After a few too many enthusiastic Costco runs (beef was on sale!) and a particularly bountiful farmers market haul, my fridge was packed to the brim. I didn’t think much of it until I noticed my salad greens were freezing solid. And no, they weren’t anywhere near the freezer compartment.
It wasn’t just the greens. A container of leftovers I’d tucked away days earlier had already gone bad, too. I was ready to call a repairman — or worse, start pricing out a whole new fridge — when I reached out to a few food scientists for answers.
The Problem: Overstuffing The Fridge
The verdict? I wasn’t dealing with a broken appliance at all. The real problem was how I was using it. Overstuffing the fridge was likely to blame.
“When a fridge is overloaded, vents become blocked, consequently restricting airflow and causing the internal temperature to rise and become uneven,” explained Bryan Quoc Le, a food scientist, food industry consultant, and author of “150 Food Science Questions Answered.”
