— Soma Angelus

The drawers, uh, I'll tell you what's in my drawers. Uh, refrigerator drawers, um, at the bottom there, um, I've got, um, some root vegetables in 'em, and I think I've got a, a container of ginger root. Um, and, uh, you know, I see people that use the, the drawers for a number of, of different things. It, it could be, uh, herbs, you know, it, it could be, uh, other vegetables that are not root vegetables. So, you know, potentially it could be anything. Um, uh, note that in some cases, um, the drawer may have a little tab that slides that will open or close little ventilation holes, and that can help control the humidity inside the drawer. Um, uh, also, you know, the, the quality of the food, um, in the drawers and in the refrigerator in general, will also vary depending on how it's individually packaged or, or wrapped or cared for. So, keep in mind that fundamentally, the refrigerator as a box is designed to draw out moisture. And so, uh, foods go through a slow dehydration process, and I think you have probably noticed that, right? If you put some leftover food in their fridge that's uncovered, um, it'll develop a little dry crust right after a couple hours or a couple of days. And that's indicative of the dehydration process. If you put a bell pepper, uh, in the fridge, uh, after a day or two, it develops very light wrinkles on the surface and becomes a little bit softer as the moisture is drawn out. And so often it's desirable, whether using the drawers or the larger compartment, uh, to put produce, um, you know, in another container of some sort. And, and it might be a solid container, uh, or it could be a, uh, very breathable bag. It could be a, you know, a, a paper bag. It could be a, um, some sort of a plastic bag, um, but something that, um, can protect the produce, uh, to mitigate the dehydration process, uh, to some extent. Now, another consideration is, um, to line that at the bottom of that drawer, uh, with a lightly dampened towel, which will introduce a little bit of moisture to that space, if that's what you want, if that will benefit the products that go into that drawer. Okay? Um, sometimes, um, for example, with herbs, we might choose to wrap the bunch of herbs in a lightly dampen towel, whether paper or cloth. Uh, in order to slow down the wilting process, wilting is dehydrating. And so if we can introduce some moisture, uh, via a towel, then we can often prolong the shelf life of that, uh, bunch of herbs. Okay? And so those are some things that come to mind, uh, for refrigerators in general, uh, and the drawers, uh, specifically. And, um, you know, is there an ideal optimal use for them? Probably not. Okay. Um, in fact, as I, as I say this, um, I can think of, uh, yet another sort of a bottom drawer we have that, uh, has nuts, uh, and seeds in it. And so, you know, feel free to experiment, uh, again, have that notebook, you know, in your kitchen and, uh, and jot down, uh, what it is that you're doing, um, so you can find the, the best practice for you over a period of time. Thank you.