Of all the many white goods and appliances, home and kitchen can function without, a fridge is not one of them. This is perhaps one of the most commonly found and most practical of all food storage devices. Even though it is hard to deny just how practical and helpful fridges are to our daily life, it is kind of surprising, possibly even shocking, just how many people don’t know how to get the most efficient and effective use out of them.
As well as affecting their energy-efficiency and driving your electricity bills up more than necessary, when you are not using a fridge to its full potential, you could also be generating a lot of waste because the food you are storing in your fridge is not being stored properly and therefore spoiling quicker than it should.
That’s why we wanted to offer some insight and advice into what you need to do if you would like to use your fridge more efficiently. In the following post, we will look at some easy to follow tips and advice that will do just that.
Store Used Items at the Very Front
Any food that you keep in your fridge that has either been opened or are close to their expiration date should be kept at the very front of the shelves. This is the best way to make sure the older food gets used first before you start accidentally opening newer, sealed food.
Be Mindful of the Temperature in Your Fridge
All it takes is small changes in temperature to cause big changes to the lifespan of food. For instance, milk ideally should be kept at 4-degrees Celsius. As a good general rule of thumb, your fridge should be set to a temperature that is lower than 5-degrees Celsius to ensure all your food is fresh, cool and retains its flavor.
Placements of Non-Perishables
As they can handle temperature fluctuations well, non-perishable foods including things like condiments can be stored in the fridge door. Even though they will be subjected to more of the changes in temperature than other items when the door is closed or opened, their texture or taste won’t be affected.
Be Careful with Space
Overstocking is not just problematic because it means you are more likely to have some food that will end up in the bin, it can also play havoc with cold air circulation in your fridge. On the opposite end of things though, you need to also ensure that you do not keep your fridge close to empty as this can cause an unbalanced circulation of cold air. Look for a happy medium.
Ready to Eat Food Goes at the Bottom
Ideally, any food that has been prepared beforehand and that is ready to consume should be placed on the bottom shelf. this includes cooked and cured meats, ready meals and dairy products. The reason being is that these shelves have the lowest temperatures of all the shelves in a fridge.
Raw Food Always Goes to the Bottom
Raw fish and meat should always be stored at the very bottom of the fridge. Not only is this because that is the coldest part of a fridge, but it means that you are unlikely to contaminate anything else in your fridge, compared to if you placed it above other items.
Vegetables and Fruit
Fresh produce like vegetables and fruit should always be kept in the appropriate drawers designed for those types of items. It is important to keep them separate from other food items in your fridge and ensure that they are wrapped appropriately.