If you’re planning on eating fruit quickly, however, you may want to store it on the top shelf. Fresh berries, for example, will go bad faster than apples, so you might not want to store them in the crisper. Store the carton on the middle or top shelf, where you’ll see it and reach for it before they start to shrivel. Produce stored in the crisper may be stored either loose or in open plastic bags. Don’t store fruit in tightly-sealed plastic bags, since this can cause many types of fruit to rot more quickly.
If you’re storing salad or cut vegetables, however, they’ll go bad more quickly than vegetables that remain whole. For this reason, you should store them on the middle or top shelf and so you’ll see them and use them quickly. To help vegetables keep longer, don’t wash them before storage. Getting vegetables wet increases the chance that bacteria will grow and they’ll begin to rot. Humidity is good, but you don’t want the vegetables to be sitting in water. If you do need to wash them, dry them completely before storing.
Make sure your meat is kept separate from the rest of the items in your refrigerator. It should be wrapped in plastic and stored as low as possible, so that if any juices escape other items won’t get dripped on and contaminated. Clean the area where you store meat more often than you clean the rest of the refrigerator.
Unless you go through eggs quite quickly, it’s better to store them in their original carton instead of transferring them to the egg containers on the inside of the door. Cream, buttermilk, yogurt, and similar products should also be kept on the cold shelf.
Even though butter is a dairy product, it’s fine to store it in the butter compartment on the door. Butter doesn’t need to be kept as cold as milk. If you’re a condiment lover, it can be easy to let your condiment area get pretty messy with expired food. Go through the area regularly and toss out anything that’s expired or mostly used up.
The top or middle shelf might also be the right place to keep a pitcher of water, medicine you need to keep cold, and other items that need to be cool, but won’t easily spoil. To organize your refrigerator efficiently, remember to categorize the items. [5] X Expert Source Caitlin JaymesCloset Organizer & Fashion Stylist Expert Interview. 16 December 2019. Keep the things you need to grab and use quickly, on the top. [6] X Expert Source Caitlin JaymesCloset Organizer & Fashion Stylist Expert Interview. 16 December 2019. You can keep the things you do not use behind other things. [7] X Expert Source Caitlin JaymesCloset Organizer & Fashion Stylist Expert Interview. 16 December 2019.
Baskets sized especially to fit in the door shelves are also available. Using baskets is a helpful way to keep condiments from getting too messy. When something spills, you can just remove the basket and clean it out.
It’s also a good way to make sure you use up salad items, cut vegetables, fruit, and other items that tend to go bad quickly. Consider designating one lazy Susan for items you want to use right away.
For example, frozen vegetables, fruit, meat and so on may keep for months or longer, so should be stored behind other items. This will prevent them from getting warmed up every time you open the freezer. Ice cream, popsicles, ice cube trays, and other items that you use up more quickly should stay near the front of the freezer.
Storing items in flimsy sandwich bags doesn’t protect them from getting freezer burn. Use thick freezer-safe bags instead.
