quote:

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Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan (on another thread):
(You also never see the back of their refrigerator, because there are so many random bottles of stuff that my dad used in one recipe and then never used again.)

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In the old days, when frost-free refrigerators were a luxury and we had to "defrost", my mother would clean out the fridge at least once a month: take everything out, put pans of boiling water in the freezer compartment to melt the ice, scrub the insides and the shelves, then put everything back (except what could be thrown out).

So would I, until I moved into my first apartment that had a frost-free fridge.

Now I have it down to a ritual: I clean out the fridge twice each year: on New Year's Day and on the Fourth of July.

You?
 

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Posted by sabine (# 3861) on :
 
Yeah, twice a year sounds like me.

But not the vegetable drawers. A real witch's brew can get up in there pretty darn fast.

sabine
 

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Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :
 
I live a very spartan life and shun guests, so I tend to keep a reasonably clean and empty fridge. I had someone comment they wondered if I lived there. The vegetable/fruit drawer gets a clean after I store watermelon in there as once cut it drips. I rarely have jars go past their use by/best by date as I throw them out ruthlessly.

Unlike my parents who rejoiced in all manner of foodstuffs becoming scientific experiments when I visited last year; I found jars best before 2015. I took great pride in disposing of them.
 

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Posted by Pangolin Guerre (# 18686) on :
 
My habit is to shop mostly on a daily basis, so generally little hangs around more than a few days except for a staggering selection of condiments (various mustards, mayonnaise, sambals, jams, vinegars, pickles, etc), so I've been able to get away with an annual comprehensive scrub.

Until.... last year, I noticed an ice accumulation in the fridge (not freezer) compartment. Odd, I thought. Then, one day, a noticed a small dribble of water from beneath the crisper. I removed the crisper drawer to find a swamp of opaque, milky sludge had accumulated. Horror. Everything out of the fridge, turned it off, scrubbed it immediately. I don't know what happened, but it happened again. Someone else is dealing with it now.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Crisper (salad) drawer: every time it get below a certain level and is about to be re-stocked. So at least once a week it is wiped out.

Once a month: all shelves, removable door compartments, etc, are removed and washed thoroughly. Interior is thoroughly washed down using a mixture of lemon juice, bicarbonate of soda and a tiny drop of laundry disinfectant in very hot water before being thoroughly dried with kitchen paper.

IME the worst culprits for depositing dirt are the bottom of milk cartons so I wipe these off before they are 'fridged.

As for the contents, nothing seems to hang around for long enough to go past a use-by date.
 

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Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :
 
I do a bit of the fridge every day, so it works out that the whole fridge is cleaned once a week.

I have this method with cleaning the bathrooms too.

I clean a shelf or drawer of the fridge when I’ve had my morning coffee and the bathrooms when I’ve had my shower every day. That way neither is a chore to me.

Did I mention that I hate cleaning with a disproportionate passion?

My OH does all the shopping and cooking and I do the washing and cleaning so I can’t complain - but that doesn’t make me like it any better!
 

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Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :
 
I never clean my fridge. That’s what a cleaner is for .

Apart from a few condiments and jars, we actually manage to eat most of the contents of our fridge quite regularly. Skilled leftover recycling means we throw very little away.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I never clean my fridge. That’s what a cleaner is for .

Apart from a few condiments and jars, we actually manage to eat most of the contents of our fridge quite regularly. Skilled leftover recycling means we throw very little away.

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quote:

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Did I mention that I hate cleaning with a disproportionate passion?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
I never clear the fridge. That what wives are for.

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To which hospital would you like the flowers sent, SC?
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Graven Image:
I keep cotton kitchen towels in the bottom of bins and toss them in laundry and replace with clean ones.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:

I doe he joy of defrosting our freezer, breaking off the chunks of ice. There is something quite pleasing in this.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
I live a very spartan life and shun guests, so I tend to keep a reasonably clean and empty fridge. I had someone comment they wondered if I lived there. The vegetable/fruit drawer gets a clean after I store watermelon in there as once cut it drips. I rarely have jars go past their use by/best by date as I throw them out ruthlessly.

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Best Before dates are mostly a ruse to make you buy more stuff. I routinely use stuff months or years past its "best before". As a rule of thumb, something with a "best before" a few weeks past sale is good for months; something with a "best before" months after sale is good for years. The only thing I've noticed actually deteriorate after "best before" is crisps.
 

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Posted by mr cheesy (# 3330) on :
 
We also shop on a regular (near daily) basis so there is little that stays in the fridge long enough to go off. The back has a few open jars of homemade jam which are just store there to make use of the space.

I didn't realise this regular-shopping behaviour was so common (I thought it was just me ).

Another feature of our fridge is that it is awkward to open wide enough to get the drawer out, so it is only cleaned when it gets bad enough to notice and I can overcome the can't-be-bothered reflex.

We're gradually eating through last year's fruit I grew, when that's all gone I will have to defrost the freezer ready for the next one. I only do that once a year.
 

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Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by jacobsen:

quote:

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Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:

I doe he joy of defrosting our freezer, breaking off the chunks of ice. There is something quite pleasing in this.

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I managed to break a knife doing that. After stabbing the fridge lining so the fridge had to be replaced.

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quote:

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Originally posted by mr cheesy:
I didn't realise this regular-shopping behaviour was so common (I thought it was just me ).

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quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
We do it too. Often we buy things on the bargain shelves which need to be used in a day or two (or we freeze them) - it saves a lot of money.

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Yeah, me too. We used to buy almost everything from the reduced shelf, but since we moved that's not been quite so easy. But I've still continued the regular shopping pattern.
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Well, by no means all the stuff on the reduced shelf is what we want to eat!

My wife is a dab hand at using up leftovers. We had a roast chicken on Sunday, she made African Chicken Yassa last night and there's still enough to freeze for another meal. And she's made some soup which we'll have at lunchtime.
 

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Posted by mr cheesy (# 3330) on :
 
We used to go to the shop and then cook whatever we could get hold of immediately afterwards.

We don't have leftovers - only exceptions are when I've deliberately cooked one meal for two days, for example stew as we are having today.

[ 17. January 2018, 08:18: Message edited by: mr cheesy ]
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
We find that bigger joints taste better than little ones, so we deliberately get ones which can be roasted on Day 1 and used for stewing etc. on Day 2.
 

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Posted by mr cheesy (# 3330) on :
 
Ah. I don't roast joints, I don't like the smell. A few times a year I'll cook a chicken in the slow cooker and then freeze in bags to use later.

I suppose that's a form of leftovers in a way, although it is deliberate.
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Exactly. And, for instance, my wife always cooks Portuguese "bacalhau a braz" on Christmas Eve (we spent our first married Christmas in Lisbon), she always makes double and freezes half.

[ 17. January 2018, 08:36: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
What is this "reduced" of which you speak? In our place it is termed "distressed" - foodstuffs that are sad and in need of a good home.

I hadn't realised how ingrained the routine of going to the "distressed" section was until we were on holiday with friends and the children, having rushed ahead, came back (with trolley) and then dragged us all to the "distressed" section, bypassing everything else. Friends were a trifle taken aback!
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Now that's a term I have never come across in regard to food. Aged gentlefolk, yes; and antique furniture - but not food!
 

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Posted by mr cheesy (# 3330) on :
 
I thought shrinkage was the retail description for it.
 

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Posted by Arethosemyfeet (# 17047) on :
 
The problem with the reduced section is exemplified by the lemon cheesecake (85p) currently sitting in the fridge.

On the fridge cleaning thing our fridge keeps very low temperatures so things very rarely go bad in the fridge. We clean the fridge... in all honesty probably when we move house.
 

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Posted by Ferijen (# 4719) on :
 
If I have to play animal, vegetable, mineral with something out of the fridge, it has been Too Long...
 

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Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Now that's a term I have never come across in regard to food. Aged gentlefolk, yes; and antique furniture - but not food!

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quote:

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Originally posted by mr cheesy:
Ah. I don't roast joints, I don't like the smell. A few times a year I'll cook a chicken in the slow cooker and then freeze in bags to use later.

I suppose that's a form of leftovers in a way, although it is deliberate.

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