Tag: airflow

Making the Most of Your Refrigerator Crisper Drawer

The crisper drawer is one of the most overlooked features of a refrigerator. In many homes, these little drawers seem to be the dumping ground for anything from cans of beer and yogurts to kids’ treats. While a drawer may seem like a great place for these smaller items that don’t seem to have a place on the shelves, your crisper drawer actually serves an important role in keeping your food fresh. So, here we’ll explore how you can make the most of your crisper drawers.

The Crisper Drawer Basics

In basic terms, the crisper drawer is a sealed off area that is set to a higher or lower humidity than the rest of the refrigerator cavity. Some models of refrigerator feature several drawers with pre-set humidity levels, other refrigerators have drawers that allow you to manually adjust the humidity level as needed. This adjustment mechanism tends to be deceptively simple; a little vent in the drawer closes when you set it to high humidity, sealing the drawer shut. When the humidity is set lower, the vent is opened to allow some moisture trapped out of the drawer. What is a little more complicated is deciding what foods should go where.

What Should be Stored in Your Crisper Drawers

While you can keep anything in your crisper drawer, they are designed to keep your produce fresher for longer. When you’ve taken the time and money to shop at farmer’s markets or quality grocery stores, it is waste when those beautiful vegetables wilt or soften in only a day or two. Crisper drawers can provide the optimum conditions to help maintain those lovely organic vegetables and fruits to save your dinner plans and your wallet.

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as throwing all your produce in the crisper drawer, as different types of produce have different needs. Some vegetables need higher humidity, while others prefer lower humidity and putting these items in the wrong conditions can compromise their lifespan. The good rule of thumb is that items that rot need low humidity while wilting items need high humidity, but we’ll explore this in more detail now.

Low Humidity Items

Foods that rot as they go bad need to be kept in low humidity conditions to optimize their lifespan. Produce in this category emit gas as they ripen and age, so opening the crisper drawer vent allows the gas to escape to keep your items fresher for longer. Some examples of items that should be kept in low humidity conditions include peaches, grapes, apples, pears, and avocados.

High Humidity Items

Wilting vegetables and foods don’t release any gas as they are stored, but they are prone to losing moisture. This means that these items should be kept in a high humidity crisper drawer to maintain their freshness. These foods include broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, strawberries and leafy greens such as lettuce, spinach, and kale.

Keep The Drawers Full

Finally, if you want to get the most out of your crisper drawers, it is worth considering that they work best when they are almost full. Although you still want to allow some airflow around your items, you can pack your crisper drawer with fruits and veggies, and you’ll be surprised at how well they last in the right conditions. So, next time you’re at the farmer’s market, go a little crazy, just remember to eat all of them!

If your refrigerator lacks crisper drawers and you’re considering an upgrade, you can explore your options with this refrigerator collection or speak to a home appliance expert for further help and guidance.

The Right Way to Use Refrigerator Drawers

Many of us give little thought to our refrigerator drawers, but the likelihood is that you’ve been using them wrong for years. There is actually a right way to use your crisper drawer, and it can impact the lifespan of your fresh produce.

It’s Not Just Extra Space

Whether it’s holiday season or during the summer, refrigerator space is almost always at a premium. So, it can be tempting to cram anything and everything into your refrigerator drawers. Unfortunately, if your refrigerator drawer contains vegetables, fruits and even cans of beer, it can impact performance. Getting the best use of your refrigerator drawer can extend the lifespan of your produce significantly. This will not only save money on your grocery bill, but it can ensure that your fruits and vegetables taste super fresh.

It’s About Airflow

The vents on your refrigerator drawer are designed to control the airflow to extend the lifespan of your fresh produce. Most refrigerator or crisper drawers feature adjustable humidity vents that allow you to create more humidity by closing off the airflow or open it up to create a low humidity environment. If your crisper drawers lack controls, it means that your refrigerator has high humidity drawers.

The Importance of Low and High Humidity Drawers

The most efficient way to use your crisper drawers is to create one low and one high humidity drawer. The general rule of thumb is that low humidity drawers should be used for items that rot easily, such as pears, melons, avocados, stone fruit, and apples. A high humidity drawer is ideal for fruits and vegetables that will wilt, such as leafy vegetables and thin skinned vegetables such as asparagus.

You can also use your high humidity drawer for any items that are sensitive to ethylene gas. Ethylene gas is a hormone that is ripened when certain fruits ripen. This gas can help if you want to quickly ripen something such as an avocado, but it can have a detrimental effect on lettuce and other sensitive items. The high humidity drawer traps the ethylene gas so that your produce won’t be discolored or prematurely softened.

The Correct Fill Level

Crisper drawers are designed to work at two thirds full. This means that you shouldn’t overfill or underfill your crisper drawers. When the drawer is overfull, your items will be too tightly packed in, and they won’t be able to breathe. Additionally, the weight of your heavier items may damage more delicate items.

Rotate Your Produce

Even if you have every item placed in the right crisper drawer, it can still be easy to forget about certain fruits and vegetables. So, it is important to rotate your produce, to ensure that everything is eaten when it’s at its best. Most refrigerator drawers are transparent, so you can see the contents, but it is still easy to forget about that avocado tucked in the back or those fresh herbs lingering under your lettuce. Therefore, it is a good idea to rotate the produce in your refrigerator drawers. Bring older items to the front and put any fresh groceries at the back of the drawer.

Upgrade Your Refrigerator

If you’re doing everything right and you still can’t enjoy fresh produce from your refrigerator, it may be time to upgrade to a new appliance. Fortunately, there are lots of fantastic models available with variable low and high humidity crisper drawers and other great features, which offer high energy efficiency. Although you may not relish the prospect of investing in a new refrigerator, just think how much you’ll save by not wasting all that delicious, fresh produce.

If your crisper drawers are no longer providing the optimum conditions for your fruit and vegetables, you can explore your options with this online refrigerator collection, or speak to a home appliance expert for a more specialist service.