How to Stock Your Fridge to Make Your Food Last Longer, According to an Expert

If you want to cut back on food wasteDo yourself and your food a favor by using your fridge to your advantage. If your fridge storage strategy is just to stash new groceries wherever there is space, you may not be doing your groceries any favors when it comes to their freshness and maximizing their shelf life. According to Trevor Craig, food safety expert for Microbac LaboratoriesThe way you stock your refrigerator can have a big impact on the shelf life of the food you store in it.

Understanding what shelf life is

Before we even get to the fridge, did you know that expiration dates are not regulated or mandated by the USDA? The dates that are printed on your packaged items are more of a prediction of shelf life on behalf of manufacturers than a guarantee of safety. “Shelf life is not a safety measure. It’s a quality measurement of food for most products,” Craig says. “So that shelf life, whether it’s a few months or a few years, is really based on how high quality they think their product is going to be over that period of time.”

That said, food that is not stored properly may not remain in its ideal condition for the shelf life stated on the label. “Proper refrigeration or proper storage“You can be sure that your products have their full shelf life because that shelf life depends on storage conditions,” says Craig.

Food stored at improper temperatures will definitely spoil faster. Conversely, food stored correctly has a better chance of staying fresh beyond its “best by” date. “If you’ve stored it under the right conditions, it can still be good to eat,” Craig says. “You can make it last a little bit longer by really taking care of it.”

Zone Defense: Different sections have vastly different temperatures

First, it’s important to understand that not every spot in your refrigerator will consistently maintain the same temperature. “With newer technology, you’ll see refrigerators holding their temperature a little bit better, but typically the bottom of your refrigerator is where it’s kept the coldest,” Craig says. Heat — even in a cold storage environment — rises. “The back of the refrigerator is typically where the cooling units are, so as you move further forward, away from those cooling units, you’ll see it’s a little bit warmer.”

Because the bottom and back of your refrigerator maintain the coldest temperatures, these are the best places to store items that are extra susceptible to spoilage and have a relatively short shelf life, such as fresh dairy products and raw meat.

Organization from top to bottom

Putting raw meats on the bottom of your fridge also prevents cross-contamination. Craig also recommends a top-down approach when it comes to stocking your fridge for maximum quality and freshness. “Your fridge shelves are designed to help protect your food,” he says. “The top of your fridge should basically be stuff that’s ready to eat, and the bottom of your fridge should be more raw food, because all that raw stuff can potentially drip,” and easily contaminate your ready-to-eat items. “That’s the one thing I would say people get wrong all the time, and it disgusts me, but it probably should disgust them as well.”

Use the designated drawers in your refrigerator

Your refrigerator likely has drawers designated for produce, or deli items, and they should be used accordingly. “You can control the humidity and moisture in those drawers, and that keeps things a little crisp,” Craig says, especially for produce. It also prevents the kind of airflow that can be good for certain items but can dry out things like cheese and fresh vegetables.

While this may seem obvious to some, especially if your refrigerator drawers are labeled, those drawers should definitely not be used for all-in-one storage. “I wouldn’t put your meat in there because it’s going to be really hard to keep that meat really cold,” Craig says. He also points out that the shelves in your refrigerator are slanted, which allows juices to drain and not pool (another reason to store meat on the bottom), while your refrigerator drawers can catch any juices that leak out, leading to potential bacterial contamination.

Consider storage containers

You can look at TikTok for inspiration: It’s valuable to use individual storage containers, not only to ensure the quality of your food, but also to clean your fridge much more often than you probably do.

“I put everything in a second container so it’s not up against a wall,” Craig says. “And if anything bursts or explodes, it’s caught in that second container.” Unplanned fermentation and accidental freezing are things that can cause food to burst out of its packaging in your fridge.

Back to school sales are a great time to look into small, shoebox-sized storage containers. You’ll avoid spilling various juices all over your refrigerator shelves, and it’s much easier to wash individual storage containers in the dishwasher or sink than to pull everything out of the refrigerator for periodic cleaning.

Pay attention to the door, the warmest place in the refrigerator

The warmest part of your fridge is the door, because it experiences a greater temperature swing every time you open it. (Depending on your eating or even decision-making habits, this may happen more often than just during mealtimes.) “I put things in the door that maybe don’t really need to be refrigerated or that are a little more tolerant,” Craig says. “Things that have a really long shelf life, like jams and jellies and a lot of condiments, that’s what most people put in there.” If you’re already in the habit of doing that, good for you. (My fridge door holds a whopping four different types of mustard, six different hot sauces, and multiple bottles of wine.)

The refrigerator door may have specific compartments for things like butter and eggs, which are perfectly fine to store there. Neither product needs the amount of refrigeration we give them in this country to stay fresh. However, compartments that seem meant for milk cartons should be repurposed for other products. “I wouldn’t keep a lot of dairy in your door,” Craig says. You can use those compartments for things like juice, which is more pasteurized than milk and has a lot of acid in it, so it doesn’t spoil as quickly.

Make sure there is enough stock, but not too much

If you’ve ever stuffed your fridge to the brim, you probably already know that doing so doesn’t help your fridge keep your food as fresh as possible. But before you throw everything out and start over (especially since preventing food waste is the goal here), it also doesn’t help keep your fridge mostly empty. “A full fridge doesn’t maintain temperature very well, because there needs to be some air circulation,” says Craig. “But there also needs to be some stuff in there, because an empty fridge doesn’t maintain temperature very well.”

But Craig says your freezer can handle a little overcrowding: “Freezers hold temperature better when they’re really full,” he says, but remember that you can still close the door. “If you overfill a freezer, sometimes you get seal issues and extra moisture, and that’s when you see a lot of frost.” You’ll know you’ve gone too far if you have to use an ice maker to remove your stuff.

Other ways to combat food waste

Food waste is a major problem: About half a trillion dollars A lot of food is wasted every year, but there are plenty of ways to waste less and eat more.

This clever app we tried connects you with restaurants to buy cheap food before they throw it out. Better understanding expiration dates can also prevent you from throwing out unnecessary food before it really goes bad. If you do have spoiled food — and it will happen — try starting a compost pile or using a smart home food recycler like this or this to prevent organic waste from ending up in landfills.