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Avoid the Christmas cram: here's how to organise your fridge
Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat. But should cranberry sauce be on the shelf or in the door rack?
Whether you have a huge American-style fridge freezer or a small integrated one, the temperature in your fridge varies significantly from shelf to shelf. If you're not careful about where you place certain items, your Christmas food could suffer.
Follow our tips and advice to get the most out of your festive fare this year.
See the top models we've tested in our guide to the best fridge freezers
Pre-Christmas tips
Planning ahead can help you avoid making compromises this Christmas that could leave your food unsafe. These quick tips will help.
- Have a plan To avoid getting caught out, it's advisable to make some sort of plan, so you have a rough idea of what you'll have in stock and where it might fit. If you're really organised, you might extend this into Boxing Day and beyond with a plan for what to do with any leftovers.
- Make space Have a clear out of your fridge and freezer before your big Christmas shop in order to free up as much space as possible for those festive staples. If you're super-organised, you can spend November getting through your stash of frozen peas and fish fingers to clear some room.
- Check the fridge temperature The temperature in your fridge should be kept between 0°C and 5°C, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA). If you have any doubts about whether your fridge gets cold enough, consider investing in a fridge thermometer to check it. See What temperature should a fridge be? and What temperature should a freezer be?
- Allow time for defrosting Small items can defrost overnight, but others can take a day or two. Large items such as a whole turkey can take up to four days to fully defrost in a fridge, so keep that in mind ahead of Christmas Day. Aim to defrost in the fridge if you can, not at room temperature.
- Keep an eye on use-by dates If you're well organised, you might have already started picking up bits for your Christmas meal. If so, make a note of the use-by dates on any relevant products to make sure you cook them in time. You shouldn't eat, cook or freeze any food that has gone past its use-by date, even if it looks and smells fine, as it may be unsafe.
Resist overshopping
It can be tempting to shove things in, especially if you've found them on offer, 'just in case' you need them. But unless your neighbours turn up unexpectedly, you'll likely be over-catering and causing problems in your cold appliances. Packing things so full that food on one shelf is touching the shelf above can prevent cool air from circulating, which pushes up the temperature in parts of the appliance and invites heat-loving bacteria to contaminate your food.
Need extra space for frozen food? See our guide to the best freezers and chest freezers for garages.
What to store where
Now, let's take a look at what food should go where on your fridge shelves.
Fruit and veg drawers
It's tempting to stuff fruit and veg wherever you can find space at this time of year, but the more you can keep in the crisper drawers the better.
These drawers have a slightly different climate and humidity from the rest of the fridge, so they're definitely the best place for your sprouts.
Vegetables tend to like high humidity, so if you have a humidity-controllable crisper drawer, make sure you switch it to the correct setting.
But if you're struggling for space, your parsnips, sprouts and carrots will be fine out of the fridge.
Bottom shelf
Your turkey, or any meat and fish for that matter, needs to be stored at as close to 0°C as possible (although not colder). This will help to lock in freshness and keep heat-loving bacteria at bay.
Unless you have a specially designed chiller drawer for meat and fish, which probably wouldn't be big enough for a turkey anyway, the coldest part of your fridge will be the lowest shelf, directly above the fruit and vegetable drawers.
Keep as much of your meat and fish there as possible, even if it means rearranging the position of your shelves.
Middle shelves
Any meat and fish that you can't squeeze on to the lowest shelf should go on the next shelf up, as that will be the next coldest. So that's where you'll want to keep your pigs in blankets and pork stuffing.
For all meat and fish, make sure it's not dripping on to any other foods below. Try to avoid storing thawing products here, but if you must, place them on a plate to try to contain any leaks. The last thing you want is for juices to contaminate food further down.
The higher middle shelves are also a good place for sauces, pre-cooked foods, and condiments, such as bread sauce and cranberry sauce.
Top shelf
The top shelf and top door rack are where your fridge will be warmest, so use that to your advantage.
It's the perfect place for dairy foods, such as cheese and butter, as they're less perishable than meat and fish. And it will take them less time to come up to room temperature if you want them to soften a bit before eating.
Cream cakes or trifle should also be happy up top, but you can leave Christmas puddings out of the fridge.
Our guide to the most reliable fridge freezer brands will help you choose a long-lasting appliance.
What not to store in the fridge
There are certain things you shouldn't ever put in the fridge, so if you tend to keep them in there you can save some space by taking them out. These include:
- Some vegetables, including onions, potatoes and garlic
- Certain fruits, including tomatoes, bananas and melons
- Baked items, including bread, Christmas cake and mince pies.
If you're really struggling for space, removing bulky bottles and canned drinks will free up a lot of room. If it's chilly outside, you could even get away with storing drinks in a plastic bin or box in a safe place outside as they should stay fairly cold.
It's probably best to keep your Best Buy champagne in the fridge, though.
Want more ideas on how to keep your food fresh for longer? Check out our food storage tips.
