how to organize your fridge
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July 31, 2020

How to Organize your Fridge

Did you know that there’s an actual science to how you should organize your fridge?! Read on for everything you need to know about fridge organization!

Home
July 31, 2020
How to Organize your Fridge
how to organize your fridge

Did you know that there’s an actual science to how you should organize your fridge?! Read on for everything you need to know about fridge organization!

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How to Organize your Fridge

Did you know that there’s an actual science to how you should organize your fridge?! Read on for everything you need to know about fridge organization!

how to organize your fridge

Why fridge organization is important

Listen, I’m no neat freak, but when it comes to the fridge it’s important to have a system. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending double the time in the kitchen to find what you’re looking for, buying condiments you thought you were out of, and letting hidden food go bad.Fridge organization is not just important to make things easy to find–it’s also rooted in food safety! All spaces in the fridge are not created equal and it will keep your food fresher and safer to know where these zones are! Fridges are usually the coldest in the very back and at the bottom and warmest on the doors. Plus, it’s not all that hard to do!

fridge organization in a Cafe Appliances refrigerator

What do you need for fridge organization?

Of course, to organize your fridge you will need a… um, how do we say this… a fridge! Durrr. We have the Café™ ENERGY STAR® 23.1 Cu. Ft. Smart Counter-Depth French-Door Refrigerator fridge you see above, and are absolutely in love with it. From it’s sleek, streamlined look, to multiple temperature zones, to its chic LED lighting, to an internal water dispenser, this fridge has got it going on.

cafe appliances stainless steel fridge

Of course beyond your fridge, it helps to have a few organizational tools. One thing I’m obsessed with are these glass containers. They’re perfect for meal prepping or leftovers, and with their clear glass design, it makes it easy to see exactly what’s in your fridge without having to open up a container.

Some other things we love?

  • These acrylic containers, which are perfect for holding drinks, juice boxes, condiments, and odds and ends.
  • This double wine rack storage is perfect for those bottles of vino without taking up too much space in the fridge
  • This water jug that we love using for milk and juice. It fits perfectly in the door for easy access to your beverages.
  • This ceramic berry basket keeps your berries fresh (did you know keeping your berries in plastic containers can make them rot faster?)
  • A set of mason jars is so versatile; we use them for everything from holding herbs to keeping sauces fresh!

organized fridge crisper drawer

What do do before you organize your fridge

When it comes to organizing anything in your home, the hardest part can be getting started. Luckily, you’ll only need to do a few things before you’re off and running towards a perfectly organized fridge!

  1. Empty the Fridge: The first step when it comes to fridge organization is to take everything out of your fridge. I mean EVERYTHING. There’s no point in neatly reorganizing your fridge if you have old condiments and expired tomato sauce festering in the nooks and crannies of your fridge. Now is the time to toss any leftovers you “swore you were going to eat,” or that lone pickle left in the jar. Start with a fresh slate.
  2. Wipe down all surfaces: Now that your fridge is cleared out, it’s time to clean it out. Make sure to get all those weird gunky juices that somehow pool at the bottom of every drawer and the remnants of shredded cheese from late night snacks. I use a glass cleaner for my fridge, but I’m sure an all-purpose cleaner would do a great job, too!
  3. Set a map of your fridge: You did it. Your fridge is spotless. Now you can get started on giving each food group a home. Think about how you like to cook and what food groups you eat. If you bake a lot like us, you’ll want the butter and milk to be easily accessible, etc. Plan accordingly!

organized fridge with fruits and veggies and meat

How to organize your fridge

As we mentioned earlier, different parts of your fridge are better suited homes to certain food groups. We’ve broken it down into each section so you can make the best fridge organization judgment calls on where to locate your refrigerated foods! We’ll start with the doors and then go top down to make it as easy as possible!

  • Doors: The fridge doors are the warmest part of the fridge. We recommend keeping condiments (ketchup, bbq sauce, etc.) and other less perishable items here. The fridge door can end up being a free for all though, so make sure you have some sort of system with each shelf to make things easy to find!
  • Top Shelves: The top shelves are typically warmer than the middle and bottom of the fridge. It’s best to keep foods here that don’t need to be super cold. We like to keep tomatoes, berries, and baked goods up top!
  • Bottom Shelf: This is one of the cooler parts of the fridge. We recommend storing anything high perishable like raw meats, leftovers, and eggs here! It’s also a good idea to keep anything prone to leakage like poorly made take out containers or raw meats here, so if there is a spill it’s not dripping all the way down the back of your fridge and all over your foods.
  • Crisper Drawers: Set one drawer to veggies and the other to fruits! This makes things super easy when you’re whipping up dinner or reaching for an apple.
  • Bottom Drawers: Our Café™ French-Door Refrigerator’s bottom drawer is super customizable so you can pick and choose what you want to store there. Choose meats, beverages, or deli and the fridge will adjust the temperature accordingly! Because we don’t eat a ton of meat, and we have a separate seltzer fridge (hehe), we always keep this on the deli setting! Keep all your cheeseboard and sandwich essentials here. From artisanal cheeses to cold cuts, these perishable items will be kept nice and cold to keep them fresh longer!

fridge door with drinks, condiments and food

The best way to organize your fridge

There are tons of different ways you can organize your fridge, so first and foremost you should think critically about the types of foods you eat and cook, the amount of leftovers you have, and the ingredients you use the most! If you’re a vegan couple you’re going to organize your fridge differently than a meat eating family of 5, so take what works for you and adapt accordingly!

  • Store food groups together: Like items should be grouped together not only because some food groups require certain temperatures and humidities to keep fresh longer, but also because it will make finding what you’re looking for so much quicker and easier!
  • Put the oldest foods towards the front: The most expensive food you buy is the food you don’t eat, so make sure to keep those older foods front and center to catch your eye. This will help to prevent spoiled apples and forgotten chicken in the back of your fridge.
  • Make your most used ingredients easily accessible: If you have to take everything out of your perfectly organized fridge to find that seasoning you use every day, your system isn’t going to last the week. Keep things you use constantly in accessible places like the doors or towards the front of the fridge.
  • Set the temperature controls to the correct settings: We love our Café™ refrigerator because you can customize each drawer to whatever you’re storing with the touch of a button! While we’re obsessed with our Cafe Appliances fridge for a number of reasons, one of them is that it has multiple temperature zones throughout the fridge. There is a full-width, electronic temperature-controlled drawer for cheeses and deli meats, and two separate crisper compartments for fruits and veggies. It makes separating and organizing your foods a breeze.

temperature control fridge door

temperature control bottom fridge drawer

While organizing your fridge requires some extra time up front, we can say for certain that in the long run it makes your life so much easier. And I don’t know about you, but a pretty fridge makes me even more excited to get cookin’ 🙂

fridge organization guide

This post is sponsored by Cafe Appliances. All text and opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for continuing to support the brands who help make Broma possible!

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  1. I love these informational posts and pics. Such common sense, but having said that- why don’t all our refrigerators look like that. Good reminders. Beautiful appliance and love the bins and wine rack!

  2. Good morning….I’m interested in knowing about your fridge. Can you tell me if the shelves in the fridge go all the way to the back wall of the fridge or is there a significant space? We have a new Jennaire fridge and never noticed in the store when we bought it, that there is quite a wide gap between the shelves and the back wall. Like 4”! So, if a smaller jar or anything gets back there it falls to the next shelf . It’s awful and we’ve lost a lot of shelf space because of this. I also noticed your eggs. I was surprised you don’t keep them covered or in your carton. I’ve always been told that eggs are very porous and absorb odours through their shells.