How To Organise Your Fridge
Do you know the right place to store different foods in your fridge? Where your raw meats should be kept vs your dairy products? An organised fridge is absolutely essential for keeping your produce fresh and bacteria-free, so if your fridge is a mess, it’s time to learn how to fix it.
Why You Should Organise Your Fridge
An organised fridge with different produce stored in its correct section not only looks very visually appealing but has a range of benefits including…
– Making the fridge more accessible. With organisational bins, drawers, and a lazy Susan, you’ll always know where everything is in your fridge.
– Stop bacteria gathering on your food. When your raw meats are placed in the right section of the fridge, it will prevent bacteria from growing on other products like your vegetables or already cooked foods.
– Keep your food fresher for longer. The different sections of a fridge are designed for specific items to keep them fresher for longer. So, by organising your fridge correctly you can ensure your vegetables, fruit and meat have an extended life span.
– De-clutter your fridge. Organising your fridge will help you de-clutter the space and prevent it from getting messy ever again.
– Minimise waste. Keeping your ingredients and products in their correct and organised will prevent you from forgetting about them and reduce waste.
The Right Places to Store Your Different Foods in A Fridge
If you’ve never researched where exactly different produce should go in your fridge, then chances are you’re actually putting items in the wrong spots. Below are the best places to put different types of food and drinks.
Top Shelve of The Fridge
The top shelf of your fridge should be reserved for snacks or cooked foods. When your ready-to-go food is stored at the top of the fridge it can prevent any non-cooked produce from dripping onto it and contaminating its integrity.
Middle Shelve of The Fridge
Believe it or not but your dairy products shouldn’t actually go in the door of your fridge, but rather the middle shelf. The door of your fridge is actually one of the warmest spots which can cause your dairy products to go off quicker. Although fridges claim to regulate the same temperatures throughout their interior, this often isn’t the case. So, to avoid your dairy items from going off, it’s best to keep products like milk and eggs on the middle shelf which offers the best consistent temperatures.
Bottom Shelve of The Fridge
The last shelf in your fridge is the place for all your raw meats because here, they can’t drip onto other cooked foods or ready to go produce and contaminate it with bacteria.
The Crispers
Reserve the space in your crispers for your fruit, vegetables, and salads. These regulate the humidity around the fresh produce and improve its integrity.
The Door of The Fridge
Instead of putting your milk in the fridge, this is where you should put your butter, condiments, natural preservatives, and drinks.
Top Do’s and Don’ts for Storing Food in Your Fridge
1. Do keep your raw meats on a tray or container bin to avoid spills from leaking over the fridge.
2. Don’t put cooked and raw food together to prevent contamination.
3. Do clean your fridge regularly to dodge a build-up of bacteria and always clean up spills from raw meats right away.
4. Don’t keep your salads near the back of the fridge as this can cause frostbite.
5. Do keep certain vegetables and fruit out of the fridge. Tomatoes, avocados, bananas etc, don’t need to go in the fridge where they can actually go off quicker.
6. Don’t put hot food in the fridge as it can cause the temperature to change and affect the other foods.
7. Don’t put your milk in the door of your fridge – As stated above, when milk is placed in the door of the fridge (the warmest spot) it can go off quicker.
8. Do put your vegetables and fruit in separate compartments in your fridge to improve their life span.
Tip: Although pre-cutting and prepping foods can seem more efficient, it can actually cause some products to go off faster like raw meat.
Essential Organisational Items for Your Fridge
Keep your fridge neat and tidy so you never lose an item again with our top essential organisational pieces. Whether you’re trying to organise your vegetables or snacks, these organisational items are sure to help.
– A Lazy Susan to sort condiments and snacks such as yoghurts, muesli bars etc.
– Fridge bins to organise snacks, separate raw meat, or pre-cooked meals.
– Glass jars for your fruit and vegetables to increase their life span.
Tip: cover your fruit with a dry piece of patter towel inside a glass container to draw out extra moisture and increase their shelf life. Keeping your carrots in water inside a glass container will increase their crisper for longer.
– A tiered shelf for easy view of different ingredients inside the fridge to prevent losing any at the back.
– Add labels to your containers with stickers or an erasable marker for the ultimate organisation.
– A tray for meats to contain any messes.
With these simple tips and essential items, you can transform your fridge into an Instagram-worthy and organised work of art.
