What’s Lurking At the Back of Your Fridge?

I was watching an episode of MTV’s Cribs the other day. If you don’t know the show, here’s a description from their website: “Features today’s hottest celebrities giving you all-access guided tours through their homes and personally-styled living spaces.” One thing that struck me when I was watching it was this – with so much to see in these luxurious mansions, why was it that the one place the camera always went was inside the homeowner’s fridge? Well, I guess it’s because the contents of the fridge can say a lot about the ‘secret lives’ of the people who use it. It’s one of those places our guests don’t usually see, so we may have a tendency to neglect it. But when you consider that it’s a place where you and your family members go for nourishment and comfort, doesn’t it deserve some attention? So, if you don’t like what the inside of your fridge says about you, here are some tips to get it ‘camera ready’:

The first step is to take everything out of the fridge and put it in an iced cooler. Next, give the fridge a good wipe down. I use a mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle and it seems to do the trick. For stubborn stains, a baking soda and water paste and some elbow grease work wonders.

Before putting anything back, have a look at the expiry dates of packaged foods and start tossing. Some items don’t have an expiry date, but I assure you, every food product does expire eventually; so if you’ve had your mustard since 1999, it’s safe to assume your relationship is over! If you aren’t sure about the shelf life of various items, there are some great online guides, so do a quick search. Here’s one I like: http://www.canfightbac.org/en/_pdf/storage_chart-eng.pdf As much as I hate wasting anything, the best advice I’ve heard on the topic of making keep/toss decisions for food items is “if in doubt, throw it out”; it’s just not worth risking the consequences of consuming spoiled food. Besides, by following these steps to organize your fridge, you will waste less in the future.

Once you’re clear on what is going back into the fridge, it’s time to determine the best way to organize it. Restaurants use a great strategy to organize their fridges with safety in mind. Prepared foods (served cold or reheated) are at the top, and raw meats that are cooked at higher temperatures are stored under them. This is to prevent raw meat juices from dripping from above and contaminating other fresh foods (gross, right?). We can learn from this and store our prepared or ready-to-eat foods on the top shelf, and full cuts of meat/fish/poultry on a tray or in a drawer at the very bottom (although it’s best to freeze them if you are not using them that day). Another advantage to putting the leftovers at the top is that you’ll be able to see them clearly, and remember to use them before they spoil. Jars and bottles can be stored on the door shelves for easy access; keep similar items together, i.e. all the condiments together, jams and jellies on one shelf, salad dressings and sauces on another. Storing ‘like with like’ is a good technique to use for all items in the fridge.  By the way, two items that should not be stored inside the door are butter and eggs; they should be kept in the coldest part of the fridge.

Store tall, large items in the back, and short, smaller items in the front. This way, nothing will be hidden from view. Continuing along that ‘out-of-sight out-of-mind’ thread, store food in clear containers. If you use yogurt or margarine containers to store your leftovers in, chances are you’ll forget about them (and wonder why you have so much yogurt and margarine in the fridge!) Good quality, clear, stackable containers allow you to maximize the space in your fridge while providing full view of the contents. They are worth the investment because you’ll be able to find what you need quickly and easily (before it spoils), saving you time and money. You can go one step further and mark the contents and date on the containers using masking tape and a marker.

Now, to maintain that level of organization you’ve worked so hard to create, always have a look in the fridge on garbage day and see what you can toss, before it starts to turn. It’s also a good idea to look inside the fridge before going grocery shopping, so you can see what you need and avoid buying duplicates; you’ll be making space for the new groceries too.

Finally, when you take something out, put it back where you found it, regardless of how tempting it is to open the fridge and drop it in the first empty spot you see. It takes a little extra effort but the payoff is that you’ll be able to keep the fridge organized longer and find what you need quickly and easily at meal preparation time.

Is it just me, or do you too get an incredible sense of gratification from cleaning and organizing the fridge? I think it’s very therapeutic! If nothing else, your fridge will be ready for its close-up if the MTV folks come knocking!