Top Tips for Organising Your Fridge

Everything in your fridge probably has its place. None of us just chuck everything in and hope for the best – or for it all not to fall out when we open the door – instead, things get placed on certain shelves, even if we do have to be creative with space sometimes.

Not only is this because things fit in certain places in your fridge, we stock the appliance in this way because we’ve been told and taught that food needs to go in a certain order when it comes to the fridge. But what if you’ve actually been organising your fridge wrong for your whole life?

That’s right, some of the places we put food could actually be reducing its shelf life, meaning it doesn’t remain edible for as long as it might. This can mean that the way you’re storing things in your fridge might be at least partially responsible for the amount of food that ends up in the bin before you’ve managed to cook it.

According to Good Housekeeping, we’re all making similar mistakes that we need to get out of the habit of. So what are we storing incorrectly when it comes to our fridges?

This is an easy one as everyone knows that milk goes in the door of your fridge, right? Wrong! It seems that storing your milk in the door of your fridge – even if it does have those ever-so-handy compartments – is the totally wrong place.

This is because the door is the warmest part of the fridge and your milk needs to be kept nice and cold. Not keeping milk cold could mean you end up accidentally drinking a slightly sour cup of coffee in the morning before the date on the bottle has been reached.

To deal with this, store your milk on the middle shelf of your fridge and it will stay fresh for longer.

Similar to milk, many of us keep cheese in the little shelves or compartments in the door of the fridge. However, most dairy products need to be kept as cold as possible. This means popping your hard cheeses on the middle shelf next to your milk to keep it at its best.

The same goes for many other dairy products, such as yoghurts and eggs, so make sure you keep this shelf as a primarily dairy shelf. However, your butter and soft cheeses can go in the fridge door as this will stop them from going too hard, meaning all those compartments can still be put to use.

If you’re storing your raw meat and fish on the bottom shelf of your fridge, you get a gold star. This is the best place to keep it, not only as it means any juices are unable to drip onto other food, which causes contamination that can be dangerous, the bottom shelf is also the coldest part of the fridge.

You want to keep meat as cold as you possibly can to keep it nice and fresh for as long possible. It is also important to package it all up so it’s totally sealed as this will help it stay edible for longer.

Whether packages are open or still sealed, anything that is already cooked – such as meats and leftovers – should stay on the top shelf of your fridge. This shelf has the most consistent temperature, which ensures that bacteria does not grow too quickly, which can make you ill.

However, it’s also important to pay attention to how long pre-cooked foods have been left in the fridge opened, as well as when you originally cooked your leftovers. This will help you avoid serious illness.

Now that you know where everything should be going in your fridge, it’s time to get rearranging!