How to Keep Your Refrigerator and Freezer Clean

A refrigerator can be home to millions of germs, many of which are harmful to you and your family. Since you are storing your food here, it's important to know how to clean your refrigerator and freezer properly, to prevent the spread of bacteria and illnesses. The fridge may seem like one of the last places you want to clean, but it is the most important, and you need to make sure it's germ-free and organized.

Spills are likely to happen in your fridge, especially if containers are opened. Make sure everything you put into the fridge has a cover or something to contain the contents and prevent spilling. If a spill should occur, don't let it sit there! Clean it up as soon as you notice it, making sure you get all of the spill. Pull the drawers out and clean under them too.

Once in a while, you should take out all of the food in your fridge and give it a good cleaning. The best time to do this is when your fridge is pretty empty and not a lot of food is in there. Store what food you have in an ice chest or cooler to keep it cold. It will take about 20-30 minutes to deep clean your fridge from top to bottom. Use warm, soapy water and a clean rag to wipe down the shelves, drawers, racks and sides of the fridge. Lysol sanitizing wipes or Clorox wipes do a great job killing germs in there as well. Start from the top and work your way down. Take out the crisper drawers and wipe underneath those as well. Rinse with a wet rag, and dry with paper towels. Once you are finished cleaning, place an opened box of baking soda in the back and replace the food. Make sure you throw away any old and expired food. In the freezer, do the same thing you would do for the fridge.

When you store leftovers in the fridge, make sure they don't sit in there too long. A day or two is probably the most they should be kept in the fridge. If food is spoiling faster than it should, or if food is freezing, check the temperature of the fridge. It should be between 35 degrees and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The freezer's temperature should never be above 32 degrees, it should be around 0 - 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once your fridge and freezer are cleaned thoroughly, it's time to organize the items in there. Your fridge's crisper should hold fruits and vegetables. Other small drawers in the fridge can hold lunch meats, shredded cheese and other refrigerated small snacks. Butter should be kept in the small compartment, in its original packaging, not on a dish. You only put butter on the dish when you are having dinner. Eggs should be kept in the original carton, preferably on the top shelf where they will not be broken. Condiments that are used often, like ketchup, mustard and salad dressings are easy to find when they are stored in the top shelf of the door. The bottom shelves can be used for other condiments that aren't used as often, as well as opened jars of pasta sauce and gravy. I also find that these door shelves are good for canned soda and sometimes yogurt. Keep soda in the fridge packs that they come in, they are much easier to store and look nicer in the original packaging.

The freezer is important to keep organized. Make sure it's not too packed, because you want air to flow throughout to keep all of the food cold. If it's crammed with food, air will not be able to flow and the temperature of the freezer can rise to dangerous levels, and ruin your frozen foods. Wrap all of the meats in heavy duty aluminum foil, or place in freezer bags to prevent freezer burn. Meats come wrapped in plastic wrap on a Styrofoam tray, but that isn't good enough to hold up in the freezer. Keep the food safe and wrap it again. Leftovers stored in the freezer do hold up longer than in the fridge, but you shouldn't forget about them either. If there is freezer burn on any food, you should throw it out. If you have an ice bucket in your freezer, you should dump the ice and clean out the bucket, starting fresh. Same goes with your ice trays.

As for the outside of your fridge and freezer, wipe down the handles with Lysol or other antibacterial cleaner. The handles are where you'll find most of the germs. Wipe down the sides and doors too. If you can, move the fridge out and clean underneath it. Most likely, it will be very dusty and dirty behind there, but it's important to keep it clean there too. The condenser coils need to be dust-free in order to keep your appliance running efficiently.

A good idea is to wipe down your fridge and freezer any time you see gunk and stickiness building up. This way, when you do go to deep clean, it will go much smoother. Also, throw out any rotten food as it spoils, don't let it sit and grow mold. Mold on a certain food can spread to the other foods, causing everything to go bad. Remember, it's important for your food to be stored in a clean, bacteria-free environment, to keep it safe to eat.