When you work in a commercial kitchen, having an organised fridge freezer is a requisite of the job. This ensures staff can easily find the food they need but also allows food to be stored safely and correctly without the risk of cross-contamination. Here are some top fridge freezer organisation tips.
Never store meat on the top shelf
Raw meat must never be placed on the top shelf, as spillages or drips could cause contamination with items below. Instead, store meat on the bottom shelf only. According to the Daily Mail even wrapped chicken might not be free of contamination, so keep this in a separate box.
Ensure air can circulate
When storing items in a fridge freezer, don’t pack them in so they’re touching each other. This prevents air from circulating around items, and increases the risk of cross-contamination.
Clean regularly
In the same way you would regularly clean your commercial warewashers to ensure optimum performance from your dishwashers, keeping your fridge freezer clean also ensures it’s working to its maximum efficiency. A regular clean out also means you can better organise your fridge freezer and check its contents. You may want to invest in some Lin Bins from companies such as www.rackzone.ie/bin-racks to place your products in whilst you give your fridge a good clearout.
Label everything
If you want an organised fridge freezer, get into the habit of labelling everything. Label food items with the delivery, preparation and use-by dates, and label your shelves, so that staff can easily and quickly find what they’re looking for. Labelling shelves and food also ensures items are stored in the correct place and don’t breach any health and safety laws.
Operate a first-in, first-out policy
Customers will want to feel confident that the food you prepare is fresh and of good quality, so maintain high standards by adopting a first-in, first-out approach. This means, that food that is new, should be placed at the back of the fridge, so that already-stored items can be used up first. This also makes sense from a cost and waste point of view.
Be wary of fans
The fans in your fridge freezer are there to help the air circulate effectively, but storing certain items too close to the strong air flow of the fans could damage them. Delicate items in particular, are especially vulnerable, so keep items such as green vegetables and soft berries far away from the fans in your fridge freezer.
Eleena Timmons 
Roman Cyrus 