For starters, enjoy a variety of storage solutions to better organize your fruits and vegetables. When you place items on the shelves, think about what makes the most sense for you and the food.
Eggs And Dairy
Most people keep their milk on the top shelf or in the door, although it should be kept on the back of the bottom shelf because it is the coldest there. The same goes for eggs. Keep them in the original cartons where the temperatures are constant.
Refrigerator Door
Save the refrigerator door for:- spices
- butter
- soft cheeses
- juices
Snacks
If you have small children, put their snacks at eye level so they can be easily taken without making a mess. You can reserve a special separator - a box for each child or put all the snacks in one place so they can choose.
When you buy something new - for example, milk - put it behind the already opened one to consume the old, already opened products first.
Food Preservation and Expiration Dates
Pay attention to food storage and expiration dates - it is recommended:
- to throw away the fish after one to two days
- meat after two to three days
- vegetables or cereals after five to seven days
When organizing refrigerators, we like to use restaurant kitchens as models, as they organize their refrigerators by food safety measures. Their way of working is to organize food based on the temperature at which it must be cooked. Things that do not require cooking to be safe to eat (prepared food or leftovers) are placed on top, and then everything else is organized down so that the food that must be cooked at the highest temperature (meat) is at the bottom.
Here's how to organize your refrigerator best:
1. Upper shelves - leftovers, drinks, yogurt, cheese, cured meat, ready-to-eat food
2. Lower shelves - raw ingredients (meat) prepared for cooked meals
3. Doors - refrigerator doors are the warmest part of the refrigerator, due to frequent opening and closing of the refrigerator, the temperature in the door is not consistent. Only spices and toppings should go there (parmesan, mayonnaise, mustard, etc.)
4. Crisper Drawers - Since they are designed to hold a certain humidity of the product, it makes sense to store fruits and vegetables there. But they are usually at the bottom of the fridge, so we run the risk of contaminating our fresh vegetables if we put meat on the shelf above. If you have two drawers, make one exclusively for vegetables and the other only for raw meat. If one drawer is above the other, use the lowest meat drawer. If they were next to each other, either would be fine. If it is inevitable to put raw meat on top of other foods, improvise your meat drawer using a transparent plastic separator that will catch all the random drops and keep the meat away from everything else. If your refrigerator has an upper drawer, in the top one, you can keep groceries like cheese, cured meat, or butter.
Get some special boxes that aren't made of harmful materials, and which will help you organize your food neatly and beautifully. Put each type of vegetable or fruit in a separate one, and reserve one for spices.
When you organize food into boxes, label them. Instead of stickers that can peel or get dirty with food, try using self-adhesive chalk foil, suitable for more frequent text changes. Labels not only help to locate the item but they can also be used for the expiration dates and let everyone in the family know where things are.
Although it is a great pleasure to see our refrigerator full of different foods, make sure not to overflow it. A crowded refrigerator can restrict airflow, making it difficult to keep things cool and fresh, which reduces energy efficiency and can strain a refrigerator's engine. Keep fruits and vegetables separate. Some fruits produce high levels of ethylene which can induce ripening and can spoil vegetables.
The best secret for keeping your refrigerator organized - clean it!
Make it a habit - to clean your refrigerator weekly before buying new groceries. Throw away everything that's expired and wipe the shelves and drawers. Because all these methods of organization mean nothing if your refrigerator isn't clean and full of the old food.
