Changing out Refrigerator

[Jean in Newcastle]

New refrigerator is coming tomorrow at 8:45 a.m.  I have to make a plan to empty the refrigerator and freezer before then.  (Having chronic illness, everything has to be planned out in stages.  Pain and fatigue might hit suddenly like a freight train and the more I plan, the better I will be able to avoid that happening and be able to cope if it does.)

 

The freezer is easy.  Take everything and move it to the chest freezer.

Fridge -

Can fruits and veggies stay out over night?  (Everything I can do the night before is a bonus.)   We're talking things like carrots, daikon, greens, apples and a pear. 

Condiments - can they stay out over night?  Overnight temps are in the low 50's.

I assume that meats and cheeses need to be left to the last minute? 

Beverages - stay out overnight?  Those are mostly just being chilled for drinking pleasure so won't go bad, right?

Do I have to clean the inside of the fridge and freezer for the haul-away? 

[ScoutTN]

Do not clean the old fridge/freezer! Let it go.

Condiments except for mayo and anything with dairy, yes.

Fruit and veggies, yes. 

Beverages - except for fresh juice or dairy. 

Cooked meats and cheese - probably have a few hours of counter time ok, but not overnight. 

[regentrude]

Fruits and veggies do not need to be refrigerated. Ditto condiments and beverages (except milk)
Butter doesn't need refrigeration. Many cheeses do fine without for one night, too.

The only thing I'd make sure to keep refrigerated throughout are raw meat and milk.

[prairiewindmomma]

Keep in mind that the new fridge is going to take 24 hours to come to fully cold temperature. You really need a cooler set up as just doing a grand switcheroo is going to put perishable food at risk.

[regentrude]

5 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

Berries are a for sure no on the counter.  Berries are just too delicate. 

grocery store has berries without refrigeration.

Edited June 1, 2021 by regentrude

[Jean in Newcastle]

The only berries I have are already frozen. 

[Pen]

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

New refrigerator is coming tomorrow at 8:45 a.m.  I have to make a plan to empty the refrigerator and freezer before then.  (Having chronic illness, everything has to be planned out in stages.  Pain and fatigue might hit suddenly like a freight train and the more I plan, the better I will be able to avoid that happening and be able to cope if it does.)

 

The freezer is easy.  Take everything and move it to the chest freezer.

Fridge -

Can fruits and veggies stay out over night?  (Everything I can do the night before is a bonus.)   We're talking things like carrots, daikon, greens, apples and a pear. 

Condiments - can they stay out over night?  Overnight temps are in the low 50's.

I assume that meats and cheeses need to be left to the last minute? 
 

 

if you have ice and cold bags or styrofoam chests or Coleman cooler or that sort of thing it can help keep things cold longer 

 

Anything unopened that would sit out overnight at a store can probably sit out at home, eggs can usually be unrefrigerated for awhile

 

Id leave meat and milk products till last minute - apples, probably pear, carrots....  greens are more likely to deteriorate. But they may be okay if in a bowl of chilled water

cheese should be okay for a few hours (longer than I’d leave meat anyway - and fish goes bad among the fastest )

 

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Beverages - stay out overnight?  Those are mostly just being chilled for drinking pleasure so won't go bad, right?

if they aren’t sold standardly in refrigerator section (milk, other dairy products, raw juices, kombucha) they can be out

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Do I have to clean the inside of the fridge and freezer for the haul-away? 

No! 

[Storygirl]

When we have switched refrigerators, I have gathered the things that need to be kept cold into grocery bags, then set the bags into the fridge and freezer. Then, when the delivery guys arrive, I can pull entire bags out, instead of individual items one by one.

We've been told that the new appliance will come up to temperature faster if it is full of already cold items.

[Jean in Newcastle]

7 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

When we have switched refrigerators, I have gathered the things that need to be kept cold into grocery bags, then set the bags into the fridge and freezer. Then, when the delivery guys arrive, I can pull entire bags out, instead of individual items one by one.

We've been told that the new appliance will come up to temperature faster if it is full of already cold items.

Thanks. This is extremely helpful. 

[Frances]

This thread has been helpful, as we are remodeling our kitchen and just bought a new refrigerator today. It will be here in about a month. It’s only the second one we have ever purchased, as the one we bought 21 years ago when we purchased our house is still going strong. We are considering moving it to our basement rather than getting rid of it, but haven’t decided yet. The dishwasher we bought at the same time is also still working and the stove only died recently. From everything I’ve read, it’s unlikely that even one of our new appliances will last as long as our current ones have.

[Pawz4me]

We bought a new refrigerator last summer. Our plan was to move our old (but still working fine) fridge to the garage. I put all the freezer contents into reusable grocery bags and then put them in our chest freezer. The stuff that didn't strictly have to be refrigerated went on the kitchen counter. The things that did need to be kept cold went into coolers. Somehow over the years we've accumulated quite a number of coolers, and our fridge isn't one of the humongous ones that holds six months worth of food for a family of fifty, so that worked fine. Once the delivery guys got the new one set up and the old one moved I put everything that needed to be cold back in the old fridge in the garage. It had only been unplugged a few minutes so was still plenty cold. I always keep a few containers of frozen water in the chest freezer, so I put some of those into the new fridge to help it cool faster. In five or six hours it was well into the safe temperature range, so I moved all the cold stuff back into it. Then I slowly started adding the stuff that had been sitting on the counter back in, being careful to not add too much room temperature(ish) stuff to make the fridge temperature go above a safe level.