Frozen Fortune

Be it a fruit or last night’s chicken curry, if your fridge isn’t preserving it right, your meal can certainly leave a bad taste in your mouth. But it doesn’t have to be this way; here are a few things you can do to restore the freshness of your fridge in order to bring back the joys of eating

Temperature: The temperature should remain between 30 to 40 degrees F. Although freezers should clock in at zero or below, a refrigerator that goes no higher than 40 degrees F is the safest for storing food since it causes bacterial growth.

Cleaning: Your refrigerator and freezer need to be cleaned each season. Tidy up the fridge and its contents in order to help eliminate odour and other germs. Open boxes should be filled with baking soda. Take a bucket of water combined with a few spoonfuls of the replaced baking soda and use it as a DIY cleaner; wipe down every surface. Remove items such as unused bottles and bowls.

Managing shelves: Shelves closest to the freezer are where it’s coldest. Store milk and raw meats in the colder section, and meals like leftovers and vegetables in the warmer sections. Refrigerator door shelves are the warmest; each time the fridge is opened, the door gets a blast of hot air, which lowers the temperature. Use this section of the refrigerator to store condiments like sauces and mayonnaise instead of leftovers and beverages.

Drawers: Vegetables need humidity to prevent wilting and drying out. Whereas fruit needs less, so store them separately with different humidity levels for optimum freshness. Store mushrooms outside of the drawers, as high humidity turns them slimy.