My wife texted me the other day while I was busy working to let me know she had pulled our refrigerator apart, and had given the shelves, door bins, etc., a thorough cleaning. I of course thanked her, not only for taking care of our fridge, but also for giving me a Blog idea.
So, let me ask and answer some common questions we get here in the store:
What do the humidity controls in my crispers do? How do I best use this feature?
Essentially, the humidity controls are simple low-tech glides. When set for high humidity, the glide seals the crisper, trapping the moisture found in leafy vegetables, preventing them from drying out and prolonging their shelf life. On the low-humidity setting, the glide opens up, releasing the moisture of, say, skinned fruits so that the drawer has the same (low) humidity as the rest of the refrigerator.
For a more technical explanation, I give you this from Kridovia.com (full link follows):
- Adjust the Humidity Sliders As mentioned, the major role of humidity or crisper drawers is to extend the life of the fruits and vegetables by contolling the airflow with the help of the vents. Most of the crisper drawers have adjustable humidity vents which allow closing the airflow which crates more humidity or opening it up which creates low-humidity environments. As per the top kitchen appliances provider in Kolkata, to get the best out of the humidity drawer is by creating one high-humidity and one low-humidity drawer (note: your fridge may already be set up for this!)
- Trap Ethylene Gas. Do you know the primary reason why your food goes bad so quickly? It’s because of the ethylene gas which is emitted by the fruits like bananas, kiwis, and pears as they ripen. The refrigerator's humidity drawer can help you with that. When you pause the airflow access and create a high-humidity crisper drawer, all the ethylene gas is trapped inside and unable to prematurely soften or discolor the produce.
- Use the Humidity Zones Wisely. According to the top online refrigerator provider, the low-humidity drawer is perfect for things that rot easily such as apples, pears, avocados, melons, etc. The high-humidity drawer is perfect for anything that wilts like thick-skinned vegetables or leafy-green vegetables. The high-humidity drawer is also perfect for ethylene gas-sensitive items. Since all the gas-producing items are in another drawer, the food is safe here.
- Don’t Overfill or Underfill the Drawer. The humidity drawer is designed to work perfectly and efficiently when it is full by two-thirds. But people often neglect it and end up overfilling the drawer or underfilling it. Be careful not to pack the drawer too tightly as the food won’t be able to breathe and the weight of heavy items can destroy the delicate items
https://kridovia.com/blog/know-more-about-refrigerators-humidity-drawer-with
My icemaker is jammed and I don't want to have to pay for a service call; what can I do?
Today's freezers are almost 100% self-defrosting, When these freezers go into defrost mode, the outer edge of your frozen foods slightly thaws. When the defrost cycle ends and the compressor kicks back on, ice cubes can meld together as the outer surfaces refreeze. There's nothing one can do about this - it's a simple law of Physics! Often however, your icemaker can be unjammed easily!
This explanation from Universal Appliance Repair spells out the procedure (full link follows):
When the ice storage bin isn’t used frequently or has become too full, melting and refreezing can allow the ice cubes to start clumping together. This makes it impossible for the ice maker to dispense them. Fortunately, this is a relatively easy problem to resolve. Remove the storage bin and use your hands to break up any clumped up ice. If there are clumps that are frozen solid, you’ll need to dump them out into the sink. Once you replace the ice storage bin, it should resume function, but remember that to avoid this problem in the future, try to use your ice maker on a more frequent basis.
https://universalappliancerepair.com/how-to-safely-fix-a-stuck-ice-maker/
What's the best way to clean the inside of my fridge?
Yes ... back to the original question!
Good Housekeeping recommends the following procedure for your liner and shelves:
- Take out the salad crisper drawers from the bottom of the fridge if you can and all the removable shelves. If it's not obvious how to get them out, check the user manual before you start so you know exactly how to do it without damaging anything – it will also help you to get them back in! If you can't find the user guide, check the manufacturer’s website
- Next, wash shelves and salad crisper drawers you've been able to remove thoroughly with washing-up liquid and hot water. If the shelves (or any other removable parts) are made of glass, it’s best to let them reach room temperature first to reduce the risk of them shattering in very hot water.
- Use a toothpick to remove food residue that has collected in the join between the surface of the shelf and the shelf surround. Rinse the shelves and salad crispers with clean water, then allow them to dry naturally on the drainer or dry with a clean tea towel and put them to one side if your drainer isn’t big enough.
- For any shelves or drawers you can't remove, wipe them down with a clean cloth soaked in a cool solution of wsahing-up (note: "dish detergent" to we Americans!) and water and thoroughly wrung out.
Well said!
For a more thorough and comprehensive guide to maintaining your refrigerator, please refer to the link below:
If you have any other questions regarding appliance care and maintenance, you can reach out to any of our ten stores, or email me through the link provided, or my email (dlunden@hotmail.com.)