Photo credit: Brooke Morrill
Have you ever opened up the fridge only to find there isn’t anything in there to satiate your appetite?
It’s not that you’re craving something different; rather, you’ve found that most of your refrigerator’s contents seem to be overgrown with a moldy, mossy-like covering.
It seems like only yesterday that you moved into that squeaky-clean apartment, and keeping it that way has been an uphill battle since day one.
Now, judging by the state of leftovers taking over your fridge, it seems you have lost the cleaning war and it’s time to retreat back to another part of the house. There’s no telling what might be molding in there either, but at least its home, right?
Wrong. Even a hobbit making his home underground would expect better living conditions than this, and so should you.
With all the time constraints put on students (working, studying, socializing, etc.) it can be difficult to scrape off enough time to investigate the murky mess that your roommates probably created, but worthwhile to have one more aspect of your life under control.
Deep Cleaning: First, you need to paint over that work of bacteria- infested art and start with a clean white canvas. Wipe down doors and adjustable racks—removing them if need be—and throw away science experiments and other spoiling foods.
Use a disinfectant and a tough sponge in order to remove unwanted stains, bacteria and smells. Once your fridge resembles a refrigerator again, begin to organize your foods by shelf.
Doors
As the warmest part of the fridge, nothing that is readily spoiled (such as milk or eggs) should be placed here. Only the more versatile foods (condiments, juices, water, etc.) can withstand the temperature fluctuations of constant door openings and closings by indecisive, hungry persons.
Upper Shelves
Put groceries that don’t need to be cooked in your upper shelves. Ready-to-eat foods, berries, herbs and tortillas will find their spot at the top of the fridge.
Put pre-cooked leftovers here as well. Keeping these foods closer to eye level will increase their visibility, allowing them to be eaten before they evolve into something that could eat you.
Lower Shelves
This is the coldest area of the fridge so store meat, eggs, seafood and dairy products here. Be sure to keep raw meats in original packaging and separate from other foods to avoid contamination.
Crisper Drawers
These are the best places for washed fruits and vegetables; however, it is important to keep them separated.
Some ripening fruits produce chemicals which can affect vegetables. Plus, they are always bickering about who is the healthiest, and you just don’t want to hear that.
Not inside a fridge
Tomatoes, potatoes, avocados and onions are best kept outside of a fridge. Although the shelf life of bread is increased in a refrigerator, it will cause the bread to dry out.
Now that the beast has been tamed, your fridge can serve its purpose of keeping food fresh and bacteria out. You can rest assured knowing that nothing will creep out of there while you’re sleeping.
