Do you remember the excitement of seeing your newly-bought fridge being pushed on a trolley down your hallway, on its way to your kitchen by the delivery team? Or the excitement you had when you finally got to place all your food and drinks into the shiny, clean cavity?
Or what about the joy you had of sticking your head into the fridge and taking a whiff of that beautiful new fridge smell, and wishing you could just live in it forever and ever!
Ok, so that’s just me then? Alright!
Either way, when you first got your fridge, there were no spills, no odours, and no mess, making you fall in love with it even more!
But let’s fast forward a few years, or even just a few months into the future.
Your new fridge is no longer new, the once ‘new fridge’ smell has turned into a pungent odour of raw meats mixed with either cat food or the drippings of last month’s lasagne, you just can’t tell any more. And there seems to be a sticky substance coating your once clean door shelf, which you don’t even want to touch due to the fact that you don’t know what it is. Also, is that a container of leftover pumpkin soup your mum dropped off while you were sick, two months ago?!
Because of all these factors, the love for your fridge has faded, and now it’s just an everyday struggle to access and view all of its contents.
So before you throw in the tea towel and resort to ordering pizza every night so you don’t even have to open the refrigerator door when dinner time comes calling, we have searched high and low across the internet world, and the Appliances Online head office, to compile a list of the best organisational tips and tricks that will help you fall in love with your fridge once again.
Fridge Hugging, it’s definitely a thing now….. Well it is in the Appliances Online head office!
Best spots for different foods
To help make all your produce last for longer, and to keep them fresher, it’s always best to store them in the correct areas of your refrigerator. Below is a handy guide to what goes where.
Milk bottles and cartons normally end up being stored in the door shelves, but as the refrigerator door is the warmest part of the fridge, they should be stored within the refrigerator cavity to help prolong their life. This goes for eggs also.
To help prevent cross contamination, packaged raw meat and seafood should be stored on the bottom shelf, especially if your refrigerator doesn’t feature spill-proof shelves. And if your fridge has a drawer specifically designed for raw meats, even better! Make sure you utilise these drawers as best as you can.
Another great way of storing raw meats to prevent cross contamination (if you don’t have a meat drawer or spill-proof shelves), is to store them in a plastic container that’s large enough to fit all your meats, but still small enough so it can fit onto the bottom shelf. This also lets you access your meat more easily.
Iceberg lettuce and other vegetables stay crisp, and fresher for longer when stored in places with higher humidity. Crisper drawers are perfect for your veggies, especially if they have humidity-control lids. Fruit also belongs in crisper drawers, but with lower humidity.
Deli meats should always be stored away from raw meats, but they also need to be kept in colder spots, so keep them away from the door!
Items that are full of natural and added preservatives such as condiments and spreads can be stored using the door shelves. Same goes for pickled jars and bottles of juice, unless it’s freshly squeezed, then it should be stored on one of the main shelves.
Like milk, yoghurt ,sour cream and other dairy products (excluding butter and cheese) should be kept in the colder parts of the refrigerator, to prevent them from going off too soon.
Spreadable butter, and ‘melt in your mouth’ double brie cheese, is 100x nicer than rock-hard dairy products that could break a window, and this is why it’s best to store them in the door, or better yet, in the designated diary compartment (if the refrigerator has one). Another good storage tip is to place soft cheeses into airtight containers or ziplock bags once opened.
To ensure your foods, beverages and condiments stay as fresh as they possibly can for longer, it’s always best to read the packaging. For example, I normally keep my soy sauces in the pantry, but now that I’m looking at the sweet soy I have sitting on my desk, it actually says to store it in the refrigerator after opening, whoops!
**Quickly runs off to the staff kitchen with my favourite bottle of soy clutched in hand**
View and access your foods more easily with these tips
There’s nothing worse than not being able to find what you need in the fridge. By keeping it well organised, access to your favourite items becomes simpler, thus ensuring a stress-free environment come dinner time.
Containers are an organised person’s best friend. Not only will they help prevent cross contamination, but they will also help you access your foods a lot more easily. Not to mention, they’ll ensure your fridge and freezer is kept cleaner.
Fridge containers>Image sourced from The-Organised-Housewife
Don’t forget about the freezer!
Freezer storage>Image sourced from TheGlamourousHousewife
And while you’re at it, why not label each basket or container, just so the rest of the household knows exactly where to put everything?
Labeled containers_Image sourced from OrganizingHomeLife
A great way of ensuring items don’t get forgotten about, or expire at the back of the fridge, AKA The Pit Of No Return, is by placing a Lazy Susan or turntable on one, or two, or even three of the shelves. Having items on a turntable make accessing as well as viewing them, a whole lot easier
If you want to incorporate healthy snacking with your newly-organised fridge, then create a grab-and-go snack stash by chopping up all your favourite veggies and fruit and placing them in a container in your fridge. Perfect for after school/work snacks.
Grab-and-Go snack stash_Image sourced from RealSimple
Tips for a cleaner, less smelly fridge
There is nothing less attractive than a smelly, dirty fridge. With these tips and tricks, you’ll be able to proudly open your fridge with guests around.
After using sauces, condiments and other messy items that get stored in the fridge, make sure to wipe the bottles and jars down before placing them back into the refrigerator. Doing this each time you use them will stop the unwanted drips from leaving sticky rings on your shelves.
Label open food containers with dates, so you know exactly when they should be thrown out before the go off and go smelly.
Line your shelves with placement mats or cling film, so if accidental spills occur, you can easily peel off the protective layer instead of pulling out the entire shelf to scrub it.
Instead of keeping your smellier foods such as fish in their original packaging, place them into airtight containers to ensure their smelly odours don’t seep out.
Did you know that baking soda and activated carbon help absorb odours? Purchase some the next time you shop, place it in the fridge, and voilà! A cheap deodoriser.
Baking soda in the fridge_ Image sourced from ThisOldHouse
Hopefully with all these great tips and tricks, you’ll soon love your fridge once again. And if you still find yourself cursing at it, then it’s most likely time for a refrigerator upgrade.