How to properly store food in the refrigerator

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

As you know, food products undergo spoilage during storage under the influence of oxygen and sunlight, insufficient or too high humidity. Therefore, a home refrigerator is a great place to store: it is cold, dry and dark. However, it is important to observe the storage conditions and understand which product can be kept in the refrigerator for how long.

What is important to know

Products that do not require heat treatment (cheese, sausage, butter) should not come into contact with raw meat, fish, vegetables, eggs. Semi-finished foods should also be kept separate from cooked foods.

Food should not be stored open, but rather wrapped in cling film, placed in a plastic bag, plastic container, or wrapped in foil. The packaging will provide protection against unwanted odors and drying out and will help for longer storage. This is especially true for refrigerators with the No Frost system.

There are a number of foods that do not need to be refrigerated during storage, such as canned food. Read the storage conditions before placing the jar in the refrigerator. Most unopened canned food should be kept in a cupboard at room temperature.

In addition, loading the refrigerator with everyone in a row can lead to overconsumption of electricity and impede air circulation, worsening the storage conditions for other products.

Typically, a refrigerator has several zones with different temperatures, which are indicated in the manual for the refrigerator. Try to choose the best storage locations for various foods.

Storage rules

The lowest temperature is maintained on the uppermost shelf - about + 1-3 ° C, so the most perishable foodsuch as cottage cheese, sour cream, cheese, butter, cream, cream, cakes. Cold cuts - sausage, loin, boiled pork, smoked meats - it is also better to store it higher, having previously packed it in cellophane. And here cottage cheese do not pack in polyethylene, but it is best to transfer it to a glass, ceramic or enamel container. Milk and dairy products they are best preserved at a temperature of + 3-6 ° C, therefore they cannot be kept on the door, since when opening and closing, the temperature on it constantly changes.

Cooked meals can be stored on the middle and bottom shelves of the refrigerator for one to two days. True, many dishes do not withstand long-term storage, so remember that only freshly prepared soup is good, porridge boiled in water can be kept in the refrigerator for up to three days, and milk can be kept for no more than 24 hours.

Raw meat it is better not to freeze once again - because of this, it loses its taste and juiciness. Therefore, if you are not going to store it for a long time, but plan to cook it in the near future, put it in a tray under the freezer itself.

Vegetables store only in special containers located at the bottom of the refrigerator. To prevent moldy, they should not be placed in plastic bags or pre-washed. To increase the storage period, it is convenient to use containers with a special lid that retains the necessary moisture. But tomatoes are best kept separately - they release substances from which other vegetables can deteriorate. It is better to store cabbage stump upwards, as needed without cutting off the amount needed for cooking, but tearing off the leaves and wrapping the rest in outer sheets. But you should not put raw potatoes in the refrigerator - its taste may deteriorate from this.

Berries and fruits best stored unwashed and in a moisture-proof container with cloves of garlic in between. The exception is bananas, pineapples, grenades - they deteriorate from the cold.

Greens stored on the bottom shelf. If you wrap the bundle in a wet towel and then loosely in plastic, you can save it for two to three weeks. For longer storage, the leaves need to be rinsed, chopped, folded into a plastic container and frozen.

Pickles and pickles keep well on the bottom shelf.

Eggs store in special slots on the door with the blunt end up. The shelf life of eggs in the refrigerator is 3-4 weeks. There, on the door, you can store canned foodrequiring temperatures below room temperature. The shelves on the door are also convenient for storing medicines (in a tightly closed container) and drinks.

Chocolate the refrigerator is contraindicated: when cooled, condensation appears on its surface, which then dries up and covers the surface with a white bloom.

Little tips

• Never put hot food in the refrigerator! Wait until they cool completely.
• Before packing food, it is better to keep them and containers in the refrigerator separately for a while to cool them down. Otherwise, soon condensed moisture will appear inside the package, especially on vegetables, and they are more likely to deteriorate.
• If the refrigerator does not have an automatic defrosting system, you can place a container of hot water under the freezer to speed up the defrosting of the ice. Under no circumstances should metal objects be used to remove ice.
• Bread is perfectly preserved in the freezer, as well as pies, muffins, rolls left over from the holiday.