With the knowledge about the zones in the fridge, it becomes easier to select the location for putting away foods. Having said that, it is a fine art to ensure that the food remains palatable and good to use in these zones. So here are some more of my tips for storing food in the fridge.

Do’s and Don’ts for Storing Food in the Fridge

Do’s

1. Store eggs in their original carton, in the door or in the middle rack. Try to buy them as fresh as possible. When you break them open, the yolk should stand up in a neat firm semicircle. The flatter the yolk, the older is the egg. While you can still use them, they will not taste the same and may soon turn unpalatable. 
2. Always keep new foods at the back, and old foods in the front. So fresh tomatoes go behind the old ones. 
3. Consume foods such as the leftovers, the ready to cook and eat foods, foods that have been prepped ahead of time) first. So keep them at eye level and ensure everyone knows about it. Serve it with the next meal after reheating it.
4. If you have time, wash the produce and spread them out to dry them on an old bed sheet under the fan for an hour. Now they are practically ready for consumption. Just remember, to completely dry them before storing them in the fridge, else they will rot. Now put them in your organisers and pop them into the crisper. 
5. All greens like spinach, kale, rocket leaves, etc can be stored successfully for a few days if they are clean and dry. 🌿🍀 I have written about how it is best to wash the greens before using/storing them.  After that process, you can wrap them in a paper towel and then put them in a container. I put my cleaned, dry salad greens in a large plastic ziploc bag with a paper towel. As an experiment, I stored some of my salad greens on day 17 it still looked fresh. But I don’t recommend keeping any produce in the fridge for that long of course! This is because much of the vitamins and antioxidants would be lost. So use these up as soon as possible. 
6. If you have a large quantity of some produce and don’t have space in the fridge for putting it away, you can process and freeze them so that you don’t waste them, and you protect some of the nutritive value too. 

• Grind coriander sprigs into into a paste and store it in the freezer in cubes.
• Blanch peas and then freeze. 
• Tomatoes can be pureed and converted into a useful and ready paste.

Don’ts 

1. If you want the fridge to do its job well, (and to save some money) ensure you do not open the fridge door unnecessarily. OK, there are times when I open the door and then wonder what I wanted to take out! But, in my defence, I shut the door immediately. Some people hold entire conversations with the fridge door open!
2. Don’t open the fridge door with the fan on. Always switch off the fan in the room. This is because the exchange of air is faster with the air currents and this will warm up your fridge air, especially in the summer. 
3. Don’t buy too many things, as stuffing a fridge or a freezer prevents air flow and will decrease the shelf life of all the food in your fridge. Keep a mental picture of your fridge in mind when you shop.
4. Don’t let food spoilage in the fridge go unattended. Find out the reason and deal with it.