A messy fridge can easily mutate into a serious problem. From unnoticed leftovers to missing ingredients, a disorderly fridge can pose a danger to your health and budget. The excellent news is that you can simply avoid these problems by using a few simple organizational strategies. By keeping your fridge organized, you can totally make the most of your available space and keep everything fresh and ready to eat.
Clean and Sort
The first step to organizing a fridge is to clean and sort all of your fridge items. Remove everything out of the refrigerator, looking through expiration dates, mold, or other signs of spoiled food as you go. Get rid of anything that is past the expiration date or looks really yucky. For leftovers or food in plastic storage containers, if you’re not absolutely sure how long it has been in there, throw it out. When it comes to your food, it’s best to err on the side of caution.
With everything out of the fridge, take some time to deep-clean your fridge’s interiors. Having hot, soapy water or a mild bleach solution, wipe down and dry all surfaces, including inside drawers and bins. Consequently, you will kick off with a clean fridge for your new organization system.
Label Everything
The succeeding step to an organized fridge is to make a tally of how long your food has been there. Even if various pre-packaged foods will always come with an expiration or sell-by date on them, for fruits and veggies or food that you bring home or that is leftover from meals, you should have a system to keep track of when it was added to the fridge and when it will necessitate being thrown out.
One practical tip is to make use of a dry-erase marker to write the dates of meals and takeout on the container. You could carry out the same thing for other perishables, using the inside of your fridge. By taking notes of both when you brought them home and when they need to be used, you can better make certain that you are using up the groceries you buy before they spoil and avoid eating leftovers that can make you unhealthy or even sick.
Use Containers
Keeping loose items organized and tidy in a fridge can be laborious, primarily things like fruits, vegetables, and even small condiment jars. To restrain clutter and see to it that you have everything you’re looking for at hand, take into account utilizing various clear storage bins to group loose items together. Think of investing in some quality reusable food storage containers with tight-fitting lids. This can effectively help you store food safely and taper down waste by reusing your containers time and time again.
You can moreover utilize a dry-erase marker on the bins and storage containers to keep track of the dates things were brought in. Making use of bins and storage containers in your fridge will furnish space for larger items elsewhere and more favorably track expiration dates of perishable items.
Develop a System
As you commence replacing items, it’s critical to develop a system for storing everything. This has two benefits: first, that you will consistently know where things are, and second, that it can make your food last longer and make it safer. For example, remember that certain items should be kept in certain places.
Meat should always be kept on the lowest shelf to avoid dripping and contaminating other food. Still, never store milk in the fridge door – it can spoil quickly every time it’s frequently exposed to warm air. You can likewise separate your fruits and vegetables, and make use of trays for mixed-up items to avoid spills.
Plan Ahead
In the event that your fridge is clean and organized, the most necessary thing you can accomplish is to make a plan to keep it that way. Even the most organized fridge will have to be cleaned, and old items are thrown out now and again. Take into consideration making a cleaning schedule to be certain that your fridge stays organized. For instance, you could choose a day of the week or month to go through everything, rotating and updating your fresh produce, and wiping down fridge surfaces. By doing this repeatedly, you can avoid the toilsome deep-clean and purge of your fridge (and freezer), a job very few are crazy about.
By heeding this manageable advice, you can keep your fridge clean and organized week after week with less effort than you might think possible!
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