PREPARING FOOD FOR THE REFRIGERATOR
Carefully wrap fresh foods: they will then keep their flavor, color, humidity content and freshness.
You also avoid the taste of some foods contaminating the taste of others. Only vegetables, fruit and
salad vegetables can be stored in the vegetable compartment without being packed. Let hot dishes
and drinks cool down outside the appliance. Remove the cardboard packs from around yoghurt pots.
Check the consume-by dates on the products you have bought. You should not exceed these.
ARRANGING FOOD IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR
The temperature inside your refrigerator is not uniform. Some areas are colder than others and you
must store your food in the appropriate areas according to their type to ensure that they can be kept
safely.
Leave a space between the food items to allow the air to circulate freely and avoid different products
contaminating each other.
Do not put packages and food in contact with the wall at the back of the appliance, this is a
particularly cold and damp area of the appliance and water droplets and frost condense there as
part of your refrigerator's normal operation.
The coldest area, indicated by the logo, is designed for delicate, sensitive and highly perishable
food: meat, poultry, fish, cooked meats, prepared dishes, ready-made salads, egg or cream-based
dishes and pastries, fresh pasta, pastry, pizza/quiches, fresh produce and raw milk cheese, ready-
to-use vegetables sold in plastic bags and, more generally, any fresh product whose consume-by
date is linked to its storage at a temperature of +4°C or below.
FROZEN AND DEEP- FROZEN FOOD
Your domestic appliance enables you to freeze food, it lowers its core temperature rapidly and you
can therefore keep it longer.
Deep-freezing is an industrial process that is quicker and more intense that domestic freezing. The
products you purchase from the shops are deep-frozen.
PREPARING FOOD FOR FREEZING
Freezing does not sterilize. It is therefore important to observe some simple hygiene rules
when preparing your food for freezing: wash your hands before you touch the food and clean
the kitchen tools you have just used before using them again.
Only freeze fresh, good quality food. Refer to the table "Food Freezing Guide" to know which
products you can freeze and how long you can keep them.
Blanch fruit and vegetables before freezing them to preserve their color, smell, taste and vitamins:
plunge them in boiling water for few moments.
Divide the food you wish to freeze into small individual portions corresponding to one meal each.
Small portions freeze quicker at their core.
Pack the food hermetically so that they do not lose their flavor or dry up. Use plastic bags,
polyethylene film, aluminum foil or special freezer containers for this. If you are using plastic bags,
compress them to eliminate the air before sealing them hermetically.
32