There’s one appliance in our homes that we all have. It’s called a refrigerator or fridge for short. Other than knowing that your fridge is a place to keep items chilled by not frozen, what else do you know about it? Understanding more about your fridge and how it works can help you not only deal with issues you may have but can also assist you in deciding if your fridge actually meets your needs. Here are three things you should definitely know about your own refrigerator.
How to Set the Temperature
You know that your fridge gets cold, but how cold. You may have not thought about it as your items are keeping cold but not frozen. However, it’s important to ensure that your refrigerator stays below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything above this temperature could potentially create hazard conditions with bacterial growth on your foods. Ideally, you want your refrigerator to remain between 30 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. If your fridge is digital, you should simply be able to hit the display buttons and adjust the temperature. For more old school fridges, there will be a knob inside of the fridge that you can set.
Use Crisper Drawers Effectively
We’ve all seen those bottom drawers where you’re supposed to store things like fruits and vegetables. The crisper drawers are designed to keep in the moisture. This keeps your veggies fresh by preventing them from drying out and wilting. But, did you know that you shouldn’t be storing your fruits in the same drawers as your vegetables? In fact, both of these should be stored in their own drawers as you’ll want them to have different humidity levels. The only exception to this rule is mushrooms. You’ll want to keep them in low humidity with your fruits to avoid them getting slimy.
Know Your Cold and Warm Spots
While it may seem easiest to just think that the entire inside of your refrigerator is the same temperature, that’s not completely true. While you may set the temperature to a certain degree, there are still cold and warm spots in your fridge. If you have a fridge and freezer split, the cold spots of your fridge are going to be the wall against the freezer and the back of the fridge. This is where you’ll want to keep things like milk and raw meat. The door shelves are very convenient, however, they’re the hot spot of your fridge. You’ll want to store things like condiments as they can take a blast of hot air each time the fridge is open and still be useable.
To make sure that you get the most out of your refrigerator, it pays to understand how it works. It doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with an old stand fridge or liquid nitrogen freezers, they all work in similar ways. The above are just three of the important things that you’ll want to know about your own fridge.