Although refrigerators exist in almost every household today, most people are not aware of how to keep it at an ideal temperature. Apart from adjusting the refrigerator’s temperature setting, there are additional factors as well such as overstuffing and the areas where you store the food inside the refrigerator. Moreover, if the temperature is fluctuating, there could be an issue and the freezer may need inspection from an appliance repair service.
Let’s discuss how you can maintain an ideal temperature for your refrigerator.
What Is The Best Temperature For A Fridge?
The ideal refrigerator temperature should range between 35 degrees Fahrenheit and 28 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, the food items do not freeze or rot either. So, you can say it keeps the food items below the danger zone. As the food items near the danger zone, the chances of bacteria growing rises exponentially. As a result, the probability of food spoiling increases irrespective of it being hot or cold. The consumption of such food items can lead to several health complications like a stomach ache.
How To Measure Your Refrigerator’s Temperature?
Even though refrigerators come with adjustable temperature settings and some even show the temperature inside. However, if your refrigerator doesn’t, you should invest in a tool that reads the temperature and keeps you updated. You can easily buy a thermometer that will give you nearly accurate reading. This will help keep the fridge out of the danger zone.
If you wish to get an accurate reading, you should place the thermometer in the center of the area where you would like to test the temperature. Close the door and keep it in the fridge for a few hours to get an accurate reading.
Where To Store In Your Fridge?
Refrigerators come with separate compartments for storing food items. Even if the temperature is ideal, certain food items are vulnerable to spoiling if they aren’t stored in the right areas. Additionally, different parts of the area vary in terms of cooling. For instance, the back, as well as the bottom shelves of the refrigerator, are the coolest while the upper shelves tend to be a bit warmer.
The upper shelves are used to store snacks and leftovers as the temperature in this area is consistent and allows easy access to food as well. These shelves are specifically designed for quick snacks or food items that can simply be consumed as you take them out of the refrigerator.
People tend to store eggs and milk in the fridge door. This area is not meant to store such food items. Instead, condiments should be stored because they have relatively more preservatives in them. This makes the shelf more stable while less sensitive to varying temperatures.
Some refrigerators feature meat drawers which have a cooler temperature from other parts of the fridge and keep the meat from rotting. Meat items tend to be more sensitive to changing temperatures than other types of food items. Therefore, if you are storing deli meat, you should adjust the temperature to 36 degrees Fahrenheit and 32 degrees Fahrenheit for raw meat. If the temperature is low, the bacteria growth is also and the food is not spoiled easily.
Lastly, crisper drawers are designed to store vegetables and fruit. These compartments are not that cool but prevent humidity from existing. Fruits tend to be sensitive to humidity. That is why even dry fruits are kept in air-tight containers. However, vegetables benefit from high humidity. Therefore, it is important that you store both fruits and vegetables in areas that are specifically designed to keep ideal temperatures and humidity.
How To Keep Your Fridge At A Safe Temperature?
When it comes to keeping your fridge at a safe temperature, you need to consider several factors. First, you should never put hot food inside the unit. The reason is that not only hot food takes longer to cool but causes the temperature inside to increase as well, increasing the chances of spoiling other food items. Additionally, you should never overstuff the refrigerator and always keep the coils clean.
Final Word
Concluding, keeping the ideal temperature of your refrigerator is easy. If for some reason, you observe that the unit is not able to maintain the temperature, you should get it inspected and maintained from refrigerator repair Alexandria experts to prevent future problems.