You are probably storing all your dairy products incorrectly. Let’s clarify how to store and organize your dairy products so they last as long as possible! And, did you know, you can also organize your spaces according to your organizing style? You can find out what your organizing style is here.
Before organizing your dairy products, you must purge the expired ones and the ones you do not like and know you won’t consume. Be ruthless and purge the excess so you can more easily store what you do consume.
In my freebie library here, I include guides which help walk you through the organizing process and help you decide what to purge and keep. I also include my declutter and organizing challenge calendars and guides to help direct you through each area of your home. These guides ensure you get through every nook and cranny and finally get to the other side of clutter … an organized and functional space!
In this post, we focus on how to organize all your dairy products in your refrigerator. Below, I share ideas on how to organize and store your dairy products with different types of organizing solutions that will work for your organizing styles and spaces. (I share how to organize drinks, produce, snacks, and condiments in the refrigerator, as well!)
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How to Properly Store Dairy Products
Simply put, you don’t want to store your dairy products in any of the labeled or designated compartments in your refrigerator. I know! I know! I’ve said multiple times to utilize your refrigerator the way it was designed. That is true, for the most part, except for when it comes to milk, butter, and eggs. Refrigerators are typically designed to contain these dairy products in the refrigerator door which is not the best because it is considered to be the warmest part of your refrigerator. Dairy products need to be stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator which is near the back and preferably on lower shelves.
Butter
But first, let’s start with the one dairy product that actually does not need to be refrigerated at all. Butter can be stored at room temperature up to one month. It can be more preferable to simply store butter in a butter dish like this (found here) on your kitchen counter or dining table so that it is at room temperature making it nicely spreadable as needed:
Milk, Cream, and Yogurt
You will simply keep these dairy products in their original packaging and store them as far back into the refrigerator as possible in a bin like this one below for individual yogurt containers (found here). I shared how to store and organize individual yogurt snacks in this post here.
Eggs
Since you should not store eggs in the door of your refrigerator, you can simply store your eggs in their original container from the store and set them near the back of the refrigerator. If you typically purchase the packs of eggs that contain eighteen eggs or more, sometimes those extra wide packages are difficult to store. So, I suggest getting two one-dozen egg containers to stack on top of each other to save horizontal shelf space. Also, here is an excellent solution for taking up otherwise unutilized space just underneath your refrigerator shelf (found here):
Cottage Cheese and Sour Cream
These dairy products will last longer when vacuum-sealed. The best way I heard how to store these and keep them fresher for longer is to store the containers upside down. I love an easy solution like that! To make these containers more easily reachable from the back of the fridge, you can store them on a lazy susan like this (found here). You pull it toward you to turn it around and it tucks back toward the back of the fridge. Convenient!
Cheese
Cream cheese doesn’t come in the best packaging for resealing if you only use a portion of it. So, you will simply use a resealable bag or container you have on hand. There are also containers made for cream cheese which you can find here. Shredded cheese can be stored in a resealable bag or container in the refrigerator or freezer. Blocks of hard cheese or slices of cheese can be stored in containers like these to prevent them from drying out (found here):
How to Organize Dairy Products for Meal-Prepping
If you frequently make sandwiches for your household, utilizing containers that stack like this one below can be the perfect system. You can have sliced cheese in one section, deli meats, tomatoes, and lettuce in the others (found here):
When it’s time to make sandwiches, you can pull out the stack all at once instead of running back and forth to the refigerator to grab each item!
I hope you found some ideas for how to organize your dairy products in your refrigerator for your organizing style and/or the space that you have! In my next post, I share important tips for how to properly organize your freezer. Don’t forget to grab my free resources from my freebie library here. Let’s get to the other side of clutter … an organized and functional space!
Happy Organizing!
Author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps“