The fridge is one appliance that no one wants to live without. Let’s show it some love with these tips to use your fridge efficiently.
Tip#1 Fridge Doors Are Warmer
To use your fridge efficiently you have to know the warmest and coolest parts of your fridge. When it comes to the temperature zones of your fridge the door is one of the warmest spots. With this in mind to use your fridge efficiently you’ll want to store items such as condiments in the door since they don’t require as cold a temperature to stay fresh. As for milk and eggs they will do better in the cooler temperature and therefore, should NOT be stored in the fridge door.
Tip #2 Top of the Fridge is Warmest
Another tip to use your fridge efficiently is to use ALL of your fridge including the top of it. When using the space on the top of your fridge to store things be aware that it is warm up there. Avoid putting drinks, bread, or produce on top. It’s too hot for those guys. To utilize that space you could try putting something like appliances up there.
Tip #3 Crisper Drawers
The purpose of the crisper drawer is to keep things humid. This is where your fruits and veggies come in. Vegetables prefer a higher humidity. It helps keep those greens for your salad from wilting as fast. Fruits prefer a lower humidity. That’s one reason to keep them separate from the veggies. Another reason is that many fruits emit a gas that will cause your vegetables to rot faster. Not a good thing. To use your fridge efficiently for your fruits and veggies keep them separated. Strawberries are the exception to this rule. They tend to be happier with the veggies.
Tip #4 Bottom Shelf Is The Coldest
If you have been losing sleep over where to put your meat this tip to use your fridge efficiently is for you. Your meats will find happiness when they are kept cold. The coldest place in your fridge is the bottom shelf (maybe in your fridge it’s a drawer). Remember to keep raw meats separate so you won’t have any contamination of other meats. Your eggs and other dairy products would also do well on the bottom shelf though they can go other places as well.
Tip #5 Optional Fridge Items
Ketchup or not to ketchup that is the question. If you live at our house you will find the ketchup in the fridge. Is it shelf stable? Yes. Do we think it tastes better cold from the fridge? Yes. The choice is yours. Same for nut butters and fruits. They are fine outside the fridge but you do have the option of storing them in the fridge. Things like tomatoes and potatoes are happier NOT in the fridge.
There are a lot of items that you store in your fridge. And it does make a difference where you put things. If you try some of these tips to use your fridge efficiently your food will have its best chance of staying fresh for you.
