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WHO NEEDS A REFRIGERATOR?

Refrigeration doesn’t destroy bacteria. A small refrigerator from which cold air escapes when the door is opened subjects the contents to a fluctuating temperature—one of the quickest ways to turn food bad. Keeping the door closed, however, makes the air inside go stale. The greatest benefit a refrigerator can bestow is a supply of ice. Most refrigerators in common use provide six or eight cubes, then take three hours to make another set. In America there is an ice-making machine; until Britain discovers it, it is a good idea to order a few pounds of ice cubes from an ice company, so that guests can have more than half a cube each in their glass. Crushed ice as a bed under a large plate of oysters, or in a bucket with a couple of bottles of Chablis, will work more efficiently than an overcrowded fridge and be appetizing on the table.

If buying a refrigerator for the first time, note that an absorption type uses over twice as much electricity and has a less efficient freezer than the compression type. On the other hand the former are silent, and the latter will need repairs and replacements now and again. Look at the cubic capacity (ignore the size of shelf space—it doesn’t mean a thing), and ask about ice-making capacity and speed. Your refrigerator should be in the coolest, most draughty place in the kitchen. Heat will rise from it, so don’t have it in the bottom of the larder.

DEFROSTING: This is necessary when the ice on the freezing compartment is about a quarter of an inch thick—probably about once a week.

1 Remove food.

2 Disconnect supply.

3 Empty freezer of ice and frozen food.

4 Place a tray of boiling water inside refrigerator.

5 Wait. Let all ice melt, don’t prod it.

6 Wipe shelves and inside with a damp rag (with a trace of vinegar).

7 Switch on, replace food.

AUTOMATIC DEFROSTING: This switches current off when a certain temperature is reached, and then switches on again. I am not convinced that this is a good way to treat food, even though it is much easier than normal defrosting as above.

WHEN YOU GO AWAY: Empty, switch off, leave door open.

Frozen Food. Frozen-food fanatics (I am not one) should choose their refrigerator with particular care. Frozen food in the retailer’s cabinet is kept at 0° F. If it rises even a little above this, it must be eaten within 24 hours. Few refrigerators have a compartment as cold as this, even if you turn the main control to below normal. (You shouldn’t do this as it will affect the main compartment.) Ask for a demonstration that involves a thermometer.

No matter what fancy-looking doors it may have the only real combined refrigerator/deep freeze is one that has one separate unit for each compartment. Check on this before buying. If you find a refrigerator that passes the 0° F. test, you still must get the frozen food home before it begins to thaw. Wrapping it in plenty of newspaper will insulate it.

Using Frozen Food. You do not have to store frozen food at 0° F. providing that it is used within a day or so. Many frozen vegetables are pre-cooked before freezing. These are best cooked by popping the whole solid block into a saucepan in which there is already a trace of boiling water. Put a well-fitting lid on, give it a few minutes over a medium flame. I have found that the directions on the frozen-food products often suggest too long a cooking time. Overcooked vegetables are awful; overcooked frozen vegetables are hell.

Frozen fruit should not be thawed too early or it will lose colour very quickly. Serve fresh dessert fruits still a little icy. Poultry and fish should be gently thawed before cooking. Among the most useful frozen foods are the sea foods (scampi, shrimps and whitebait), and frozen puff pastry is very nearly as good as homemade.

USING THE REFRIGERATOR

Food will dry out in the refrigerator. Aluminium foil, plastic boxes or polythene bags will keep separate items more moist, but they must not be placed to block the easy flow of air or the air will go stale. Liquids should be kept covered because they evaporate and the freezing unit then frosts up more quickly. That’s why nothing hot must go in the refrigerator. One bad piece of food will contaminate all the others, and fish or other strong smells will make cream, butter, etc. taste, unless kept covered. Minced meat should be spread out, not piled up, or air particles trapped inside will go stale. Meat (cooked or raw) should have at least an hour at room temperature before use, and ideally, raw meat should not be refrigerated between purchase and cooking. Cooked food is best kept refrigerated.

HANGING. Although all meat, all fish and birds undergo a similar change when ‘hung’, it is usual in Western cookery to hang only beef, game and mutton. The item should be put not in a refrigerator but in a cool draughty place where air circulates freely, while the bacteria in the flesh break it down and tenderize it, making it far more flavourful. Hang your meat before cooking it; two days will improve it enormously. Frozen chickens are frozen very soon after being killed. They should never be eaten immediately after thawing. Leave them a day or so. Hung meat often develops a faint musty smell, but this is not the smell of putrefaction, which is a stink so powerful it will force you out of the kitchen. If you are sniffing anxiously at a range of three inches, it’s good to eat—you couldn’t get that near to bad meat.

Milk and cream must be kept covered. Eggs do not need refrigeration. If you do keep them in the refrigerator, give them an hour at room temperature before use. Batter mixture and any sort of uncooked pastry will be better for a couple of hours of refrigeration. Flaky or puff pastry can be put into the cold for half an hour between rollings. White and rosé wines should be cold, but not so cold as to be tasteless. Cooling in an ice bucket is better than in the refrigerator, and in any case, don’t put wine near the freezer nor store it in the refrigerator. Lager can be left in the refrigerator, so can light ale, which responds to chilling very well. If your beer pours out cloudy, however, it is too cold. Among other drinks which improve with chilling, tomato juice and fresh orange juice rank high. Avocado pears and salad vegetables can be served cold. Cucumber is better if not put into the cold. Lettuce should be torn gently apart (cutting turns it brown), the leaves washed and then dried with a cloth (moisture dilutes the dressing) before popping into the cold. Cheese is better stored in a cool place than in a refrigerator. Camembert-type cheese can be irreparably spoiled by refrigeration. Bread can be kept cold if in plenty of foil, but it’s better to use it as you buy it. Don’t refrigerate cereals, cakes, or dry foods like salt, sugar, flour or dried fruit.

Ice cream bought in a shop will melt in the domestic refrigerator. Ice cream can be made in the freezer, but tiny daggers of ice will form in it unless it is stirred from time to time.