Do you need more space for food storage? In these current times, people are going to the grocery store less often and stocking up more when they do. A popular solution for the overstock of groceries is getting an extra fridge or freezer. Even a small one opens up your storage possibilities in both space availability and location. If you’re sick of juggling all of your items in your refrigerator unit, consider investing in a second, smaller unit.
Keeping It Cool
A mini fridge is essentially your fridge from the kitchen but at a much smaller scale. If you have a lot of food or drinks, supplementary storage is a great investment, and one that you can essentially place anywhere in the home. Even if you leave it in the kitchen, a mini fridge is great for storing snacks like yogurts and cheeses. If you’re prone to pushing food to the back of your regular fridge and leaving it to expire, a mini-fridge can help. You can get one with a single door and shelves inside or multiple drawers, depending on what is easiest for you to sort through. Their style doesn’t have to be the plain one from your college dorm either. You can get a mini fridge with a clear glass front or one with a cabinet-style door to blend in under your counters.
Just for Drinks
A beverage cooler a specific kind of mini fridge that caters to drinks and drink-shaped storage. Not all beverage coolers are specifically for storing wine, but many are. Rather than simple drink shelves, wine coolers or wine refrigerators have wood wine racks. They also have special temperature controls for storing red or white wine at the ideal serving temperature. If you have a small collection of bottles, a wine refrigerator is perfect for both storage and display. Plus, if you entertain a lot, a wine cooler will keep plenty of bottles on hand so that no one has to rummage through your fridge at a party to get what they want. Many beverage coolers can also be locked like a traditional liquor cabinet, to prevent kids from getting curious while you’re not at home.
A Frozen Treat
Similar to the idea of a separate fridge is a separate freezer. A chest freezer is a great way to store overflow from your main freezer and balance your irregular shaped containers. These are much deeper than your regular freezer shelves and are available in multiple widths to suit your needs. Even a small one can make a huge difference in your freezer storage capacity. Having room to stock up on frozen foods and ingredients is great if you’re buying in bulk or going to the grocery store sparingly. Chest freezers also don’t need to be kept in your kitchen. An out of the way place like in your basement or garage is a good home for your chest freezer because you won’t need to access it all the time.
Ice Ice Baby
If you’re always running out of ice in your freezer, consider investing in a separate ice maker. I have wrestled for years with ice trays that require extra space, careful stacking, and diligent refilling for a fairly small quantity of usable ice. Ice makers in your regular refrigerator are convenient and make much larger quantities of ice, but with the huge drawback of taking up a lot more space even than bulky trays. With a separate ice maker, you still get all the benefits of pre-made ice without clogging up your freezer in any way. You can even place the ice maker somewhere closer to where you make your drinks for convenience.
Take It Outdoors
Not all kitchens have space to store an extra appliance, and not all houses have a garage or basement where you can put it instead. If this is the case you’re not out of luck! Several kinds of secondary fridges and freezers are outside-friendly. The ones that are labelled as such are made to be more weather resistant than their indoor counterparts to handle being installed and left outside. Depending on where you live (mostly if it gets very hot or very cold), you should research the temperature ranges your new fridge or freezer can handle before making a purchase. It’s also worth noting how much it will cost monthly in energy to maintain, so you don’t get a surprise on your next electricity bill.
An extra fridge or freezer isn’t a miracle worker that will solve all your pandemic problems. But having the ability to store more food will keep you from having to go to the grocery store as often as you used to. Smart storage and careful trip planning can go a long way in maximizing your refrigeration efficiency. So be prepared to take full advantage of your new unit as soon as it’s plugged in!
