Key Reasons to Make Weekly Fridge & Pantry Cleanings a Habit
Are you guilty of procrastinating cleaning because you’re too busy, not in the mood, or hate doing it? Here are reasons why cleaning the fridge and pantry weekly is an absolute must!
Overcoming Excuses: Why Cleaning Matters
Refrigerators are well-used appliances in most households; therefore, they require minimal and regular attention. It’s easy to push off cleaning the refrigerator and pantry with excuses like “I’m too busy,” “I’m not in the mood,” or “I just hate doing it.” Many people find cleaning/organizing tasks unpleasant and, as a result, tend to avoid them. However, there are important reasons to make cleaning well-used spaces of the home a regular habit. Let’s explore why it’s time to stop procrastinating and start cleaning your refrigerator and pantry weekly.
Managing Contents
Regular weekly reviews/cleanings keep your fridge hygienic and promote freshness. Per the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, “Once a week, make it a habit to throw out perishable foods that should no longer be eaten. A general rule of thumb for refrigerator storage for cooked leftovers is 4 days; raw poultry and ground meats, 1 to 2 days.” Some leftovers, like cooked rice that contain moisture, are a hot bed for bacterial and fungal growth and must be refrigerated within two hours of cooking. Experts say that leftover cooked rice should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and is best eaten the next day. If you keep it longer, up to three days max, you must check the rice for mold (green, blue or black spots) and toss it if it looks spoiled or smells bad. If you are uncertain, it’s safer to toss the rice leftovers. Regardless, cleaning the fridge minimally once a week and reviewing what you have several times a week are quick and effective ways to manage your refrigerator’s contents. It enables you to review what you have and remove foods past their prime – before they become health hazards.
Lowering Health Risks
Per CDC, consuming expired or spoiled food can cause food poisoning, which currently affects 1 in 6 Americans annually with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea. Foodborne illness is largely preventable through proper food handling, cooking, and storage practices. Cleaning your refrigerator regularly enables you to check the temperature at which your appliance is operating. Per FDA, “When it comes to protecting yourself and your family from foodborne illness, one of your most effective tools is the kitchen refrigerator. In fact, at room temperature, the numbers of bacteria that cause foodborne sickness can double every 20 minutes! Chilling foods to proper temperatures is one of the best ways to slow the growth of these bacteria.” Experts recommend keeping the refrigerator at 40 degrees F. or below; and the freezer at 0 degrees F. or below.
Giving Your Fridge a Sanitary Boost
Regular cleaning is crucial for keeping your refrigerator sanitary. By cleaning weekly, and in between if needed, you remove spills, crumbs, and expired items that can harbor bacteria. This prevents the growth of harmful microorganisms and helps protect your health.
Washing matters
Properly washing your hands and effectively cleaning refrigerator surfaces on a regular basis or upon food recalls can aid in illness prevention. In fact, cleaning is one of the four steps in food safety promoted by CDC, aimed at reducing your risk of getting ill. The other three include: separate, cook, and chill. They explain that some foods are more likely to contain germs that make people sick. These “risky foods” can spread germs to you and surfaces in your home, including the refrigerator.
Watch out!
In addition to refrigerated rice, other examples of potentially dangerous-to-eat expired foods include old seafood, deli meats, soft cheeses, prewashed bagged salads, raw sprouts, mushrooms, and unpasteurized dairy. People who eat food past its prime are at increased risk for the Listeria bacteria or other hardy germs which can give them a harmful infection. Refrigeration can slow growth of Listeria but it does not kill Listeria, and the bacteria can still multiply even under cold conditions.
Improving Efficiency
Overcrowding your fridge often means older food gets pushed to the back, resulting in forgotten mystery items. If this happens to you – it’s time to focus your attention on your refrigerator. An overcrowded refrigerator can decrease its energy, result in bad airflow, raise the refrigerator temperature, and create a home for spoiled food such as rotten produce or mystery items. Weekly interior cleanings can improve efficiency by preventing food build-up as well as keeping stains and stinky odors from settling in.
Martha’s Method: Sparkly Clean
Cleaning the refrigerator isn’t complicated particularly when done regularly on a weekly basis. American entrepreneur, author and television personality, Martha Stewart, describes on her website how to proficiently clean your refrigerator from top to bottom. The lifestyle expert describes that following her 9-step method will result in a refrigerator that sparkles with cleanliness. Here, we’ve summarized the process and highlighted her recommended supplies – but do check out her website containing more detailed valuable information.
- Remove contents from the refrigerator. (Our tip: If you’re worried about food spoilage during the process put the goods in a cooler on ice).
- Use a clean microfiber cloth to wipe out all the crumbs and dry bits from the interior.
- Make a paste of equal parts baking soda and white vinegar.
- Apply the paste to stains and let sit for five minutes.
- Use a damp sponge to wipe away the stain.
- In a bowl, mix hot water with a few drops of dish soap.
- Dip a clean sponge into the solution and wipe down all the shelves and the refrigerator interior.
- Use a damp microfiber cloth to remove soap residue and wipe dry with another clean microfiber cloth.
- Wipe down the exterior with a surface-safe cleanser and be sure to disinfect the handles.
Once the refrigerator is thoroughly clean and dry, promptly return contents. As an additional tip, wiping spills or drips as soon as they happen can prevent stuck on messes and stains that are challenging to clean.
Efficiency Benefits
A clean refrigerator is also more efficient. Keeping food items wrapped properly and storing them in the correct drawers, such as the vegetable crisper, helps control air and moisture levels, which keeps your food fresher for longer. Wrapping foods properly also reduces mess. Reynolds Wrap provides some handy tips towards using plastic wrap for leftovers and for use in the freezer. Moving items around and organizing them regularly ensures you’re using the space effectively and minimizing waste.
Inventory Management: Stay Organized and Save Money
Cleaning your refrigerator and pantry gives you the opportunity to take stock of what you have. This helps you avoid buying duplicate items, reduces unnecessary spending, and minimizes food waste.
Meal Planning
Knowing your inventory also makes meal planning easier. When you’re aware of what’s available, you can plan recipes more efficiently and use ingredients before they expire.
The All-Important Condenser Coil
Don’t overlook the exterior of your fridge – to include cleaning the germy door handles. Additionally, the front grill should be kept free of dust and lint to permit free air flow to the condenser. The condenser coils are important as they are responsible for removing heat from the refrigerator’s interior, allowing it to keep cool and maintain food freshness. Several times a year, the condenser coil should be cleaned with a vacuum with brush attachment to remove dust, dirt, grime and lint.
Weekly Pantry Cleaning: Benefits and Importance
Now that we’ve addressed the refrigerator, let’s move on to the pantry, another very important place for food storage – and one that can greatly benefit from food organization and management. Regularly cleaning your pantry each week offers multiple advantages. It helps you keep track of what you have, preventing unnecessary purchases and reducing food waste. Just like organizing the fridge, removing expired or unused items creates space for new groceries and keeps your pantry organized and efficient. Best method: Most experts suggest taking everything out of the pantry, thoroughly wiping down the shelves with a damp cloth, grouping items you’re keeping together, and reintroducing them in a sensible fashion using food storage containers and practical techniques.
Reviewing “Best By” and Expiration Dates
Best by and expiration dates play an important role in food safety and quality. Manufacturers include “use by” or “best by” dates to indicate the timeframe in which a product is expected to remain at peak quality. These dates help consumers determine how long a product will maintain its flavor, texture, and nutritional value. Importantly, they also indicate when it’s safest to consume a product. These dates are serious guidelines to help you make informed choices about when to use or replace items in your pantry and refrigerator. By following these recommendations, you can enjoy food at its freshest peak and avoid unnecessary waste.
Why Keeping Up Is Important
Maintaining a clean and orderly pantry is essential for both efficiency and health. An organized refrigerator and pantry make it easier to locate ingredients, helps to streamline meal planning, and ensures that food items are used before they expire. Cleanliness also supports a hygienic environment, helping prevent food pantry pests like insects and maintaining the freshness of stored foods like flour that can go rancid over time.
Don’t Forget the Spices
Dry spices are an essential cooking ingredient widely used in the kitchen. When it comes to cleaning and organizing kitchen goods, dry spices are often overlooked. But they should not be forgotten. While most expired spices are shelf-stable and may not make you sick, they can lose potency and aroma -and essentially become tasteless. Plus, old spices exposed to moisture can develop mold. Therefore, spices past their expiration date should be discarded. Here’s a rough guideline for storing spices provided by American food company McCormick & Company.
Expert Advice for Maintaining an Orderly Pantry
Maintaining an organized pantry can make daily meal preparation more efficient and help reduce food waste. Lifestyle expert Martha Stewart emphasizes the importance of a straightforward approach to pantry management. She recommends beginning with decluttering, which involves discarding expired or damaged canned goods and removing unexpired items in good condition for donation to a local food pantry. This initial step ensures that only usable and safe food items remain in your pantry.
Donating Food
Organizing lets you identify which foods you won’t use but are still within their expiration date. These items can be donated to those in need, further reducing waste and supporting your community. However, only donate non-damaged, unopened goods that have been properly stored and are still within their “freshness” date. Tip: When donating canned goods, it’s suggested that donators include a new can opener – as folks who are struggling may lack one.
Storage Containers and Pantry Arrangement
Once decluttering is complete, Stewart suggests the use of airtight, transparent containers. These containers not only preserve the freshness of your food but also make it easy to see what you have on hand. Grouping similar items together and creating designated zones allows for quick identification and retrieval of ingredients. Applying labels to each container or shelf further streamlines the process, making it easy to locate items and maintain organization over time.
First-In, First-Out: Minimizing Food Waste
Home experts also advocate for the first-in, first-out method. This practice involves placing newly purchased items behind older ones, ensuring that older products are used first. By following this system, you maximize the use of every item, minimize food waste, and keep your pantry well-stocked and efficient.
Summary: Why Cleaning Your Refrigerator and Pantry Is Essential
While many aspects of life can be unpredictable, maintaining a clean and safe kitchen environment is entirely achievable. Regular cleaning of the refrigerator and consistent organization of the pantry help ensure that surfaces remain sanitary and that the food consumed is safe and fresh for consumption.
Disclosure: This article is purely informational and is not intended as a medical resource.
This article prompted me to clean the fridge. It was a bit overdue. And it prompted me to think that everything in there was handled by others, from the producer to the stockboy. You can bet most of them didn’t have perfectly clean hands. So now I’m wiping everything down before putting it in there. Where’s the balance between Felix Unger and Oscar Madison?
Next, the freezer, then the cabinets!