Do you sometimes find vegetables or fruits that have turned rotten in your refrigerator because you had forgotten about them?
Have there been fish and meat liquid spillage on your freezer shelf which has caused a bad odor or has hardened?
Well, this could be because you haven’t been organizing your fridge and freezer properly and that is a very essential thing to do. In this article, we will discuss fridge and freezer organization techniques, that can make your life easier!
Ways to organize your fridge and freezer:
1. Maintain a standard temperature
For your fridge, the standard temperature to maintain is about 0 – 4°C or 33 – 40°F and for your freezer, the standard temperature to maintain is about 18°C or 0°F.
These are standard temperature settings for paces with average climatic conditions and if you can make changes according to the place (climate) you live in, but marginally.
2. Clean out your fridge once a week
While things in your freezer will tend to remain good and fresh for a long while, things in your fridge may expire within shorter periods of time and therefore, do a fridge cleaning at least once every week to take out things that will not last more than a 6-to-7-day period.
3. Write labels with dates on things
In your fridge and freezer, make sure to write labels with dates on your items. While this may seem like a hard task to do for items bought now and then, it will help you reduce food wastage (from food getting spoilt upon expiry) and will also help you remember by when which things have to get eaten or consumed.
4. Organize your items on different shelves
Keeping each shelf for different kinds of food items can help you find your items more easily instead of searching in your fridge, especially if you have a large one.
Top shelf – Best for leftovers, prepared meals that you can eat ASAP
Middle Shelf – Best for dairy products, eggs, cheese or sour cream.
Bottom Shelf – Best for snacks or raw meat.
You can keep items like juice bottles, milk cartons, pickle jars and other such containers on your fridge door shelves, while keeping items like fruits and vegetables in the fridge drawers.
You could use the shelves for larger items like containers, vessels etc., while the baffle tray can be used to store smaller items like cheese, butter, jams etc.
5. Keep leftover food in clear airtight containers
If you use transparent boxes or glass containers to store leftover food, you can see the food easily while taking out things for your next meal and consume them.
If you keep leftover food in non-transparent containers, the chances of you forgetting to consume that food is higher and the food can get wasted. Keep your leftover dinners
or opened packets of fresh in airtight containers.
6. Keep fish and meat in sealed zip lock bags
Fish and meat often release liquids like water or blood and therefore, before putting them into your freezer, store them in sealed zip lock bags so that there are no freezer spillages.
You could also line the base of your freezer with a reusable and washable plastic or a plastic freezer mat to catch any spillages and avoid extra cleaning work.
7. Make sure your fruits and vegetables are kept separately
Keeping your fruits and vegetables separately will help them stay fresh for longer. This is because fruits release a certain type of gas which can make vegetables get spoilt faster. Set the fruit drawer to low humidity and the vegetable drawer to high humidity.
Refrigerate cut, peeled or cooked fruits and veggies as soon as possible or within 2 hours.
8. Keep eggs in their original container to remain fresh longer
Even though eggs have a designated egg tray place in the fridge, keeping them on one of your main shelves in their original container, will help them remain fresh longer.
But if you are someone who buys eggs enough just for a week or consume eggs on a daily basis, then you can just store your eggs in your egg tray.
9. Keep it whole
Do not slice raw and uncooked food until you are ready to consume it.
10. Keep herbs and citrus fresh
Simply trim the stems and place the bunch in a glass filled with water before placing them in the fridge. You can also chop the herbs and add them into an ice cube tray with oil or water to keep them fresh for up to 6 months in the freezer.
Place citrus fruits like lemons and limes in a ziplock bag with little water to keep them fresh for long.