Raw meat and fish should always be stored at the bottom of the fridge with no other ingredients to avoid contamination and any liquid from these products dripping down onto lower shelves.
Bottom Shelf
Raw meats should always be stored at the bottom of your fridge to prevent cross-contamination – for example, if any juices (which could contain harmful bacteria) leak from the packaging, they could drip down onto food stored on a lower shelf.
Bottom Shelf: Always place raw meats and fish onto bottom shelves so they don't touch other food types.
The longer milk is exposed to the heat of a kitchen, the faster bacteria will grow. Help your milk last longer by storing it at the back of the fridge on a shelf near the middle or bottom. Hot air rises, so upper shelves may be a few degrees warmer than lower ones.
In the low-humidity drawer, store anything that releases ethylene and rots easily. The open vents will allow the produce to "breathe," preventing premature spoilage and making your food last. Almost all fruits, with the exception of berries and watermelon, should be stored here, including unripe avocados.
It's best to keep cheese, of all varieties, in a dark, cool and airy space – the vegetable compartment of an average fridge is ideal, as it is not too humid or cold. Cheese should be allowed to breathe, however this needs a little balance to avoid the cheese from drying out, or becoming too humid and sweaty.
Raw meat, poultry, and fish must be stored below prepared or ready-to-eat food if stored in the same refrigerator.
Refrigerator Storage: Refrigerate eggs at 40°F or less. Store them in their original carton on an inside shelf and away from pungent foods. The temperature on an inside shelf remains more constant than one on the door, which is opened and closed frequently.
Most vegetables, like carrots, potatoes, broccoli, cabbage and celery should be stored in a plastic bag or container in the crisper of your fridge. Mushrooms are best stored in a paper bag. Vegetables should be stored in a different part of the fridge than fruit. This will prevent them from ripening too fast.
Instead, you should “store it in your refrigerator door”, Hellmann's writes. Chef Molly Gordon told Southern Living that, due to the preservatives in the product, mayonnaise will survive the temperature fluctuations that come with opening and closing the fridge door.
Store raw food like meat, poultry, fish, sausages, bacon etc., in the bottom part of the fridge so that juices cannot drip on foods below. 2. Store ready-to-eat foods such as cooked meats, pies and dairy products such as cheese, butter, cream and yoghurt in the top part of the fridge.
Cold air sinks, so it collects at the bottom and, in a fridge freezer, the bottom shelves will be coldest. But in a fridge with an ice-making compartment at the top, it will be the top. Frost-free fridges circulate the air and have much more even temperature distribution.
The bottom shelf, or the meat drawer, is where you should keep your meat. The bottom shelf and meat drawer are the coldest parts of your refrigerator. Raw meat can keep considerable longer here.
Bottom shelf – dairy items, fresh-squeezed fruit or vegetable juice, packaged raw meat and poultry. Keep a separate bin on the bottom shelf and place raw meat into it; if the package leaks, it will contain the mess and you won't risk contaminating other items in the fridge.
Store dairy products in the coldest part of the refrigerator, toward the back and away from the door. Using proper techniques to store cheese and yogurt, as well as other dairy products, can extend their shelf life and prevent the consumption of harmful bacteria.
The Thermostat has a thin tube called a Phial that contains an inert gas. The Phial is connected inside the refrigerator cabinets and monitors the internal surface or air temperature. The gas in the Phial will expand or contract with temperature change.
Always store ready-to-eat foods on the top shelf to prevent possible cross-contamination of bacteria from raw foods. Arrange other shelves by cooking temperatures (highest cooking temperature on the bottom). Thermometers: Keep at least one accurate thermometer in the warmest part of the refrigerator.
Fruits that should not be refrigerated include bananas, apples, melons, and berries. Keep in mind that many fruits will ripen more quickly when left at room temperature but will stay fresh longer if refrigerated once ripe.
But where in the fridge matters. Milk, no matter if it's whole or skim, is best kept at around 37°F, which, depending on your fridge, usually means somewhere in the back on a lower shelf. You may need to store the milk on its side so that it fits easily. Avoid keeping milk in one of the door's shelves.
The reason a refrigerator is bad for bread: When bread is stored in a cold (but above freezing) environment, this recrystallization, and therefore staling, happens much faster than at warmer temperatures. Freezing, however, dramatically slows the process down. So that's the science in a nutshell.
Eggs will last longer in the fridge, provided you don't put them in the door. The cold does make them last, but constant changes in temperature can make them go off quicker. They should be kept nearer the back of the fridge, where the temperature is more constant.
Typically, the back and bottom of the fridge is the coldest part. This is because cold air sinks down, and the back of the fridge is farthest from the door. It's different for fridges with ice-making compartments at the top, which make the top colder.
Fish should be stored at the lowest point in the fridge, whether that's the bottom shelf or in an empty drawer. Place any raw meat or poultry on the shelf or shelves above the raw fish.