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How To Organise Your Fridge
No kitchen is complete without a fridge to keep your food fresh. Whether you have a freestanding, integrated or even an American style fridge freezer, our food needs a home that keeps it tasty and fresh.
Did you know storing food incorrectly in your fridge can shorten their shelf life and even cause food poisoning? In order to prevent this, it is worth knowing the best way is to store food in a fridge.
So, let’s get organising!
Shelf By Shelf
The ways we use shelves & drawers can all affect the efficiency, tidiness and safety of your appliance.
Top Shelves
The top shelves of your refrigerator are typically the warmest, so they are best for storing pre-cooked foods and ready-to-eat meals.
Keeping pre-cooked items up here removes any risk of cross contamination as they are nice any far away from any raw meat (we’ll get onto storing meat soon!).
Pre-cooked meats and leftovers will benefit most from being stored in a sealed container when placed on the top shelf.
Middle Shelves
A fridge’s middle shelf is the perfect spot for storing dairy products like milk, cheese, butter and yogurt.
While it might seem appropriate to store milk in the fridge door, this is actually the worst place for it! The fridge door is the warmest place in the fridge due to its consistent exposure to warm, outside temperatures. Place your milk on the middle shelf and you will notice it lasting a lot longer!
The middle shelf is also a safe bet to store eggs too.
Bottom Shelves
Raw meat and fish is best stored on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator.
This is the coolest part of the fridge which helps to keep your food fresher for longer.
Storing fresh meat & fish here stops cross contamination and reduces your risk of food poisoning by preventing raw meat juices from dripping down onto other items.
Drawers
The crisper drawer(s) at the bottom of your refrigerator is reserved for fruit, vegetables and salad. These drawers protect sensitive foods from temperature fluctuations and extends their flavour and lifespan.
Plenty of fridges will have humidity control for drawers, creating the optimum cooling environment that is sure to help fruit and veg stay fresh for even longer!
Door Shelves
Door shelves are the perfect spot for drinks, condiments and fruit juices. Due to its frequent exposure to warm air, this spot best fits foods with natural preservatives that won’t cause you harm if not consistently cooled.
Eggs can also be stored here if you need some extra room on your middle shelves.
Fridge Storage Tips
Follow these tips to make the most of your refrigerator!
Fridge Temperature
Setting your fridge to the correct temperature can help to reduce food waste, saving you money while lowering your environmental impact. The ideal temperature for a fridge is between 0°C and 5°C, which is actually cooler than the average fridge temperature in the UK!
Most fridges will have a built-in thermometer that provides an accurate temperature reading. If you do not have a built-in thermometer, you can use a mercury thermometer to track the temperature instead.
While a well-built fridge will maintain its temperature, you can give it a helping hand by:
- Keeping your fridge well stocked.
- Not leaving the door open for too long (especially in summer!).
- Avoiding placing hot or warm food in the fridge. Give it some time to cool down first.
Refrigeration Time
If you want to store leftovers in your fridge, it is important you refrigerate them within 90 minutes – just don’t forget to let hot food cool down first! Always aim to consume leftovers within 2 days.
Use By Vs. Best Before Dates
The best way to avoid food poisoning is by following the advice of the dates on their packaging.
Use by dates are only added to food that can go off quickly as they can be dangerous to eat after the fact.
Best before dates are added to foods with a longer life, indicating when the food will be at its best. After passing this date, the food isn’t likely to be harmful, but it might be less enjoyable.
What Not to Store in the Fridge
Now we have gone through how to organise your fridge, let’s see what shouldn’t go in there!
- Vegetables: Potatoes, onion, garlic, & squash are best stored at room temperature in a dark & dry place.
- Tomatoes, while technically a fruit, can be stored on your countertops and kept out of direct sunlight.
- Fruits: Bananas, avocados, stone fruits e.g plums, nectarines, apricots etc, pears and citrus fruits.
- Half eaten canned food. Transfer the food into a sealed container, then put it in the fridge!
- Honey, Coffee beans, Olive oil and Bread.
Conclusion
You can help your fresh food last longer by placing them in the correct position inside your refrigerator.
Keep precooked food and dairy on the middle upper shelves, raw meat & fish on the bottom, and fruit & veg in the drawers. Don’t forget to keep condiments in the door!
Browse our full selection of fridges and fridge freezers, and check out our useful buying guides!
Contact our sales team for more information and expert advice!
Originally posted by James Walsh September 2015. Updated by Lauren Newman September 2025.
