4 Tips to Organize Your Refrigerator

You open your fridge. Shortly after, a bad smell fills your nose. When you searching for the cause, you dig around and waste time. Products may fall, liquid may spill. Next, that ominous sound starts beeping without rest.

Luckily, you can avoid this nightmare scenario for good. Here are simple tips to organize your refrigerator that anyone can follow. Some of these ideas are the same that expert chefs use in their professional kitchens every day.

 A quick note before revealing the tips

Cleaning professionals like us may offer services to clean your fridge. But this may or may not include a proper reorganization of your items. Clearly, it is a sure way to get to know how most people organize their refrigerators. So, the aim of this blog post is to help you fix common mistakes.

By the same token, arranging the items in your refrigerator maybe even fun. But this post is not about making an unpleasant activity more bearable. On the contrary, the goal is to share tricks and best practices to make each compartment more practical. Just like those professional kitchens and

1 – Clean before you organize

Each time you feel like reorganizing your refrigerator, remember to clean it. Usually, it will not take more than half an hour. But you can speed the cleaning up by gathering the following for quick use:

• a waste paper basket
• writable stickers or roll labels
• a fine point marker
• airtight food storage containers
• breathable mesh bags
• safe and tested cleaning materials
• gloves

The quicker you clean, the less time your food will sit out on the kitchen counter. If you have one, you can make room in a portable fridge before you clean for temporary placement. That is after your throw away expired food. In any case, do not put smelly foods inside your portable refrigerator. Alternatively, you can use a thermal bag. Empty the shelves and take out any removable part. In brief, make sure to wash every corner and accessory. Then, dry every surface and lubricate the door seal. You might want to let the freezer defrost before you do the same. But if you need to remove some ice, use plastic tools only. Otherwise, you might end up ruining the freezer lining.

2 – Get a refrigerator thermometer

In reality, not every spot in your refrigerator maintains the same temperature. This professional tool comes in handy to let you know better your refrigerator. In fact, you should keep your milk, dairy products, meat, and fish in the coldest spots. Temperature is of great help when you need to organize everything more efficiently. Also, you will find out that some compartments do not keep constant temperatures at all times. These shelves are ideal for:

• sauces
• refreshments and leftovers
• snacks and desserts that you will consume soon
• fresh cheeses
• all products that bear the indication “keep refrigerated after opening”

Foods that you do not need to cook require a constant temperature. For example, these foods include cold cuts, hard cheeses, butter, and yogurt. Side shelves and door bins should only contain fruit juices, milk, water, and soft drinks. Instead, wine and beer may require a colder temperature for the best taste.

3 – Use many labels in your refrigerator

Airtight food storage containers are wonderful. But they will not keep you from letting some food spoil. But luckily, writable labels offer numerous solutions to this problem. For instance, you can write a date to remember when to eat which. Restaurants do this all the time. In fact, you need to keep an eye on expiration dates to avoid food poisoning. You can write the ingredient of each sauce as well. In this way, you avoid making bad decisions when you are in a hurry. Plus, you can leave a message for anyone who has access to your refrigerator. Including children and roommates. Adhesive stickers can help you seal a big plastic pot of yogurt. But you can use them to organize each shelf by writing what goes where. Of course, you can resort to customizable labels for improved aesthetics. In short, they can help a professional organizer to refill the refrigerator fast. Or to share his or her own tips with other colleagues at work.

4 – Keep the humidity level in your drawer constant

Keeping your veggies in breathable mesh bags will make you save time. But you should take notice of the humidity level in the drawers. Mainly because not every fruit or veggie needs the same humidity. Here are the tips to help you remember the different settings:

• Green leafy vegetables and strawberries need high humidity. In detail, if the humidity goes lower than 90%, they will start to sag quickly.
• Most fruits and vegetables release water. So, if the drawers are full, keep them dry. You do not want too much humidity as well.
• Never keep pineapples, bananas, and tropical fruits in your drawers. Similarly, keep cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, and pumpkins away.
• Tomatoes should never be in a humid place. As a matter of fact, the same applies to potatoes, onions, and garlic.

You can measure the humidity level thanks to thermo-hygrometers. Usually, you can find them online for cheap. These tools will help you make your vegetables and food last longer. Plus, they avoid any mold growth.

Putting it all together

Use these tips when organizing the refrigerator. But remember to schedule a date on your calendar for a new reorganization. After all, you need to test many combinations out before you find the one that works for you. Go through the shelves every two or three weeks. Moreover, focus on the foods that expire and single out the cause. Soon, you will find out about your most frequent patterns as well. Experiment with varying containers and jars to figure out perfect portion sizes. At the same time, use labels to analyze your diet. If you connect the cleaning and reorganization to something you care like your health, you will find new solutions. At first, make a mental note of any spilling or accident. Later, change the item position and you will enjoy a more organized refrigerator every day.

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