How to Organise your Fridge ~ Essential Tips
We recently moved into our lovely but small barn which at the moment only has a not so lovely and rather small fridge and I have to be pretty clever getting everything to fit in.
I used to work in a restaurant with a similar problem and in this case there was literally only one way to get it all to fit so we called it Rubik’s Fridge.
Here are some good ideas if you are in a similar situation.
How to Organise your Fridge
In no particular order …
~ Cover everything. Not only is this good practice to stop cross-pongination and prevents things drying out but, if you use solid lided containers, you can put something else on top; stacking, as it’s known in the trade.
~ Don’t use round containers – they are not ergonomical!
~ They do say, and I believe them, that a packed fridge is more economical as it takes less energy than cooling a lot of air. Having said that …
~ … make sure there is enough room for some air circulation!
~ Decant everything possible into smaller containers. I use sandwich bags for most things as the air can be squashed out and they squish into convenient shapes as needed. This also means there is less air in the container so the food lasts longer.
~ Never store anything in an open can as this is very naughty.
~ Don’t bother storing bread in the fridge, it takes up loads of room and is pointless, it will stale much quicker than out of the fridge.
~ Don’t keep tomatoes, bananas or avocados in the fridge either, or potatoes or onions although you probably know that.
~ Gather like foods together, for instance I always keep a box in the fridge for my cheese collection.
~ Operate a first in first out policy by putting newer stuff at the back.
~ To save space do not keep your cat in the fridge, unless he really wants you to. This is a picture of my friend Anouk’s cat Oster. They live in the Caribbean and after long walk the cat meows to be let into the fridge to cool off.
Another “useful” fridge tip I have read about is …
“To avoid buying things you already have,
take a photo of your fridge before
you go grocery shopping.”
Ha ha! When I was young we used to write a shopping list but, you know, “tell that to the kids today …”!
I’d just like to show off a bit with this lovely review of my book, Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers.
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
4 Comments
Vivek Singh
But my double door fridge is full of green vegetables and beer.
Sue
Love the cat in the fridge …. strangely enough my cat has never ever asked to do this 🙂
I have a Rubiks storecupboard, I fill and move it all around on a regular basis. (I do actually even eat a little bit out of there on occasion.)
Anouk Sylvestre
I love the Rubik fridge blog and my cat approves! My cat Oster would love you to bits Susy and he would love the left over salmon head too. I learned a lot reading you today thanks for the great little fridge advise!
cumbrian
looks a bit like my fridge, God only knows what might be lurking at the back of it.