The Way of the Fridge
Much like organizing your tool shed, everything has its place but what does that mean for a fridge? Your fridge is best set at 40°F and the freezer is best at 0°F. The top shelf, being eye-level and the warmest part of the fridge should be dedicated to your open containers (like yogurt or dips), cooked foods, leftovers, and beverages – the things that should be consumed in the next few days. Since warm air rises which forces the colder air to the lower parts of the fridge, you should consider packing your raw meats, eggs, and dairy products on the lower shelves. This is essential for your raw meets for keeping it separate from the other foods ensures there is no contamination of the other products in the fridge. The shelves are intended for those condiments that come in all shapes and sizes that won’t perish quickly.
Most fridges have an allocated meat drawer which is small and therefore much cooler than other parts of the fridge which makes it perfect to keep those deli meats and cheese from molding. Those two drawers for the fruit and vegetables are called the Crisper Drawers and are kept separate for good reasons. Depending on your fridge, most of them have the option to control the humidity in either crisper drawer; the drawer with the lower humidity is better for fruits and the drawer with the higher humidity is for your leafy-greens and vegetables.
It’s a Wrap
As lovely as lemons look in a bowl on the countertop, if you store it in the crisper drawer it can last four times longer. With the world becoming more conscious about plastic, your greens should stay far away from it. Wrap your greens in paper towels to absorb the excess moisture, as it elongates the shelf-life.
Freeze!
It’s a heartbreak seeking beautiful herbs to go to waste when it wilts, you can only cook so many meals with coriander, but what does one do with the wilted herbs? Well, it is. Here it is – pour some melted butter or use olive oil and mix it with the wilted herbs and put them in ice trays. You can then use these blocks to start stews or soups. Another wonderful use for ice treys is leftover stock or broth. Some sauces just need that extra kick, and you don’t have to make stock from scratch. There are so many creative ways to preserve food and elongate shelf-life, nothing fancy or tricky. Life hacks make the world go round.