter out of the fridge for about two weeks as long as your kitchen is 70°F or colder, but it should be kept in a butter crock or a similar airtight container. Unsalted butter should be kept refrigerated all the time.

Have you ever wondered how figs are grown? I always assumed they were just like any other fruit, until I learned the truth about fig wasps, and I was so intrigued . . . and a little grossed out. If you've ever heard that you're eating dead wasps when you eat figs, don't panic! That's not exactly true. But the process of female and male fig wasps mating inside of figs, which are technically inverted flowers, is beyond interesting. You can read the full fig-growing process for yourself.

If coffee is your life line, you might want to start refrigerating coffee beans for an even better-tasting cup in the morning. A 2016 study published in Scientific Reports, titled "The Effect of Bean Origin and Temperature on Grinding Roasted Coffee," found that chilling coffee beans before grinding and brewing them is the best thing to do for a flavorful result.

If you take olive oil seriously (looking at you, pasta-lovers), then you'll want to make sure you're buying real extra-virgin olive oil. Olive oil counterfeiting is a big deal in Italy, and many imported bottles actually don't live up to their "extra virgin" claim. To be on the safe side when it comes to doctored olive oil, you can avoid the imports and opt for California-grown extra-virgin olive oil.

Eggs have a natural coating called a "bloom" that keeps out air and bacteria, and if you have your own farm-fresh eggs from your backyard, it's totally OK not to refrigerate them for several days. However, eggs that you buy in the grocery store have been washed and their coating has been removed, per USDA guidelines, so they're more susceptible to bacteria and need to be refrigerated.

Before you toss out a spoiled bottle of wine, consider spending one cent to save it — really! Some people swear by using a penny to save a bottle of wine by dropping it in the glass of wine and swirling it around. When you take it out, the wine should taste much better. Of course, just make sure the penny is clean.

Not all bell peppers are created equal. Some bell peppers have three lobes, while others have four. The ones with four lobes are sweeter and best eaten raw, and bell peppers with three lobes are best cooked or grilled and contain fewer seeds.

Maple syrup is a condiment you probably don't refrigerate, but you should. Once you open a bottle, it needs to go straight to the fridge or else the syrup could start to grow mold. And who wants moldy waffles?

Buying honey seems like an easy enough activity, but honey laundering is actually a huge problem in the US. It's common for honey to be diluted with fillers like high-fructose corn syrup but labeled and sold as pure honey. If possible, it's best to buy your honey from a local farmer so you know exactly what's in it.

Among other condiments that don't need to be refrigerated is hot sauce, surprisingly. As long as your hot sauce is vinegar-based, it will have a shelf life of about three years and doesn't need to be chilled. The bonus is that your hot food won't be ruined by cold drizzles of hot sauce if you store it in the pantry instead of the fridge.