The great fridge clean-out…

I wrote the other day that this fall weather we are having here in Vermont is making me want to fall clean and cook & bake lots of food.

God only knows why on earth I would tackle cleaning our fridge in the midst of Oktoberfest season.

It started innocent enough, I was only going to run the door shelves through the dishwasher. Then I felt like it was a waste to run it with hardly anything in it. That’s when I started unloading the whole thing and removing all the shelves and drawers. 😖

The dishwasher ran and finished before I even put a dent in cleaning. I keep a clean kitchen and clean as I go, but sometimes things get out of control like the fridge.

The good news was that I didn’t find any nasty science experiments hidden in the back or in any of the jars. That’s was good! I did find that the entire thing needed a good scrub…Krud Kutter to the rescue! This stuff is amazing and earth friendly. You can find Krud Kutter at your local hardware store. It’s NSF food safe approved and we use it in our production kitchen as well.

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After everything was clean it was time to put back the shelves and drawers. Sam was in the kitchen while all the chaos was happening. I told him to watch how I was taking it apart because I may never be able to put it back again. Lol.

The way we had the shelves configured before the big cleaning project wasn’t very efficient. The fridge is big but we kept running out of space for things. Big things had to be put in our walk-in cooler if needed.

I went to images of Kitchen-Aid refrigerators like ours and looked at different configurations. I settled on one that looked way better than what we had before.

I did need Sam’s help a little…but putting it back was easy. Everything was sparkling clean! 🧼 ✨

The crazy OCD trait that runs through my veins went wild when it came time to put everything back in. Condiments went on the shelves on one side. Fermented and pickled things had its own spot. Miscellaneous glass jars had another spot on the doors. On the shelves inside there was an area for tall items, dairy, leftovers, jams & jellies, the top shelf was reserved for items I don’t use often but need like miso, beef and chicken bases, Thai curry ingredients, tubes of tomato & anchovy paste.

I stepped back and took a look…mission accomplished! Yay!! It took much longer than I thought it would; which always happens when I start a project. The time spent was well worth it.

This afternoon I went grocery shopping after production and making deliveries. When I put everything away there was a place for everything! Even the crisper drawers are so organized that I had room for all the fruit and veggies I purchased.

I’m not sure why I felt it necessary to write about the great fridge clean-out. I guess I figured everyone has to clean their own refrigerators at one time or another so why not share mine. Seriously, the struggle is real and we all have to stick together. 😏