Thinking inside the box

[mattbell]

My new place needs some love to turn it into a proper home.  The kitchen has almost no cabinets for storing food and kitchenware, but it does have a gargantuan fridge that I have all to myself.  I don't know why it took me almost a week to realize the perfect solution -- just use the fridge as additional storage space!  Would there be any harm in storing most dry foods at fridge temperatures?  If not I'll just start putting bowls and plates in there.

Longer term I should get a kitchen cabinet. :-)

 

Comments

[avani.livejournal.com]

I like keeping dry goods in the fridge if there is room. It seems to slow down staleness as well as keeping the insects out.

[integreillumine.livejournal.com]

We can totally look for a cabinet or shelving unit!

Personally, when it's chilly out the last thing I want to be doing is eating ideally room-temp foods cold on a cold plate... but your place is pretty temperate, I guess. ;)

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

I've kept flours, rice, cereal, etc. in the fridge when I had had a problem with bugs or moths in the pantry. No reason not to keep them in there. Having a full refrigerator also cuts down cooling costs.

[mary-wroth.livejournal.com]

As you know, my tiny kitchen in Brooklyn has this same issue.

And I really like this kind of solution to maximize wall space:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/elfa/bestSellingSolutions/kitchen?productId=10009293

And we ultimately had to buy a small cabinet to also store food. BUT - I ended up not getting an "official" kitchen cabinet, rather we appropriated an IKEA shoe shelf/wardrobe THING which works just fine.

[shekina.livejournal.com]

The cold temperatures will promote sublimation of the moisture within the typically room temperature goods (e.g., freezer burn). This is a great for dry goods like flour, sugar, rice, cereal, etc. where any moisture is bad, but not so great for baked goods or fruits and vegetables typically stored at room temperature. Granted, if you eat everything you buy within a week or so, none of this will be noticeable.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I generally refrigerate my fruits and vegetables. Which fruits and vegetables should be stored at room temperature? I could take a guess based on the way things are sold in supermarkets, but it seems like even the nonrefrigerated sections (eg where the apples and oranges are placed) are still colder than my house.

[integreillumine.livejournal.com]

Potatoes, onions, garlic, citrus, basil, winter squash/pumpkin, other people's tomatoes, ;) ... definitely keep out a bit.

If fruit isn't ripe, refrigeration can change how and whether they ripen properly. Melons, nectarines, plums and peaches, and pears shouldn't be refrigerated until they're ripe. Apples are different, commonly winter food, because, well, many types of apples ripen in autumn.

Since you like some of your fruit underripe (perhaps as a guard against over-ripeness? or are acclimated to refrigerated fruit?), I'm not sure if all this info actually applies to you.

[shekina.livejournal.com]

Thin skinned, soft fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes, peaches, plums, etc. are most susceptible, followed by water rich greens like lettuce and asparagus. Some other fruits, like avocados will take much longer to ripen and will more likely develop strings if stored in the fridge. Also, it's not a good idea to store apples in a closed space with other fruits or vegetables as apples give off ethylene gas which speeds up the ripen and rotting of other produce, so store apples outside of the fridge to save everything else.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I assume that water-rich greens would be okay in refrigerators if they were stored in sealed plastic bags to prevent moisture loss.

[integreillumine.livejournal.com]

Though a trick for underripe produce is to put it in a bag with apples or bananas!

[shekina.livejournal.com]

The "crisper" drawers at the bottom of the fridge are typically the warmest place in the fridge and thus the best place for the lettuce and other water rich, delicate vegetables.