Can I Also Store Food in My Wine Refrigerator?

Faith Durand
Faith DurandSenior Vice President of Content at AT Media
Faith is the SVP of Content at Apartment Therapy Media and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kitchn. She is the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning, The Kitchn Cookbook. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.
published Feb 24, 2010
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Q: My partner and I live in a small NYC apartment. One thing we couldn’t part from when we moved here was our 50-bottle wine refrigerator. It keeps a temperature of around 45-47 degrees. Half of it is always empty and we were thinking of putting some food items in here – what do you suggest?

Our thoughts run from artisan cheeses, potatoes, onions, garlic, fruits…?

Sent by Michael

Editor: Michael, you can definitely double-task your wine refrigerator for certain food items. Meat, eggs, and dairy are not options, as they need to be stored at temperatures under 40°F — see this USDA page for more info:

• Refrigeration and Food Safety

But fruit and vegetables can definitely be stored there! Overall, it’s best to store most fruits and vegetables at about 33°F — but this is just to prolong their freshness. If you are using your refrigerator to just store produce overnight or for a few days, the temperature there should be fine.

Cheese should be stored at temperatures between 35° and 45°F so you might be able to get away with some hard cheeses.

Readers, do you use a wine refrigerator to store anything besides wine?

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