Many of us have noticed our grocery bills getting larger, though we’re stocking our fridges with the same amount of groceries.
According to The Washington Post, the cost of meat, poultry, fish, and eggs went up 5.9 percent between August 2020 and August 2021.
When you compare prices in 2019 to 2021, you’ll find a 15.7 increase.
So, you’ll definitely want to make sure that your groceries are lasting as long as they possibly can and aren’t going to waste from spoilage.
One way to ensure your groceries last is to stock your fridge properly.
Knowing what areas of your fridge are coolest and warmest can help you place items properly for longevity.
Thankfully, we have Laura de Barra, author of Gaff Goddess, to help us give us an overview.
Her TikTok on how to stock a fridge properly went viral.
It was liked more than 33,000 times, and for good reason- a lot of us didn’t know this.
The first thing we learned in Laura’s video is the lowest area in our refrigerator, known as the crisper drawers, is the most humid area in the refrigerator.
Fruits and veggies should always be kept in crisper drawers.
You just want to make sure that you separate the high ethylene items from the ethylene-sensitive items.
According to Nutrition You Can Trust, ethylene is a natural plant hormone that is released by fruits and vegetables as a gas.
This off-gassing causes fruit to ripen.
Some types of fruits and vegetables produce a lot of ethylene, while others are sensitive to it.
It’s best to keep these separated so that nothing spoils or gets overripe.
Some ethylene-producing fruits include apples, bananas, figs, grapes, tomatoes, and potatoes.
Ethylene-sensitive foods include cucumbers, garlic, broccoli, carrots, strawberries, watermelon, and squash.
You can find a longer list of these items here.
The shelf above the crisper drawer, which is technically the bottom shelf, is the coolest area of your refrigerator.
It’s best to use this shelf for raw meat and fish.
The middle shelf is the second coolest in your refrigerator.
You can put your dairy, dairy-like products, and cooked meat in this area.
The top shelf is the third coolest place in your refrigerator.
This shelf is best for leftovers and ready-to-eat items. The coolest place for each of these shelves is the back of your refrigerator, closest to the refrigerator wall.
The door of your refrigerator will be the warmest area since it is exposed to room temperature every time you open it.
This space in your refrigerator is best for herbs, condiments, pickled items, beauty items, and coffee.
I don’t know about you, but I had no idea that I should be stocking my fridge this way. Now nothing will go to waste.
Learn more on how to properly stock your fridge in the video below!
You can also learn more on page 70 of de Barra’s book Gaff Goddess.
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