Fridge organization ideas to use your fridge more effectively. + 18 Free label stickers
We cannot imagine life without a fridge. We were born when a fridges were already in our kitchens. This is one of the most essential kitchen appliances we ever have known (except for, maybe, a stove) and the simplest to use, as it seems at first sight. Just open the door, put some food in and close the door. Definitely, it will work and your groceries will stay fresh longer, than if you leave them outside the fridge, but if you want to use your fridge more efficiently – keep reading this article and you will find some useful tips for your fridge organization (I hope).
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
GENERAL RULES FOR FRIDGE USE
Don’t keep a fridge door open too long
The biggest source of heat in a fridge is the warm air that comes inside every time you open the door. It’s good to know, what you want to take out of the fridge and where this food is located, before you open the fridge door. It’s even more important, when you use the freezer, as the temperature there is very low comparatively to room temperature.
Reduce the amount of time you keep your the refrigerator door open, which in turn will help to save energy.
Tip: Label and tag your food packages and keep a track of your frozen food in a grocery register and you will find it in your fridge/freezer very quickly.
Keep the right amount of food in a fridge
Overload your fridge or keep it empty – both scenarios are wrong. When you put too much food on fridge shelves it stops air inside the fridge from normal movement, which is required for proper refrigerator work. An empty fridge will consume more energy. Once you open the fridge door, the empty space is taken up by warm air from your room. This means that, as it’s easier to keep cold objects cold, than cool air down every time, your fridge will use more and more energy just to maintain the right temperature.
Tip: If you often have more food than you can keep in your fridge, it’s time to think about a bigger fridge. In the opposite case, if you sometimes don’t have enough groceries to load the fridge properly – keep some containers of water in it as ballast.
Adjust the correct temperature
The fridge temperature should be approximately 40°F. Usually this temperature is somewhere in the middle of the fridge control dial. Be aware that some of the refrigerators have only one dial, which controls the temperature in both the fridge and freezer.
If you need to change the temperature settings – simply rotate the dial or press the suitable button. You have to wait 24 hours to allow the refrigerator to reach the temperature you adjusted.
Tip: As the temperature inside the refrigerator depends on the outside temperature, it’s good to make it colder for summer time and make it warmer for winter time.
Pack the food properly
Modern fridges work with air circulation. It literally means there is wind in the fridge, it’s very weak, but it’s wind. This wind causes food dehydration and oxidation. It’s very easy to prevent by keeping the food in airtight containers, plastic zip lock bags or aluminium wraps.
Tip: Put tags with food’s names on every package in your fridge. It will help to find needed food without opening the container, bag or foil wrap.
Keep different types of food separate
As much as possible sort your food: meat and fish, raw and cooked, fruit and veggie should be stored separately from each other. Keeping meat separate from fish can prevent cross-contamination of bacteria and odours. Placing ready-to-eat items on the top shelf higher than the raw food, will help to avoid the chance of the latter dripping or falling on to cooked food and contaminating it. Fruit and veggies require different humidity to remain fresh and juicy.
Tip: Use separate tight containers for every type of food. Keep different types of grocery in appropriate fridge zones and some of them – out of the fridge.
Never put hot food into the fridge
The high temperature of the hot food will raise the overall temperature and can lead to food poisoning and unnecessary food spoilage. In its turn, the warm overall temperature will make your fridge work harder to cool the temperature down to normal. And, in the worst case scenario, it can damage your refrigerator.
Tip: If you need to cool some food down quickly, put a bowl with the hot food in a bigger bowl filled with very cold, even icy water.
Clean your fridge regularly
It is good to clean the fridge every two or three months. Clean the fridge interior with a damp cloth, getting into awkward corners with an old toothbrush. For better results you can use a baking soda mixture (two tablespoons baking soda and one quart hot water) or simply your dishwashing liquid. Rinse it with a damp cloth and then dry with a towel.
Defrost your freezer about once a year, when ice is more than 5mm thick, unless your freezer is frost-free.
Tip: Clean your fridge and freezer the day before your shopping day. There will be less food inside the fridge. Apart from that, it’s a good opportunity for extra revision of your grocery stock before making a shopping list.
FRIDGE ORGANIZATION BY ZONES
Usually a refrigerator can be divided into 5-6 zones:
- Freezer
- Chiller (optional)
- Crisper drawers / humidity drawer
- Lower shelves
- Upper shelves
- Door
| The fridge zone | Temperature (approximately) |
| Freezer | 0°F / -18°C |
| Chiller | 32°F / 0°C |
| Crisper drawer | 37°F / 3°C |
| Lower shelves | 37°F / 3°C |
| Upper shelves | 39°F / 4°C |
| Door | 41°F / 5°C |
Fridge zones’ temperature
As the above table shows, every zone has its own temperature. Additionally, a crisper drawer has humidity level regulation. That’s why some zones are good for some particular types of food, but other products will be spoiled there.
Let’s break types of food down accordingly in every zone.
Freezer
It is obvious, that the freezer is the coldest place in your refrigerator. The temperature there is about 0°F or much more below 0°C. It’s such a great place to keep food for a long time without spoilage and make groceries last for a few months. There are a lot types of food that can be frozen and defrosted without losing quality. You can store either frozen food you bought in a supermarket or freeze leftovers from today’s meals.
Example: ice-cream, raw meat, raw fish, vegetables, fruit, bread, milk, semi-finished products, cooked food and leftovers.
Chiller
This is the coldest place in the fridge. It’s designed specifically for colder temperatures and isolating its contents, which helps to prevent cross-contamination of bacteria and odours.
If you don’t have a chiller in your fridge – use the lower shelf as a coldest place.
Example: meat, fish.
Crisper drawers
This zone is also known as a humidity drawer, because it’s designed to control humidity level and keep your fruit and veggies fresh. This drawer is cool and well-sealed, which means there is no air circulation and it won’t be as dry as the rest of the fridge.
Example: fruits (low humidity), vegetables (high humidity).
Lower shelves
Cold air sinks, so it collects at the bottom, and the lower shelves will be coldest. This is a great place for groceries with short expiry dates and raw food.
Example: dairy products (milk, yogurt, buttermilk), eggs, fish and meat products (if your fridge doesn’t have a chiller), vegetables (if there is not enough room in a crisper drawer).
Upper shelves
The temperature there is warmer than at the bottom of the fridge. It’s a good place to store food that doesn’t need cooking. But you should remember, that storage time should not be long. Most of the ready-to-eat food can be keeped in the fridge without spoilage for up to 2-3 days only.
Example: butter, deli meats, cheese, opened canned food (be sure it was restored in a container from a metal can once it’s open) and leftovers.
Fridge Door
Here, there are the highest temperature fluctuations, as the fridge door opens often. Hence, this is the warmest place in the fridge. The refrigerator door is the best place to store types of food that have natural preservatives in them, which are not so susceptible to temperature changes.
Example: condiments, jams, spreads, juice, soda, soft drinks, open wine. You can keep milk on the door for your convenience, but only the amount you are going to use in 1-2 next days.
On the top of the fridge
The heat produced by the refrigerator work cycle comes up to the top of the fridge, making this place quite warm and dry. Fruit in a basket on the top of the fridge can become overripe faster, a bread loaf will go stale quicker and so on. It’s better to keep the top of the fridge clear, but if you have a shortage of room in your kitchen, you can store some non-edible goods there.
Example: kitchen appliances, box of tissues, empty lunch boxes or cookbooks.
Out of the fridge
Not all types of food have to be stored in the fridge. Some fruits don’t handle cold storage well and the best way to store them is at room temperature. Other groceries just don’t require such a low temperature to remain fresh. It is enough to keep them in a dry and dark place.
Read How to keep your grocery stock fresh to get to know how to store groceries more efficiently.
Example: potatoes, onions, carrots, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, nectarines, peaches, pears, apples, plums, uncut squash, flour, sugar, all sorts of cereal, pasta, rice, unopened canned vegetables and oil.
USEFUL LINKS
Here you can find the links for free files for your Fridge organization, mentioned in this article:
Share this post with your buddies, who love Fridge organization as we do!
Pin this article to your Fridge organization Ideas board to read it late.
