Where to place Food in your Fridge

Keeping your refrigerator healthy

Did you know your refrigerator is an aussie invention?

"Refrigeration has become an essential food storage technique by lowering the reproduction rate of bacteria and therefore, reducing the rate of food spoilage."

Using a refrigerator properly is probably not as well understood as it should be.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, bacterium can double within 20 to 30 minutes, meaning that one bacterium turns into two, then two become four, leading eventually to the formation of millions of cells in a few hours.

Food Spoilage - where to place food in your fridge

Fridge Door

The warmest area of your Fridge is the doors. The doors are the most inconsistent part of your fridge. Items like condiments are well suited. Anything even moderately perishable should not be stored here.
Even eggs are better placed away from the door even though some fridges contain special egg shelves. You want to store eggs in the coldest part of your fridge.
Keep eggs in their original cartons which are also designed to prevent odors etc entering the eggs.

Upper Shelves

The upper shelves are slightly warmer than below and are a great place to store items that don't have a high safety risk.
Great for leftovers, drinks, ready-to-eat foods like yogurt or cheese.

Lower Shelves

Foods with a higher safety risk are better off in the coolest section.
The bottom shelf is the coldest place in the fridge.
Store meat, poultry and fish here in the trays to prevent cross contamination.

High and Low Humidty Drawers

High - carrots, leafy greens spinach, basil, broccoli etc.
Low - Pears, apples, grapes, mushrooms, capsicum, advocados berries etc.

Do not overfill - your fridge needs air to circulate.

Cooling down foods

Do not put warm foods into your refrigerator - cool foods down on the kitchen bench first.