One of your kitchen's most essential appliances is the refrigerator: It's where you keep your food and drink so they stay fresh and last longer. However, most of us find it hard to keep it as clean and organized. How much leftover food do you keep in yours? How about spoiled milk? With the busy day-to-day, we could get too preoccupied to care about how our refrigerator looks like.
But keeping an organized and neat fridge is not only to help you find things easier, but also ensure that food and drinks remain in good shape and safe for consumption.
Here are 10 commandments of a clean and happy fridge according to Apartment Therapy:
Thou shall keep it cool
Keeping the refrigerator in appropriate temperature is very important. The cool temperature is key to keeping everything preserved; as much as possible, set the temp to 40°F (5°C) or below.
Thou shall label everything you freeze
You don't want to have to take everything out of the freezer just to find the pack of sausage you bought last week. Some food come without labels, so make sure to do the labeling yourself; add dates too.
Thou shall use clear, airtight containers
Keep your leftover and pre-prepped ingredients fresh by placing them in airtight containers when storing in the fridge; this also helps control odor. Use clear storage to make it easier to find what you need.
Thou shall wipe down weekly
Don't wait until it gets too filthy to handle. Give your fridge a good wipe down once a week using a damp cloth with soapy solution.
Honor thy expiration dates
While food past their expiration for a few days are still okay to eat, but make sure to get rid of jams, spreads, salad dressing, that have gone way past their best before date.
Remember the vegetable drawer and keep it clean
It's easy to forget about the vegetable drawer when you don't often get to see what's inside. But vegetables in particular have shorter shelf life and you don't want to be using rotten produce for your cooking. Put the effort to have a look inside and get rid of wilted greens and overripe veggies.
Thou shall not mix drawers
You don't want contamination, and one of the main culprits is mixing everything and anything in the same place. So make sure that you don't put fruits, veggies, and meat in the same crisper drawer.
Thou shall have a meat bin
When it comes to meat, you don't want drips and spillage anywhere in the fridge and spoil other foodstuffs. If you don't have enough drawers, get a clear plastic bin for all your raw meats and make sure to place it in the lowest portion of the fridge.
Honor the fridge door as the place for condiments
Being the warmest spot in the fridge, the shelves are the perfect place for your condiments to go.
Thou shall tackle a 30-minute clean routine
Once in every few months, empty the fridge and do a deep cleaning by scrubbing everything out.
