How to organise your fridge
Fridge space has never been so precious, so we'll help you get your fridge so organized that it would make even Marie Kondo proud.
Did you know there's a place for every type of food in your fridge? That's right; there's a right and wrong place to store everything in your fridge. Follow our guide below to give your fridge a Spring clean this week.
First thing's first, your fridge should be somewhere between 0ºC and 4ºC. The temperature of the inside of a fridge varies from one manufacturer to another. Plus, bear in mind that every time you open the fridge door, the temperature inside will drop. And it will not be an even temperature throughout!
Try not to overfill your fridge as this disrupts the flow of air, which helps to keep your food fresh and refrigerated for longer.
With FridgeCam you will get notifications if you leave the fridge door open or if there's a sudden change in temperature within your fridge, smart right?
FridgeCam is a small gadget that fits in any refrigerator, helping you to keep your fridge organized while tracking your expiry dates.
We've split the fridge in 5 areas - top, middle and bottom shelves, fridge door plus the fruit and vegetable drawers.
If you have your own tried and tested organization method get in touch, we'd love to hear how you like to organize yours.
So, as you will need to take everything out to re-organize, why not give your fridge a spring clean first?
10 Steps to Clean your Fridge
- Remove contents of the fridge and place somewhere cool.
- Fill the sink with warm water and washing up liquid.
- Remove all shelves, drawers, drinks holders, shelf liners etc. and place into the warm soapy water. FridgeCam can stay in place.
- Scrub clean and leave to dry.
- Fill fruit and vegetable trays with warm soapy water or with warm, clean water and use an anti-bacterial spray.
- Wipe clean main fridge compartment including all walls, back, door bottom and make sure you clean all of the shelf ridges and the water drainage area at the back.
- Clean the door, around FridgeCam, using the same process.
- Now rinse with clean, warm water.
Tip: To clean the seals and the hard to reach places, I either use a cleaning stick, cotton bud or a butter knife wrapped in a microfiber cloth. - Return the shelves and removable fittings.
Tip: Use this opportunity to think about your fridge shelves and how they can be best utilized. Most of us tend to leave them as they are when the fridge is delivered; however, there are lots of options for placement in most refrigerators. I tend to have a smaller shelf space between the top of my fridge and the first shelf to house yoghurts, jam jars etc. Freeing up more space at the bottom for larger items. - Before replacing food, make sure to check for expiry dates, discarding as needed and wiping down all food and containers as you go.
How to Organize Your Fridge:
OK, so everything is clean and ready to find a home. You'll probably already be feeling good after decluttering and cleaning, but now, the fun part! (Yes this is fun for me!)
Remember we mentioned that the temperature inside your fridge changes the more you open it? As the warm air gets in, the cool air pours out from the lower shelf first. This is usually where the fruit and vegetable baskets are placed, and now you know why! Nothing worse than frozen lettuce!
This area is designed to keep your vegies crips and fresh.
Top Shelve
The top shelves of your fridge are where you should be storing dairy products. The top shelves tend to have the most consistent temperatures and are best suited for food that doesn't need to be cooked before eating. Yogurts, cheese, eggs do best up here.
Middle Shelf
This area is the coldest, so pre-cooked meats and deli products do best in this area. You can put your leftovers in here too.
Drinks do well in this area, especially white wine that needs chilling!
Bottom Shelf
Raw fish and meat should be stored here. These products are most at risk from contamination. The main reason that they absolutely must be kept here is to avoid drips from raw food contaminating other products and spoiling them.
Fridge Doors
The fridge doors tend to be the warmest parts of the fridge, simply because they're opened and closed a lot. This is where you should store any food that has a natural preservative and is less likely to spoil, such as orange juice.
You will usually find the 'egg container' in the door, but most can be moved inside the body of the fridge.
Fruit and Vegetable Drawers
It's best to keep fruit and vegetable separate in the fridge, so place them in different drawers. This helps to keep things crisp and fresh for a lot longer. Some fruits – such as peaches, plums and pears – emit a gas that can speed up the rotting process in vegetables.
Some people over refrigerate fruit and veg. Tomatoes, avocado, onions and potatoes do better in a cool area – not in the fridge.
Some cooks will never store eggs in a fridge as they need to be used at room temperature.
Whether or not you do place them in the fridge is a personal preference, and it doesn't overly affect the quality of the item either way. Many people choose only to store them in the refrigerator when they have space.