Kitchen Tip: Refrigeration Climate Zones

July 24, 2008

Once again the June/July Cook’s Illustrated provides a great tip – this time about storing foods in your refrigerator. While you may expect your refrigerator to be a consistent temperature throughout, there are actually three “microclimates.”

• Cold – The back of the refrigerator on the middle and top levels is the coldest area. If your food potentially could be damaged by cold, don’t store it here.
• Medium – The front of the refrigerator in the middle and bottom is right in the middle of the cold and humid zones. Foods that can be damaged by severe cold but don’t need a humid area should be stored here.
• Humid – The humid area is are those bins you probably have at the bottom of the refrigerator. They are present to keep humidity trapped, which stops some fruits and vegetables from rotting. Be careful, however, as a drawer that is too humid can actually accelerate the rotting. Use the vents to get the right humidity, perhaps even testing various fruits and vegetables at different settings to find the optimum.

Different fruits and vegetables prefer different zones, which is a topic for another time – but be aware that your refrigerator does not have a constant temperature. It gets colder as you move up and back, warmer as you move forward and down, and the drawers at the bottom are for a humid environment.

Also, I am not very happy with Cook’s Illustrated right now because of this incident at Alosha’s Kitchen.  I really like their magazine, but haven’t decided yet if I’ll keep reading or not.

Posted in Kitchen Tips |