One commenter in the post about how not to waste food offered her solution to wasting less food which is to put vegetables and fruits on the top shelf of the refrigerator so that they won't go forgotten in the produce drawer.
I "learned" that each section of the refrigerator had a specific purpose for keeping foods. True? Old wives tale? Can we get a refresher on how to best use our fridge and store its contents properly?
- Heather
Heather, this is a great question, and we're answering it today because we also ran a good post today on organizing the fridge by health and safety factors. We have done a lot of reading and Googling around on fridge "low-humidity" drawers and we're having a hard time finding any sort of evidence that they do anything other than close part of your fridge off. Yes, that cuts down on humidity because they are more enclosed, and it can be good to separate out fruits and vegetables in these places. But that is a small element of your fridge organization.
The main thing we've learned the hard way is not to keep dairy and other highly perishable foods on the door; it does indeed stay slightly warmer than other parts of the fridge.
Other than that, we try to keep the fridge organized more for efficiency. We just heard an NPR piece about how a Chinese family organizes the fridge so that they can open the door and almost lay their hands on what they need - no standing and thinking in front of an open fridge.
We also organize for health, keeping veggies separate from meat, and trying to keep clutter to a minimum so we don't forget about food and let it go to waste.
Here is a good article on keeping your fridge organized and efficient.
More thoughts for Heather?
(Image: Bosch Classic Edition, via Home Appliances)
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I don't use the drawers, insead I keep vegatables on the bottom shelf. That gives me more room because I like to keep broccoli in a bowl of waters (keeps it crisp longer) and store spinach/lettuce rolled up in a damp towel.
view Sassy in SF's profile
i hate opaque drawers because i can't see the veggies and forget i have them. then--horrors.
view thinkingwoman's profile
Slightly off-topic, but the other day I got so tired of all the little vacuum-sealed packages flying out of the freezer that I bought a few cheap plastic baskets from the dollar store and put the stuff in them. I don't know how long they'll last, but it seems easier to find stuff in the freezer now by pulling out the whole basket and things stay put instead of hitting me in the head (ok, I'm short).
view nene's profile
nene, that's a good idea. Our freezer is always a disaster, and it seems like every time we need to get the peas out, we have to take out half the contents of the freezer and reorganize. Thanks for the suggestion!
view erin79's profile
I have a new GE Profile series refrigerator and the drawers work quite well. Its a double/french door unit with the freezer on the bottom. The crisper and deli drawers keep food going for a long time.
Cheers!
view SeanG's profile
yes they do, but food will still not last forever.
view Lady J's profile