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Refrigerators, once a rare household phenomenon, have today become a common household commodity. It has one more intimate member in the family – a welcome coolant, easing out our discomfort in the ‘Beat the Heat’ challenge of the summer.

In fact, now with both the man and the woman going out to work, stacking the fridge with weeklong requirements of vegetables, fruits, dairy products and grocery items has become a weekend activity for most families.

One can even imagine to write an essay on ‘A Day without the Sun’ but one simply cannot imagine a day without an efficient fridge in their kitchen.

But we do need to hold on to certain tips I wish to share:

The fridge has to be placed on an even ground otherwise its door might not get closed properly and the cool air from within might leak out. This will hamper the efficiency of the working of it and also might consume more power to balance the temperature required within.

With reference to the door, one thing to be borne in mind is that the door shouldn’t be operated too frequently. Necessity should be synonymous with open and shut Sesame! Also only remove required quantity of material from inside, replace the leftover inside and close the door behind you.

Defrosting, once a week, is a must to maintain freshness in the items kept inside too much ice formation is hazardous for the machinery parts of the fridge. When out of station, please remember to switch off power supply to the fridge.

Any item kept inside should be well closed, air tight container. Double door fridges are ideal to store non vegetarian goods. Every time the door is opened, some warm air is bound to enter the fridge. Non vegetarian goods also occupy more space. To keep them also needs a lesser temperature zone. Hence double doors come in handy while storing such items.

We generally keep fruits and vegetables in plastic trays or bags. Water drops tend to collect in them, resulting in quick rottening of items. It is advisable to wrap up veggies and fruits in thin cotton or muslin cloths or put them inside cotton bags while storing them inside.

In a small corner of the fridge, you could store a little bit of cooking soda is an open container to avoid mixed odors coming out of the fridge.

To keep the compressor long lasting and efficient, it would be a good practice to remove the ice states deposited in the freezer compartment.

The soul of Indian cooking ties in its spicy and flavor inducing agents like coriander and curry leaves. Also most south Indian homes are bound to store jasmine flowers in their fridge.

The best storage medium for such odor-full items are our commonly found emptied aluminium foiled wrappers/covers like those we get after transferring coffee powder, health drinks, baby food packs, etc. Even fresh greens can be stored in them by clipping their months with a paper clip.

One more thing that we should remember: Not to store hot/warm foods inside the fridge. This will cause the interior to rise in temperature giving room to bacteria infesting inside. The outside of the refrigerator may also be kept sparkling bright using some soap water scrubbing and dry cloth wiping after.

My idea of exploiting the fridge’s presence in my kitchen had me using it as a:

Communication board (information, news, notes)
Reminder front
Shopping List display area.
A Thank You Card, if need arises, to a family member.
A To-Do-List Pin up place.
Spelling list for my child to learn spellings of new words
A show case for Family photos, changing them from time to time.

You could add a lot more ways of utility to make your refrigerator an active component in your life’s areas of health, comfort, hygiene and communication, as well.

Courtesy: Health & Beauty Mag.