Keeping condiments and veg cool when fridge space is at a premium

[Todaynotalways]

I was thinking of getting a large plastic box with a click and close lid to put veg and condiments in. Then storing it outside the back door for Christmas.

Our house is warm. Our fridge will be full. And there are some things that benefit from cool, but don't require cold (for a few days).

Does that sound like a reasonable idea? Even if it's 9 degrees - it's still cooler than even our coolest cupboard.

As long as it's not something that animals could get into, that would be perfect. We often use the outside as a fridge!

I do this every Christmas! aka the ‘back door fridge’!

You save a lot of space brining a Turkey

Oh good, it sounds like this is an established thing to do. I'll get one of those big Really Useful boxes, so should be wildlife proof.

We've done better than brining a turkey, by not getting a turkey, but a ham and beef still take up a fair bit of space.

It's the condiments that get me, we always have a full shelf of those, even when we try to minimise them!

Cover it so it isn’t in direct sunlight.

Do you have a car?
In the boot!

What condiments do you have? Not all of them really need to be kept in the fridge if they're going to be used within a week or so.

We put drinks on the back step and any veg/refrigerator items that aren't meat and don't fit the fridge in the boot of the car.

Freeze a few freezers bags of water too.or bottles of water to go in.

Another vote for outside back door! Do this quite often when it’s cold weather

Boot of the car is a great idea! It's always surprisingly cold in there! I might use that for drinks, so they need less chilling.

Ditto putting frozen bottles in there (annoyingly we have LOADS of freezer space...)

Also great call about covering the box from direct sunlight...

I'm puzzling over condiments, salt. pepper. mustard. vinegar??

We have every condiment that has ever been made. It's not a Christmas thing, it's a year round problem.

Evey mustard known to man, bottles upon bottle of sauces, plus a wide assortment of pickles, jams, and marinades.

We audit them regularly, but always end up with too many.

Delia quotes in her books that she kept food in the boot of her car over Christmas to keep it cool....and she is never wrong 😀

Pickles and jams were invented to keep fruit and veg before fridges were invented. They won't keep forever once opened but they ought to be ok over Xmas.

Maybe buy a bag of ice and put it at the bottom of your new “fridge”. However, most condiments “should” be okay out of the fridge for a while, especially pickles, etc.

Who doesn't have a condiment shelf?

Mayonnaise, tartare sauce, ketchup, chilli sauce, horseradish, salad cream, relishes, chutneys, pickles, jams and jellies, aioli, salad dressing, chocolate sauce, mustard, lemon and lime juice, different mustard, soy sauce, oyster sauce, tahini sauce…

…all the stuff in jars and bottles that lasts longer in the fridge than the cupboard, won't fit in the door shelves, and isn't one of the main cast members like raw meat, cooked meat, veg, fruit, leftovers, milk, eggs, cheese, ready meals, yoghurt, butter/spread, drinks, things marinading, and other Stuff.

I've done this for years!

Be careful, I had a bottle of water in my car last night and it froze solid, I would not want my stash of alcohol to freeze in the boot! Nor any veg for that matter!

My mum always put spare food in her porch as Christmas, brilliant place, I wish I had a porch!

all the stuff in jars and bottles that lasts longer in the fridge than the cupboard,

Yes - but if there's not enough room in the fridge for really perishable foods over Xmas, the pickles, jams, soy and others which are inherently preserved can be stored elsewhere for the duration.

Oh yes, they'll be absolutely fine. I was just boggling at the idea of someone who hasn't come across the typical heaving fridge condiment shelf.

Unless you never have condiments, they just gradually breed in there, surely? A jar of horseradish, for example, takes ages to use up and would go off far quicker in the cupboard, so unless you want to buy a new jar each time, into the fridge it goes for the next 3/6/10 weeks, while the chilli sauce and the piccalilli take their turns in the limelight.

I regularly have a boot fridge at this time of year.

'I was thinking of getting a large plastic box with a click and close lid to put veg and condiments in. Then storing it outside the back door for Christmas'

I've been doing just this for 20 years. Also at Easter if extended family are over. There have to be some perks to a colder climate!

Cooling drinks outside works particularly well during the day. They can freeze overnight though.

We do the boot of the car thing and also a very well fastened cool box outside the back door which we call "Nature's Larder "