Tips For Organizing Your Fridge Larder
A fridge larder can be the ideal storage space for expired food items. It also allows you to manage a smaller refrigerator and help you save money on your energy bill!
It's a great place to store items like breads, hard cheeses, and eggs. Fresh herbs also benefit from a low moisture.
Keep It In Order
A fridge larder helps reduce food waste and makes it easier to find ingredients when cooking. The refrigerator, like any other room in your house can become overcrowded and out of control. Here are a few tips to keep your fridge tidy and running smoothly.
Take Inventory
Holly Blakey, an organizer at Breathing room The Breathing room believes that taking inventory is the most important thing to do to organize your refrigerator. "Take everything out and check the expiration dates. Clean all surfaces." Throw out expired foods, toss or freeze leftovers and throw away all food items that aren't likely to be eaten before they turn bad.
Blakey suggests that you place the most frequently used items on the front of your fridge. Then, tuck away the less frequently used items in the back and the bottom of your fridge.
Organize Your Freezer
If you own a chest freezer, you can organize it with clear storage bins that will help you find foods more easily. Clearly label each bin and place similar items together. For example, put a bin in the pantry to store condiments, another for sodas, and another for cheese sticks. You can also make use of a lazy Susan for condiments and other frequently used items to keep them from getting lost in the back of your.
Store foods that need the coldest temperatures at the back of a side-by-side fridge and foods that require warmer temperatures towards the front of. The lower shelf is ideal for milk, yogurt, cream and butter (it won't melt). And the cooler drawers are the best for storing produce spillover.
Drawer dividers make your fridge more efficient and are easy to put in. They'll stop your vegetables and fruits from splattering around. This will prevent them from rotting. They'll also keep your drawers tidy and organized. Another simple trick for the refrigerator is to keep tender herbs in water to extend their life. (Mason jars with an inch of water work well.) Alternatively, you can buy an herb saver to put in your fridge.
Keep It In View
Keeping your fridge organized will help you reach for healthy meals that keep you full and content throughout the day. Make sure that all containers for food are clear so you can easily see the contents. This will let you know the remaining days on your expiration date and make sure you don't store food that is beyond its expiration date.
Start your fridge larder off with a thorough cleaning by cleaning the drawers, shelves and racks with warm water and dish soap. Give your fridge a thorough clean to remove any crumbs and gross spills that could have built up.
After everything is clean and dry, it's time to restock your refrigerator. Start with the cheese and deli drawer -- this is the place to store your cheeses, deli meats leftovers, dairy items and other food items. Then move to the produce drawer which should be reserved for greens with a lot of leaf because they can wilt quickly. Keep it filled to three-fourths for maximum freshness.
The pantry drawers in certain refrigerators is a great place to store storage of large bags of frozen vegetables and other food items that are bulky. This space can be used to store condiments like ketchup and mustard, along with nut-butters and other canned products. Milk should not be stored here as the temperature may fluctuate and result in it spoiling quickly.
Finally, the refrigerator's back should be reserved for jarred meals, frydge salad dressings and other condiments that will last longer. Use a riser on jars to make them easier to read. This can save you from having to open and close the lid multiple times, which will prolong the longevity of your condiments.
Label each bin with a marker, or stickers that can be easily read. This will let your family members quickly identify what each container is and will help you to locate what you're looking for. Labeled bins are a great method of decluttering your refrigerator and reducing the amount of plastic waste that you produce.
Keep It Cool
A well-designed fridge larder will keep food at the correct temperature to prevent spoilage and slowing bacterial growth. Larders can be incorporated into existing cabinetry or stand on their own. They are typically placed on the north-facing side of the home to minimize the sun's exposure. They could also be equipped with additional insulation or ventilation to prevent heat from entering the food storage area. They also typically have thicker walls and less windows to keep the interior at less temperature than other areas of the home.
A larder should include one drawer for meat and one for vegetables, each with a specific setting that can be programmed to the right temperature. This will ensure that chicken and burgers will be cooked well, but that the salad greens won't become too discolored. Larder drawers can also be set to a low humidity setting for fruits and vegetables that release a lot of moisture, like cucumbers or tomatoes.
To preserve cheese, you can keep it in different drawers of the fridge. Wrapped in greaseproof paper, clingfilm or greaseproof film to keep it fresher for longer. Drinks, non-perishable condiments like ketchup, eggs, and water can also be kept in the fridge's door. The refrigerator door isn't the best location to store milk since it tends to be more warm and unstable than other drawers.
For a streamlined look, corralling small bottles of food and snacks will help make the contents more visible, which is also useful when family members are looking for food items on the go. Labeling bins and shelving to identify what should be eaten first could be beneficial, especially when family members aren't used to reading labels!
A larder can also be an excellent place to store leftovers. You can store them in various plastic and glass containers that are safe for food. They are great to store smaller portions of food items. Having these ready for quick meals is a great way to save time and money when shopping. If you have a clean well-organized fridge that has the space designated for these items It will make it easier to keep track of your grocery budget.
Keep it Fresh
The best ways to organize your fridge reduce food waste and help your healthy groceries last longer. A few smart strategies keep your fresh food at the proper temperature and help to find what you have in your fridge and where it is.
The majority of refrigerators have crisper drawers that are designed to change airflow and increase humidity to extend the lifespan of fruits and vegetables. However, it is important to use them in a proper manner. Mixing fruit and greens could cause the former, like the greens, to turn brown or spoil prematurely because of the ethylene that is produced. Separating the different types of produce and storing them in the appropriate drawers is crucial.
Door shelves are usually the warmest part of the fridge. They should be reserved for foods that don't require a colder temperature or special storage conditions such as jam, chutneys, jars of jam salad dressings, and long-life juices (anything purchased in bulk and with the same use-by date). The top shelf is ideal for drinks that can be stored upright and without leaking, including milk and water.
Refrigerator drawers can be tricky to keep organized with items rolling around and getting jumbled together, but there are some simple tips to aid. First, you should invest in a set of refrigerator drawer dividers that keep your food items separated and stop them from colliding against each other. It is also helpful. Produce of similar heights can be stored together. Don't place items that aren’t the same height in the same drawer.
A thermometer is a important item to have for your fridge's larder. It's a cheap, easy-to-use tool that can ensure that your fridge is operating at the right temperature to ensure that your food is in the best condition and is freshest.
Don't forget to keep a stash of plastic grocery bags in your fridge to store produce that doesn't have its own container. The moisture contained in the bag keeps vegetables from turning brown. For herbs that typically go through a slow decline in the course of a day they can be kept fresher longer by washing them before putting them in a glass of water. This is as efficient as a plastic bag at conserving moisture.