Food storage
How to organise your fridge so nothing gets forgotten
Organise your fridge by zone: ready-to-eat food and leftovers on the top shelves, dairy and eggs in the middle, raw meat and fish sealed on the coldest bottom shelf, fruit and veg in the drawers, and condiments in the door. Keep the whole thing at 0 to 5°C, and put older items at the front so they get used first.
The one rule that matters most
If you remember nothing else, remember this: ready-to-eat food goes above raw meat, never below it. Raw meat, poultry and fish can drip, and those drips carry bacteria. Anything you will eat without cooking, like cheese, leftovers or salad, needs to be out of the splash zone. The Food Standards Agency covers safe chilling and cross-contamination at food.gov.uk.
Everything else in this guide is about making that easy to stick to, and making sure food gets eaten instead of quietly going off at the back.
Where everything goes, shelf by shelf
A fridge is colder at the bottom and warmer at the top and in the door. Matching each food to the right zone keeps it fresh for longer and keeps you safe.
| Zone | What goes here | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Top shelves | Leftovers, cooked meats, drinks, yoghurt | Steady temperature, and safely above any raw drips |
| Middle shelves | Dairy, cheese, butter, eggs | Consistent chill without being the coldest spot |
| Bottom shelf | Raw meat, poultry and fish, sealed | Coldest part, and nothing can drip onto food below |
| Salad drawers | Fruit and veg | Higher humidity keeps produce crisp for longer |
| Door | Condiments, sauces, jams, juice | Warmest part, so only for things that cope with it |
Two small things make a big difference. Keep raw meat in a sealed box or on a plate, not loose. And try to keep fruit and veg apart where you can, because some fruit gives off ethylene as it ripens and speeds up everything nearby.
What temperature should your fridge be?
Your fridge should run at 5°C or below, and 0 to 5°C is the sweet spot. The catch is that plenty of home fridges sit warmer than the dial claims, especially if they are packed or the door gets opened a lot. A cheap fridge thermometer on the middle shelf settles the question in a day, and every degree colder (down to 0°C) buys your food a little more time. See how much that matters in our full fridge storage chart.
Create a "use first" zone
Pick one shelf, or just a small box or tray at the front, and make it the spot for anything close to its date or already opened. Whatever lands there is your shortlist for tonight's dinner. It turns "what needs using up?" from a fridge-wide rummage into a two-second glance, which is the difference between food getting cooked and food getting binned.
Label and date your leftovers
Leftovers become a mystery within about three days if you cannot remember when you made them. Clear tubs and a quick note of what it is and the date fixes that. On safety, the FSA advice is to cool leftovers within one to two hours, get them in the fridge, use them within two days, and reheat only once until piping hot all the way through. Freeze anything you will not get to in time.
Rotate: oldest at the front
Shops call it "first in, first out", and it works just as well at home. When you unpack the shopping, move older items to the front and put the new ones behind. It sounds fussy, but it is the single habit that stops the yoghurt at the back turning into a science project. Do it once a week when you put the big shop away and it becomes automatic.
Keep a running inventory
The hardest part of a tidy fridge is not the tidying, it is remembering what is in there when you are stood in the shop or deciding what to cook. That is the bit an app can take off your hands. What's in my Fridge is basically a tidy fridge in your pocket: snap your shopping or a receipt and it logs everything, sorts it into fridge, freezer and pantry, tracks freshness, and flags what to use up first. It is free to start, no card needed.
Fridge organisation: frequently asked questions
What is the best way to organise a fridge?
Store by zone: raw meat and fish on the coldest bottom shelf, dairy and leftovers on the middle shelves, fruit and veg in the drawers, and condiments in the door. Keep older items at the front so they get used first.
Where should I store raw meat in the fridge?
On the bottom shelf, sealed, so any drips cannot reach other food. The Food Standards Agency recommends this to avoid cross-contamination, and covers safe chilling at food.gov.uk.
What temperature should my fridge be?
At or below 5°C, ideally between 0 and 5°C. Many fridges run warmer than people think, which shortens how long food lasts, so a cheap fridge thermometer is worth having.
Should eggs and milk go in the fridge door?
Keep milk on a shelf rather than the door, since the door is the warmest part and swings in temperature every time you open it. Eggs are best kept in their box on a middle shelf, not the door, so they stay at a steady temperature.
Stop guessing what's in your fridge
Snap your shopping or a receipt and let AI log it all: track freshness, get dinner ideas, and waste less. Free to start, no card needed.
Try it free — no cardRelated: how to stop wasting food and what can I make for dinner with what's in my fridge.
← More from the blog