You come home from shopping and haphazardly put the food in the refrigerator, wherever there is space available, without stopping to think about an optimal system. Although you may do it to save time, you should know that there are certain common mistakes we make when organizing the refrigerator.
Placing food in the refrigerator incorrectly not only results in a disorganized refrigerator that will make it more difficult for you to find things when it is very full. In addition, you are hindering the purpose of the refrigerator, which is none other than to keep food in good condition. Distributing the contents of the refrigerator correctly will make your food last longer, be better preserved and not go bad. As if that were not enough, it is also important to not waste the energy consumed by this appliance.
From the Instagram profile @myrealfood_app (1.9 million followers), they explain recurring mistakes when organizing the refrigerator and what is the appropriate way to do it. The first of them is to put foods in the refrigerator that do not need to be kept cold. “There are foods that you should not refrigerate, because they can lose flavor, texture or quality if they are refrigerated,” they explain in the video. Some of them are bananas, potatoes, bread, tomatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, cucumbers and chocolate.
Another common mistake that you may have overlooked is filling the refrigerator shelves too much. This practice makes air circulation difficult and causes temperature fluctuations, which in turn will break the cold chain, making your food stay worse.
Finally, many people do not know the correct way to organize food in the refrigerator. As the video shows, at the top of the refrigerator should be ready-to-eat foods (such as containers with leftovers or batch cooking, for example), prepared dishes and preserves that are already opened.
In the middle area of the refrigerator we must place products such as eggs, dairy products, pre-cooked food and sausages. The lowest shelf is the coldest, making it ideal for storing meat, fish and seafood. In the case of the lower drawers, they are the ideal place for fruits and vegetables. In addition to being properly refrigerated, they will be protected from impacts or being crushed by other harder products.
Finally, it is advisable to place products such as butter, drinks, jams and sauces on the door. When opening the refrigerator door, this is precisely the area most exposed to temperature contrast, so it is appropriate to store foods that spoil less easily, such as those mentioned above, in this part.
