Where would we be without refrigerators? If you’ve ever lost electricity for any period of time (as I have recently, thanks to the intense heat and an overloaded electrical grid), you understand quite quickly and keenly the crucial role the Refrigerator plays in everyday life. That’s why it’s one of the five greatest breakthroughs in food science, and rightfully so.
You’d think — given how essential the Fridge is to cooking and eating — we’d know everything there is to know about this amazing piece of machinery, but as with anything we take for granted, little details get lost in the daily rhythm. Wait, at what temperature should it be set? How do the crisper drawers work again? We have the answers to those questions, and more.
The 5 Most Important Things to Know About Your Refrigerator
1. How to check for the correct temperature.
The ideal temperature range for the fridge is 35 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything above 40°F is considered an “unsafe zone,” which means that Food is susceptible to spoiling or growing harmful bacteria.
How can you know what temperature your fridge is set at? Buy a refrigerator thermometer. When a health inspector visits your home kitchen, sell on the importance of a freestanding fridge thermometer, which you can place anywhere in the fridge to monitor its internal temperature. The back of your refrigerator could be staying cool enough, but the milk in the door might be sweating in a too-warm environment.
Once you’ve established the correct temperature, keep it that way!
2. How the crisper drawers work.
If you’ve ever wondered if those crisper (also known as humidity) drawers really do anything, you are not alone. But there is some science behind those drawers, and they can help preserve your produce if you use them correctly.
If you have two crisper drawers at the bottom of your fridge, designate one for low humidity and one for high humidity. The low-humidity drawer should be used for fruit, and have its vent almost all the way open (or on a scale of eight to nine, if your drawers are numbered rather than labeled) to prevent ethylene gas buildup. The high-humidity drawer should be used to store vegetables, and the vent should be only slightly open (on a scale of two to three).
3. How to organize it for ease and safety.
Professional kitchens organize their refrigerators based on the temperature the foods need to be cooked to, with no-cook or prepared foods getting the top shelf and high-temperature foods, like chicken, sitting on bottom.
This strategy applies to home refrigerators as well: Ready-to-eat foods should be kept on upper shelves; meat and raw ingredients should be kept on the lower shelves, and possibly in a separate bin.
And the door — the warmest part of the refrigerator — should be reserved exclusively for condiments, not eggs or milk. (It’s too warm for them.)
4. How to make sure it runs as efficiently as possible.
Is your refrigerator losing air, or does it appear to be churning harder than it needs to? The following habits can help maintain and extend the life of your fridge: Check that the door seal isn’t weak and releasing cold air; make sure all food is covered and cooled before it goes in, so the fridge doesn’t have to work overtime to remove excess heat and moisture; and vacuum the condenser coils periodically to free up the fridge to work at its full capacity again.
5. How to clean it.
Finally, it’s vital to know how to properly clean the fridge! If you’re really on top of things like some people, you’ll clean out and reorganize your fridge every two weeks! But whenever you do get around to it, you’ll feel good knowing you’ve done a thorough job of it.
Importance of Refrigerators in Our Everyday Lives
Natural preservatives used in the past are through salt and ice. This will relatively lengthen and preserve the foods but they are not that easy to do and the preparations are delicate. Today, refrigerators not only help us on preserving foods but also provide us a luxurious kind of life. It keeps our beverage cool whenever we wanted them to, and it has freezer which relatively make a fine desert that all of us are enjoying today.
A lot of advancement happens in our world today, and that includes the advancement in the features of a refrigerator. The first model of it consumes only a small amount of power consumption but today it consumes more energy than usual. Large unit of freezers consumes about 4 kilowatt hour per day. Its energy consumption is even greater when constantly being opened. This gave birth to different types of refrigerator which addresses every need of human being today. One example of this is a compact generator. It comprises to only a small amount of compartment thus stores only a small amount of food. This would also help people not to buy larger amount of foods which contributes greatly in overeating. It also comes in minute sizes that you could actually carry it when you go on travel. This is particularly helpful in families who plans to have outdoor picnics and could store fresh and nutritious foods. This type of appliance can stand even with just a 12 volt adapter and can be attached in any plugs of all types of vehicles. Even with long driving hours and business trips, a compact refrigerator can keep any of your favorite beverages cool and ready to drink whenever you want to. Health professionals agree that eating healthy foods and snacks can help maintain the good shape of any individual. These minute refrigerator might seem so small, but don’t let its looks deceive you. They are far more important than what you think.
Americans are said to be the busiest kind of people on earth. They constantly eat and work often at the same time. Even with such lifestyle, they are very particular in what they eat. Not only Americans though, but almost every individual on earth has become health conscious nowadays and tend to be picky on the foods that they eat. Refrigerators like such prove very helpful for this kind of lifestyle. Not only you can ensure the freshness and the value of its nutrition but also your money and time.
“If all else fails, pillage the fridge.”
― Rene Gutteridge, Boo Humbug
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