Organising your fridge: what goes where?

April 11th, 2014

Appliance Talk Fridges & Freezers

Filling a fridge seems simple enough, right?  After all, we do it almost every day.

But what if we’re all doing it wrong?  Or at the very least not filling our fridges in the most efficient way possible?

PRO TIP: Cats do not belong in the fridge

Here’s a section-by-section guide to what foods belong where in your fridge, to make it easier to find what you need, help keep your food fresher for longer, and potentially even shave a few dollars off your power bill by running your fridge more efficiently:

Dairy compartment

Usually found in the top of the fridge’s door, the dairy compartment is often actually one of the fridge’s warmer sections.  This is because you tend to get more warm air from outside the fridge around the door sections, and warm air rises.

This can be handy for if you prefer your butter or cheese to be a bit softer when served, but if you prefer to have your dairy products last for longer, stick them on a lower shelf.

If you prefer to store eggs in the fridge (it is debatable whether this practice is appropriate or not), this area is as good a place as any for them to live – while eggs do last for longer in a chilly environment, they don’t require super-frosty temperatures to prevent spoiling like some other foods.

Even though fridges often provide convenient purpose-built egg trays in this area, you may still be better off leaving your eggs in their covered carton, as this prevents the porous eggs from absorbing the fridge’s odours.

Lower shelves

The bottom shelf of your fridge is typically its coldest section, offering the closest conditions to cryogenic suspension you can find outside of the freezer.

This makes the lower shelf the perfect place to store and defrost your meat, which is usually one of the most perishable foods found in a fridge, and thus the perfect breeding ground for germs and bacteria if not stored properly.

Source: Australian Chicken Meat Federation

Also, meat can sometimes drip its juices, especially when defrosting, which is a Bad Thing in a fridge filled with food for your family that you’d rather not have covered in germs.

By placing your meat on the bottom shelf, it minimises the amount of food likely to be spoiled in case of accidents.  For additional peace of mind, look for a fridge with spillsafe shelving.

Veggie crispers

Weirdly enough, vegetable crispers aren’t always the best place to store your veggies, as all vegetables are different. Here’s why:

The main body of a fridge is typically cold, but also quite dry, with much of the moisture being extracted from the air.  The lowest part of the fridge (where the crisper bins are located) is where the majority of the fridge’s humidity collects, making it the ideal storage place for leafy greens and other succulent fruits and veggies that you’d prefer retain their moisture and texture.

For drier vegetables such as carrots, potatoes and other roots, finding room for them in the main body of the fridge can be acceptable for short-term storage.

If your crisper drawer has an adjustable humidity setting, crank it up to a high setting for storing leafy veggies, and to a low setting for dry roots and also for fruits.

If your fridge has two crisper drawers, try to keep your fruit and vegetables separate.  Many fruits (including tomatoes – yes, they’re fruits, look it up) release ethylene gas as they ripen, which can cause other fruit and veg to ripen and/or spoil faster, depending on the variety.

Finally, try not to keep your fruits and veggies in the fridge for too long.  In addition to the accellerated ripening and spoiling caused by fruits releasing ethylene gas, it’s also all too easy to stick veggies in the crisper bin and forget about them (out of sight, out of mind and all that), only to rediscover them ages later, when they’ve started to disintegrate into something resembling a deceased extraterrestrial.

Adjustable shelving

The best fridges allow you to rearrange their system of shelving in both the fridge and the doors, allowing you to brush off your old Tetris skills and better arrange your items to squeeze in the maximum amount of food.

The 510L Electrolux Fridge EBM5100SDRH includes adjustable glass shelves, including a split-shelf that makes it easier to store large items on the shelf below.

By fitting more items in your fridge, the more air is displaced, which mean the compressor doesn’t need to work as hard to keep the smaller amount of remaining air cool, which in turn means that the fridge operates more efficiently and uses less energy, potentially saving you big fat stacks of cash.

That said, be careful not to overstuff your fridge.  This can restrict the flow of cool air around your items, leaving some sections of the fridge nearly freezing and others uncomfortably warm.

Special features

Some fridges have been specially designed to make life easier for storing specific items, or for generally improving the storage of your fridge.

Here are a few of our favourite fridge space features, which are worth keeping an eye out for next time you’re in the market for a great new fridge:

Bottle shelves/racks

Shaped to hold chilled wine bottles and soft drink cans, bottle racks and shelve leave more room available in your fridge for storing other food and drinks.

Quick-chill zone

A section of the fridge designed to rapidly chill a bottle or can of drink, sometime even in a matter of seconds.  Very handy on warm afternoons when you want to start enjoying a newly-bought six-pack of drinks straight away.

However, as fridge space is limited, remember that dedicating a section to chilling and chilling alone means it can’t really be used for storing anything else.

Door in door

As the name implies, this is a small door set into you fridge’s door, allowing you to quickly grab a drink or some other frequently-accessed item without having to rummage through the rest of your fridge’s contents.  Great for parties!

Chiller drawer

Found in some models of 4-door fridge, these drawers often include adjustable temperature and humidity settings that you can customise to provide the best conditions for storing your favourite foods, whether you’re keeping veggies crisp, meat chilled or cheese fresh.

Tempered glass shelving

These super-tough shelves have been hardened to not only resist breakage, but to safely hold more heavy items.

Medicine box

To keep refrigerated medicines out of general circulation (where they could be accidently grabbed by curious hands), lock them in one of these handy containers (which in theory could also be used to lock up your chocolate supply to prevent temptation…).

What’s in YOUR fridge?

Do you have a super-cool fridge layout technique that makes your life at home that much easier?  Share it with the Appliances Online community and help the rest of us get organised!

And if you ever have any questions about your current fridge or a new model that you’ve got your eye on, contact us on 1300 000 500 today!