----- Original Message ----- From: "Christine Diller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Lenore Koszalinski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 10:34 PM Subject: Household Hint: What Do I With My Refrigerator's Crisper Drawer?
> What Do I Do With My Refrigerator's Crisper Drawer? > > By Mary Hunt > > You may think the main purpose of your refrigerator is to display things > glued to magnets and children's art, but what's inside reflects your > individual > lifestyle even more than the clothes you wear or the cars you drive. I am > grateful you cannot see inside my refrigerator because I believe there are > a > few science projects growing in the back. > > The main purpose of a refrigerator is to produce low temperatures in order > to slow down the process that spoils food. > > There are two kinds of bacteria. Spoilage bacteria make food repulsive and > inedible, but they won't make you sick. The illness-causing kind, > pathogenic > bacteria, may be completely undetectable by taste or appearance, but they > are very dangerous. Low temperatures inhibit both kinds. > > The freezer compartment is at the top of most refrigerators for a very > good > reason: Any cold air leakage will fall down (heat rises, remember?) and > will > help cool the lower parts of the fridge. The temperature of the freezer > should be kept at zero or lower, and the refrigerator's temperature always > should > be lower than 40. To check, get an inexpensive refrigerator-freezer > thermometer. First, stick it in the refrigerator. After six to eight > hours, > check the > temperature, then adjust as necessary. > > The crisper drawer is designed to control humidity rather than > temperature. > Vegetables will dry out and get flabby unless the humidity is kept > relatively > high, so the crisper keeps water vapor in. Fruits require a lower humidity > than vegetables, so some crispers have adjustable openings that you're > supposed > to readjust every time you change the contents. If you have two drawers, > keep fruits in one and vegetables in the other, adjusting the humidity > accordingly. > > Your refrigerator also may have a meat keeper. It's the coldest part of > the > fridge, except for the freezer. Fresh fish shouldn't be kept more than a > day, > so freeze the fish if you are not going to eat it the same day you acquire > it. > > Those handy shelves and compartments in the refrigerator door are the > warmest spot in the fridge. Every time you open the fridge, a blast of hot > air hits > that area first. So keep items there that are not sensitive to increased > temperatures, such as bottled dressings. Do not store eggs there; they > need > to > go deep inside the fridge to maintain a more even temperature. > > > > > Chris > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > A capable, intelligent and virtuous woman is more precious than jewels! > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1352 - Release > Date: 3/31/2008 10:13 AM > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
