How to customise your 4-door refrigerator for different dietary needs

If you take a closer look at some of the top-rated four-door refrigerators around, you’ll note that they tend to have two freezers for, say, separating meat and dairy products, separate bins for storing a variety of vegetables, and door compartments that help segregate items like milk from juices and the like.

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Given how four-door refrigerators compartmentalise groceries and other perishables, they’re a very convenient option for organising food, especially when your family has varied dietary needs. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Assign sections for specific diets

Sorting and assigning compartments to specific foods is a great start. A simple system would be to have vegetables and meat separated into two halves of the fridge. You could also assign a section just for healthy snacks, for example, that the entire family can reach into whenever they’re looking for a treat.

Having a kid-friendly section is also a good idea as it’ll be much easier for your kid(s) to grab something healthy and/or allergen-free without having to waste time on figuring out what they can and can’t eat. If allergies need to be addressed, such as lactose intolerance, peanut allergies, and the like, it’s also a good idea to isolate a section for allergen-free foods.

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Lastly, meal-preppers can also organise the fridge in the order that meals are to be consumed, saving a lot of time and hassle when it comes to choosing the right meal or figuring out what date a certain meal will expire.

Use labels

While everything might make sense in your head, convincing a stubborn spouse or unconcerned child to remember and adhere to sorting guidelines will be quite an uphill task. To simplify matters, start labelling all the sections (you can even get creative and use images) so it’s patently obvious what each section is for. This will ensure that anyone with access to the fridge knows exactly where everything is and where new items go when restocking a four-door fridge.

Set temperature zones

If your fridge has the option, set temperature zones for the assorted foodstuff in your fridge. Meats need to be stored at a lower temperature than, say, vegetables. Fruits and veggies will of course need a higher humidity level, and the frozen foods also have different requirements. While it’s good for some food to be frozen solid, others like ice cream would be a chore to get through when they’re a block of ice.

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Put essentials in doors

It’s a good idea to place essential items, stuff that your family would use frequently and in larger quantities, in the doors. These could be beverages such as milk and juice, condiments and dressings such as various sauces, and even snacks like protein bars and candies.

The best four-door fridges out there will provide you with all these facilities and more. If the potential for better organising your food has convinced you that you need one, you’ll find a great selection on croma.com.