Bottom shelf, at the back, on a plate or tray. Always the bottom, so nothing can drip onto food you’re not going to cook.
4. Anything You’ve Already Opened and Want to Keep a While
An opened tub of sour cream and a carton of cream on a shelf
Opened cream. Opened yogurt. Leftover sauces you actually intend to finish. Soft cheeses.
Once a seal is broken, the clock is running, and a warm shelf runs it faster. The door is where half-used things go to be forgotten, and the door is the worst place to forget something.
5. Fresh Herbs and Delicate Greens
A bunch of parsley standing in a glass of water in the fridge
Herbs wilt fast at fluctuating temperatures, and the door is where a bunch of parsley usually ends up because it fits nowhere else.
They keep far better standing in a glass with an inch of water, like flowers, on a middle shelf. Basil actually prefers the counter — the fridge turns its leaves black.
6. Anything Already Close to Its Date
Jars lined up at the front edge of a refrigerator shelf
This one is a habit rather than a food.
The door is where things go when you’re in a hurry, and it’s also where things get lost behind a jar of pickles.
Whatever is nearest its date should be at the front of a shelf where you can see it, not on the door where you can’t.
What the Door Is Actually Good For
Milk and a carton of eggs on a middle refrigerator shelf
Things that don’t care: ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, jam, pickles, hot sauce, salad dressing, most condiments.
They’re acidic or salty or both, which is exactly what makes them stable. They were sitting on a shop shelf at room temperature before you bought them.
The door was built for condiments. Give it condiments, and give the milk and the eggs a proper shelf.
