The recommended place to store raw meat in a fridge is the bottom shelf. Ideally, it should be stored in a sealed container or plastic bag so that it won't contaminate any of the other ingredients in the fridge and ensure that all the food is safe to eat.
Place raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood in sealed containers or plastic bags on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator so raw juices won't drip onto other food.
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.
We recommend that you keep your fresh, raw meat on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, which usually offers ideal temperatures. Make sure to keep your cooked meat and any warm foods you're putting into the fridge to cool down far away from the raw beef.
A crisper drawer that is set to a high humidity helps to keep high-moisture foods like leafy greens “crisp” and can help prolong their lifespan. A fresh drawer's purpose is to store food at the lowest possible temperature without freezing it, making it ideal for raw meat, poultry and fish.
Crisper drawers, sometimes called humidity drawers, are located at the bottom of the refrigerator and are designed for fresh produce storage.
As a general rule, raw food should always be stored below everything else in the fridge, so cooked food should be kept above it if you have both in your fridge. This is mainly to prevent the raw food, meat in particular, from dripping down onto any other ingredient, which could cause food poisoning.
But here are the basics: The top shelf and door tend to be the warmest "zones", while the middle and bottom shelves get progressively cooler. So, you should keep condiments in the door, dairy products, eggs and spreads on the upper shelves, meats and milk on the lowest shelf and fruits and vegetables in the crisper.
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.
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.
Keeping water on the doors also helps to regulate the temperature in the fridge. Meat on the bottom where it is coldest and also where meat won't drip on anything else. Separate fruits that emit ethylene gas (apples, pears, stone fruits, avocados, and tomatoes) from vegetables (and strawberries) that prefer humidity.
Always keep raw and cooked food seperate
It's important to keep raw and cooked foods apart, ideally with the former in the coldest bottom drawer of the fridge and the latter on the top shelf. Remember to keep each in sealed packaging or containers too.
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.
If these items cannot be stored separately, store them below prepared or ready-to-eat food. Raw meat, poultry and fish should be stored in the following top-to-bottom order in the refrigerator: whole fish, whole cuts of beef and pork, ground meats and fish, and whole and ground poultry.
The Fresh Room is a cooler compartment that ensures freshness even if you frequently open the fridge door. It's the ideal place to keep green salad and dairy food, like cheese, as they will stay fresh for longer.
The biggest source of heat in a fridge is the warm air that rushes in every time you open the door. Cold air sinks, so it collects at the bottom and, in a fridge freezer, the bottom shelves will be coldest.
1. 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.
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.
Keep top shelves for prepared foods, leftovers or ready-to-eat items. Lower shelves are colder, so they're best for meat and other raw ingredients.
The top shelf is one of the warmest zones, so it's best for storing leftovers, ready-made foods, and drinks. Compared to interior shelves and drawers, your fridge door is more susceptible to temperature fluctuations, so it's best suited to foods that won't be affected by changes in temperature.
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.
Bottom Shelf
This is often the coldest spot in the fridge. It's a good place to store meat, fish, and eggs. Again, we also like storing meat down there, in case there's a leak. This way, the juices don't drip all over your yogurts and leftovers.
Place Food Items in Appropriate Spots
The top shelf and entry door areas are frequently the warmest areas, while the middle and lower levels gradually get cooler. To prevent spoilage, store condiments in the door storage area, dairy products, eggs, and produce in the crisper, and refrigerate all other items.