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“The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.” ― Albert Camus, The Plague


Habit 1: Keep the Temperature Setting in the Middle

Having cleaned our fridge out and laid some scaffolding for a new order, we wanted to include our fridge in a gesture of this new beginning. We decided on setting the temperature control to the middle.

Besides possibly saving us money over the long-term by keeping our fridge within a mystical sweet-spot at the midpoint between its lowest and highest operating extremes – it also helps that the middle setting is an appropriate symbol for balance.


Habit 2:Fill the Fridge Just Enough

Speaking of balance, if you followed us on our cleaning journey and recall our diversion into filled versus empty volume – the notion that having some things in the fridge helps keep things cool but having too many things clogs up the airways and creates warm spots – you’ll realise this is a problem that calls for balance.

This fridge lacks enough thermal mass to efficiently stay cold. Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash.

Air needs to circulate around food to keep it cool, so we have another reason to not overstock. But if you’re the kind with a lot of empty space in your fridge, keeping large containers filled with water would be a simple hack to reduce the load on your fridge compressor.


Habit 3: Keep the Door Closed as Much as Possible

In the course of our research, we have confirmed that opening the fridge door is a sure way to lose some cold air quickly. The entire household can hear when someone has been snooping in our fridge, the compressor immediately kicks into a higher gear the second the door is opened, and it often continues to rumble loudly for up to a minute after we close the door.

After ten seconds of this, our fridge begins to sound like an idling motorboat. Photo by Ernest Brillo on Unsplash.

No matter the state of your fridge, opening the door as little as possible will definitely reduce the amount of electricity being used to maintain a constant and low temperature. Read 5 Essential Tips to Keep a Fridge Organised to reduce time spent with the fridge open.


Habit 4: Replace Delicate Perishables With Cool Beverages at the Door

Delicate foodstuffs such as dairy goods and vegetables don’t do well with temperature fluctuations and should be kept away from the warm drafts that flow in whenever the door is opened. If you foresee a high frequency of people poking around the fridge, such as during a house party, keep high volumes of cold drinks at the door to absorb the warm air that streams in when the fridge is opened.

Water and juices fare better in the door than milk does. Image source: ak4.picdn.net


Habit 5: Keep Raw Meat and Seafood Separate From Fruits and Vegetables

This is the kind of habit that, when broken, makes chefs like Gordon Ramsay turn beet-red with rage. As you might have heard him repeat in many a kitchen nightmare, never mix raw seafood or meat with fruits and vegetables – food poisoning is no joke.

For best results, we keep our raw meat and seafood wrapped, stored in air-tight containers, and at the bottom of the fridge so that any stray juices don’t go contaminating everything else on their way down.


Habit 6: Keep Ingredients Whole

Sometimes you have to use a little of something, such as half an onion or part of a bulb of garlic, what do you do with the rest? If you have to store pieces of something in the fridge, use an air-tight container to keep the smells from going everywhere. The worst thing you could possibly consume is orange juice that smells like onions.

Just one of these could undo all that time spent airing out the fridge. Photo by K8 on Unsplash.


Habit 7: Use an “Eat First” Basket

If you do have to keep a jar of onion or some other fragrant ingredients in the fridge, put them in a bin labelled “Eat Me First”, along with other foodstuffs that may be nearing expiry, to help keep the contents of your fridge fresh.

When we open the fridge to prepare meals, we focus on clearing the “Eat First” bin – which often contains leftovers. This particular habit has enabled us to reduce food waste and stretch our groceries out for longer.


Habit 8: Store Leftovers in Clear Containers

We use clear containers for our leftovers so we can see them easily, and if we’re not up for some intensive cooking, we can always rely on our jars of highly visible and ready-made food to tempt us into lazy eating. Leftovers are generally good to eat up to 4 days in storage, and we lengthen the lifespan of salads by soaking them in olive oil to displace the air and water that contribute to their decay.

It’s easier to decide not to cook when you’ve got a ready-made meal staring you in the face. Image source: media1.s-nbcnews.com


Habit 9: Don’t Consume the Last of Anything

Our household considers consuming the last of something to be a grievous crime, punishable by an immediate trip to the supermarket – even if the offender has to endure a 30-minute endeavour just to replace that one bag of coffee or Tim Tams. To prevent such wasteful grocery runs, our household makes it a point to put something on the shopping list when there is just one SKU (stock keeping unit) left.


Habit 10: Take a Photo of Your Fridge’s Contents Before Shopping

We’ve found that shopping while hungry results in over-buying, but being stuffed makes us underestimate the quantities we need to survive. In an effort to optimise our grocery runs, we’ve taken to snacking while finalising shopping lists, just to keep us satiated but not full.

Just as having some food in our bellies tempers our buying decisions, we’ve also found that referring to a picture of our fridge while shopping has helped us to see exactly how much we could fit in there.

With the fridge cleaned, organised, and with our household keeping to these habits, we’ve been able to reduce our grocery spending, keep our food fresh longer in recent weeks, and our fridge certainly seems happier – which makes the entire adventure all the more worthwhile.

Plus, it’s truly a member of the family now. Photo by kevin laminto on Unsplash.

Let us know if these tips have helped you and your family keep food better in the comment section below!


(Written by Kevin Eichenberger, 18th June 2020)

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Excellent guide to care for your fridge.