How to preserve food items in your refrigerator racks? A few tips for you

One should have a clear idea on how to keep food items in refrigerator. Food is directly linked to health, and bad food can damage it a lot as well. So, if food is not preserved well, it can invite many problems and diseases for sure. Healthy food habits can keep diseases at bay. Here are a few tips for you.

1. Always keep fruits and vegetables separately. Place vegetables in the bottom box container, where the temperature is below 10 degrees and best suited for vegetables.

2. Place curd, butter, cheese and butter in the upper shelves of refrigerator.

3. Place soft drinks, water and curry powders in the racks fitted in the fridge door.

4. Never place glass containers in freezer. The container may break due to excess cold temperature.

5. Never place eggs in the topmost rack just below the freezer. Due to excess cold, egg shells may break. A rack in between is the best position to place eggs.

6. When you place cooked food in refrigerator, cover it using a tight lid, aluminum foil or cling film to block the moisture loss. This process prevents the easy damage of cooked food too.

7. If chicken or meat is not prepared, wrap them in plastic covers before you place it in freezer.

8. The remaining food in cans and tins should be tightly closed before placed in refrigerator. Otherwise, transfer the contents to another container, and place it in refrigerator. It should be tightly closed.

9. Never mix and place cooked and uncooked food in one rack.

10. Food items kept in freezer can be used up to 2 weeks. If food is placed in normal racks, finish it within three days.

11. Never directly boil the items taken from fridge (cooked food). It’s a healthy method to use double boiling method.

12. Never place the reheated food back to fridge. It’s unhealthy. Heat the food you want only, by transferring it to another bowl or pan.

13. If you want to place prepared food in refrigerator, allow it to cool and place in rack with closed lid. Transfer the contents to fridge as soon as the dish cools off completely.

14. If amount of food is large, you can store it in three or four containers separately. Food cools easily. When it takes more time to cool, it gives more space to bacteria to grow.

15. While placing unprepared fish or meat in freezer, wrap it well in a cover. Otherwise it can turn to solid and may be spoiled too.

16. It’s not advisable to take fish or meat from freezer and place it outside so that it reaches room temperature. It’s also unhealthy to immerse it in hot water to defrost it. Instead, keep those items in the lower most rack of fridge overnight so that you can use them the following day.

17. The meat or fish which you have removed chillness should be consumed within a day, and should not be placed back to freezer.

18. The refrigerator should have temperature below 5 degrees. That’s why it’s advised not to put hot food inside the fridge. If you keep hot food inside the refrigerator it can disturb the temperature inside thus spoiling the food.

19. Never open fridge frequently. Take items together if possible.

20. Refrigerated food should be boiled well till steam comes out. Then only it’s good for health. Otherwise it may lead to infection.

21. Clean the refrigerator once or twice in a week. Take all the containers out before you clean the racks. Take vinegar and water in equal proportion for cleaning. You can also dissolve baking powder in water and use that solution for cleaning.   

A few defrosting tips for you

1. To defrost fish and meat placed in freezer, transfer the contents to a lower rack instead of placing them outside. If you place so at night, the item will defrost completely by morning.

2. Fish or meat taken out of refrigerator should be cooked as early as possible. If you are going to prepare it soon, cook it in high flame. Otherwise the temperature won’t reach the inner parts of the pieces.

3. If it’s defrosted food, you should use it within 24 hours.

4. Cooked curries and food items once placed in refrigerator should be boiled well before reuse. If it is steam cooked food items, cook it well till steam comes out.

Image source: Pixabay

Also read: How to store food items naturally?

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