Fridge Tips

Keep the fridge at a cool 1 - 5 degrees and chilled food will stay fresh for longer. Our most perishable (and often most expensive) food is kept in the fridge, so keep tabs on their use-by dates - the freezer may be the option for food we won't get round to eating in time.

• emergency cold storage

  Submitted by Mags, Surrey, surrey

  when my bargain conscious husband turned up on Christmas eve with arms full of reduced items, I was reduced to keeping some food in the CAR in the drive.....Vegetables,eggs, drinks etc were fine!

• Veg fridge tip

  When you’re cooking a big celebration meal and want to save yourself time on the day of the feast, prepare veg such as carrots, parnips and sprouts on the day before and store them in the fridge in a plastic bag - reusing a plastic bag from the bread or other food bag would be ideal.

• Cooling Stock

  Submitted by Natalia, Winchester

  Chicken stock can take a long time to be cool enough to go into the fridge. In winter I place the stock pan outside the back door to let it cool down over night before giving it a last blast in the morning and decanting it to the fridge or freezer. This means it can be on a very low simmer right up until I go to bed!

• Cool storage

  If you are cooking for lots of people and need to keep the food cool and safe in your small kitchen. Save the fridge for highly perishable foods and use an unheated garage, balcony or even an animal-free area of the garden for drinks, eggs, root vegetables and hard cabbage. Use coolboxes and ice packs kept ready in the freezer.

• Using up melons!

  Submitted by Womens Institute,

  Melon can be a great addition to your breakfast in the morning or as an afternoon or evening snack. Simply chop the melon into pieces and place them in an airtight container in the fridge. They should last up to 5 days.

• Bad apple!

  Submitted by Womens Institute,

  There's always one bad apple that spoils the barrel, so keep an eye on your fruit, seperate fruit which is ripening up more quickly than the others.

• Fast Cool

  Submitted by Bev Donnison, Shropshire

  When I need to cool cooked food quickly, I put it on top of frozen freezer blocks like the ones for picnics, this cools the food quickly so it's less likely to get bugs in and can go into the freezer twice as quickly as just waiting to cool down.

• Keeping Lettuce Fresh

  Submitted by Michelle Talbot, Leeds

  When you buy an iceburg lettuce (it may work for others?) break it up with your hands and store it in the fridge in a bowl of cold water - it will stay fresh and crispy for much longer than normal.

• Stop veg going mouldy

  Submitted by Gilda , Shoreham by Sea

  I wrap lettuce, carrots, courgettes etc in kitchen paper then put them in plastic bags in the salad compartment of the fridge. They keep fresh for ages. The paper stops the condensation from softening the veg and stops mould.

• Keep salad fresh

  Submitted by James Wo, London, e1

  Keep salad in a paper bag, or in a plastic bag with a strip of kitchen roll. Keeps them moist, but not soggy!