A fridge is an exceptional storage facility that will always help to ensure that your food is kept fresh for long. However, if you haven’t considered cleaning your fridge, there is a likelihood that you will have expired food stored in this appliance. This happens to many people as they throw fruit and veggies inside the fridge without proper organization. It is vital that you ensure you organize your fridge in a way that you will minimize waste by consuming what went in first.
Picture a scenario when you want to prepare a quick healthy snack on your way to work. What you want is to spend less time looking for ingredients.
With the right storage being used in the fridge, you can be sure that the appliance will serve its purpose in the best possible way.
Cleaning the fridge is an activity that shouldn’t be done only once in a year.
You should schedule a deep clean at least once every two months. Indeed, there are varying types of refrigerators out there. Regardless, there are various hacks you can utilize to make sure that it is always clean and tidy.
Prior to organizing anything, there are several things that you should consider doing. Of course, you cannot start organizing before cleaning and disinfecting your appliance. The importance of doing this is that it prevents any form of contamination or the likelihood of foodborne diseases. Follow the proceeding steps to deep-clean your fridge before anything else.
Empty the Fridge
You want to clean all the surfaces on your fridge, therefore, the first thing you should do is to empty it. Maybe you have certain foods that you will be concerned about getting spoiled. If this is the case, the best way to clean will be by moving from one section to the other. You could also place perishable food in a cooler as you perform the cleaning.
Clean all Surfaces
After emptying the fridge, the next thing will be to clean all the surfaces using paper towels or a disinfecting wipe. All the shelves, including the door compartments, should be thoroughly cleaned. As for the drawers, you should remove them from the fridge and allow them to soak for some time before rinsing them.
Reassemble the Fridge
When you are sure that the fridge is completely clean and dry, reassemble everything in place. If you often have an issue with your food causing odors, you should use a deodorizer such as baking soda.
Developing a Plan
The process of organizing your fridge begins with a practical plan of how you will do it. It is essential that you use a realistic plan to guide you through the process from one section to the other. The advantage of working with a plan is that you will know where to start and where to end. Moreover, it will help you identify areas you should concentrate on.
Organizing the Upper Shelf
Starting with the upper shelves, you should know what to store and how to store them. For instance, the ideal items to store in this section include drinks, deli meats, cheese and food leftovers. Veggies and raw meat should not be stored in this section.
Proper Labeling
When storing food in the upper shelf, you should also bear in mind that they are perishable. Make sure you label them appropriately. If there are foods that will expire soon, they should be at the front area of the upper shelf. Others that will last longer should be positioned at the back.
Utilize the Lazy Susan Storage Hack
Regardless of the presence of a wire rack inside your fridge, it doesn’t mean that you cannot organize your fridge using other creative hacks. One of the main challenges you might experience with the wire racks is that it will be difficult to locate certain foods inside your fridge. This happens most often when it is fully packed. You find people remove everything from the fridge so they can access what they need at the back.
Do you know that you can deal with this by utilizing the lazy Susan storage hack. This involves the idea of using a sizable round tray to hold the contents of your fridge. Arranging them in this tray and putting it in the fridge will help you easily access your items. All you will need to do is rotate the tray.
There is no need for you to risk spilling condiments while trying to get things at the back of your fridge. Be creative.
Use Hanging Baskets
Baskets are handy all around your kitchen, including inside the fridge. There are specially designed baskets that use suction cups to stick to your fridge.
These baskets provide a great way of storing small items. These items can easily get lost or they fall from one section to the other. Avoid this by fitting your fridge with these baskets. You might be wondering what you can store in them. Gorguts, cheese roll-ups, waffles or string cheese can be effectively stored in this space.
Use Wire Shelf Rack
Wire shelf racks can either be used in the lower or upper fridge compartments to create additional space. One section of the rack can hold leftover food and the other section can hold boxed juices. Instead of piling the entire shelf with food containers, you should consider using wire shelf racks. These racks give your fridge a more spacious and beautiful look.
Take note of the fact that the hacks provided in either upper or lower shelves apply to any section inside your fridge. Therefore, you are not limited to using hanging baskets in the upper section only.
Organizing the Lower Shelf
After finishing working on the upper shelf, you can proceed to the lower compartment. Since the upper part houses foods that are ready to eat, this area should store raw foods and ingredients. Creative storage ideas that you can incorporate here are as detailed.
Assemble Like Items Together
Similar items should be grouped together. While doing this, it is essential that you make use of clear baskets. This makes it easy for you to identify what’s inside them. A larger tray can be used to assemble like items together. For instance, different types of veggies can be grouped together in a tray. Don’t forget to first store the veggies independently before bringing them together.
This applies to any raw foods that you will want to store here.
Take Advantage of File Organizers
If you have worked in an office, then you must be aware of what we are talking about. File organizers can be used in the fridge as they create space for storing snacks. Whether you want to store small containers or pouch drinks, these file organizers are handy. To make things more organized, you should consider labeling the sections. Certainly, you should have a clear picture of how this idea will give your fridge a well-structured look.
Hang Bagged Items
If your fridge has a wire bar, it is highly likely that you might not have used it. These bars can be used to create additional storage space. How? Use curtain rings to hang on these bars. This can then be used to store bagged items in your fridge. Ensure that you use the right hanging clips that will not damage the storage bags.
Organizing the Crisper Drawer
The last section of your fridge will be the crisper drawer. We all know those people who store fruits here by just washing and throwing them in. After all, there is nothing that you can do to make the section more organized, right? Well, you’re wrong.
Utilize Dividers
Instead of just tossing your fruit and other ingredients in this drawer, you should make use of dividers. These dividers will help you create separate spaces for the varying items you have inside your drawer. For instance, with the help of two or more dividers, oranges, apples and tomatoes can be stored separately.
Use Paper Towels at the Bottom
A huge problem with the bottom drawer is that it is often filled with litter every time we load them with veggies and fruit. Also, the moisture present in the fruit can leave the drawer with a foul smell. To deal with this issue, it is advisable to use a paper towel. Take note of the fact that this should be done prior to loading your drawer. Again, it is imperative that you replace the paper towels at least twice a month. The same can be done each time you feel that the towels need changing. Cleaning the fruit and veggies and drying them thoroughly will aid in odor and spoilage prevention.
Effectively Control the Humidity
We cannot forget that the lower drawer will have humidity controls.
However, this will depend on the type of fridge that you own. Modern fridges have these controls to help your veggies and fruits last longer. You have the option of setting the humidity as either low or high.
Before doing this, make sure you understand that setting the humidity dial on high will affect raw foods that can easily rot. Therefore, veggies and fruits should be stored in low humidity. If you have two drawers with different controls, high humidity will suit leafy greens such as herbs, arugula and spinach. The veggies will be fresh for longer due to the high moisture present.
Organizing the Door
Compared to other parts of the fridge, this is the warmest area. As such, condiments are best stored in this area. Most people use this area to store milk and eggs. However, you should note that these are perishable items.
Hence, they should be stored in the coldest section of the fridge. Items that should be stored here include butter, sauces, and condiments. How do you go about this?
Store Like Items Together
Any form of organization that goes on in your kitchen should always embrace this principle. When organizing your refrigerator door, you should put like items together. Proper labeling will also be required to make sure you eat foods that are close to expiration. Equally, this labeling also ensures that you keep your fridge neat. It also helps other users in your house to understand where they should store what they just used. Generally, it provides a convenient way of accessing your fridge.
Egg Carton for Storage
The egg carton that you usually use to hold your eggs can also be used to hold condiments in bottles. Storing them upside-down creates more space in the small door shelves.
Children Drinks go at the Bottom
The last shelf should be designated to hold drinks for your children. For those who don’t have children, the section can be a great place to store snacks. In line with this, you should ensure that you teach your children about where their drinks are located. This will prevent them from looking in other sections as this will only mess things up in the fridge.
Six-Pack Beer Boxes
The six-pack beer boxes can also be handy for storing things in the fridge door. Smaller condiments can be stored in these boxes. So, you don’t have to throw these boxes if you were looking for a creative way of creating space in your fridge door.
The information detailed in this section provides you with an effective way of ensuring your fridge is organized. At times the process might seem challenging because of the many small things that you have to store in the appliance. However, from what has been discussed, it is the best way of storing your items wisely. What’s more, there is a lot that you stand to benefit, including the fact that you will prevent yourself from wasting food.
You cannot ignore the fact that an organized fridge will motivate you to snack on a healthy dish.
